Grand Designs

To celebrate 20 years of Grand Designs, Kevin McCloud reveals his top five properties from the show, revisiting the buildings and people who have most inspired him over the years. From concrete-vaulted glass-fronted pavilions and heroic restoration projects, to handcrafted hobbit houses made of hedgerow, Kevin reflects on what it takes to build a truly great Grand Designs project.

Andy and Jeanette plan a precarious cliff-top build on the west coast of Scotland. There are battles with extreme weather, budget overruns, and a sudden emotional shock.

Kevin McCloud meets entrepreneur Paul Wilkinson and his wife Amy, who are building a giant new home on a 16-acre plot in Lincolnshire. The superstructure will be comprised of five circular buildings made up of interlocking timber cylinders, linked by raised wooden walkways that hang over a fishing lake. The complicated build proves difficult for Paul's local team, and their ambitious schedule of completing the project in a year soon looks out of reach.

Design engineer Mark Butler is paralysed from the waist down and needs a cutting-edge, wheelchair-friendly family home. Making it for £600k proves a huge emotional strain.

Kevin McCloud follows the progress of engineer Richard Bennett and his partner Felicia Böhm as they transform an underground water reservoir near the Humber Estuary into a family home. In 2013, the pair decided to embark on the ambitious build with a budget of only £150,000, but it proved a monumental challenge, and design and layout decisions stretched their abilities and the schedule to the max.

Cancer survivor Dad divides out the home into a number of interconnected units in a horse-shoe layout for his family.

For most people, living in a lighthouse is pure fantasy. Not so for Edward and Hazel Short and their two young daughters. Back in 2012, they set out to build a brand new, art deco, shining white lighthouse tower with additional bedrooms, guest rooms, and infinity pool on the side - all on a rugged but beautiful clifftop in North Devon. Kevin McCloud sees if they made that dream a reality.

Kevin McCloud revisits a home built on an airfield in Strathaven in Scotland to check on the progress made by Colin MacKinnon and his partner Marta Briongos. Their ambitious plan was to build a metal-sculptural home inspired by aircraft hangars right next to the runway, but the difficulties of building their elegant design saw a year-long project stretch to three years.