Grand Designs Australia

For 10 years Pamela and Stuart have relished weekends in a tiny, unpowered hut on their cattle property in Victoria's High Country, but with retirement around the corner, they feel it's time to upgrade. Limited only by materials that have to suit the rugged conditions, what emerges is bold and unique. Pamela and Stuart clearly embrace their architect's avant-garde approach, but will they manage to transfer the charm of their old hut, with its fabulous bush character, into this brand-new rural retreat?

After living in the same home in Melbourne's Hampton for 20 years, Brett and Jenny are set to embark on a journey of blind faith, giving Brett's architect cousin Tim free rein to build a replacement for their time-honoured Californian bungalow. His exciting design will be a clear stand-out in the street. Tim is breaking new ground, the builders are thinking out of the box, and the family is about to leap from a conventional lifestyle to an uber-contemporary one.

Eco-conscious entertainers Claire and Lisa adore their hobby farming lifestyle on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, but the cute 1930s beach shack they've long shared with two pugs has lost its once savoured charm. They're upgrading and building a sustainable, modernist, entertainers' home that blends sophisticated design elements with rammed earth, recycled materials and raw finishes. It all sounds glamorous and straightforward, but with a zero-contingency budget, what happens when a wet winter meets an insidious clay soil?