Grand Designs viewers have been left in disbelief after a couple spent £7 million on building the UK’s first new castle in 100 years – only for it to end up looking like a ‘multi-storey car park’.
In 2021, entrepreneur Piers Daniell and police officer Emma bought a converted 17th century folly in Warwickshire for £1.4million, and demolished it to the horror of locals who had great fondness for the landmark that could be seen for miles around.
Their initial budget was £2million for their ambitious project to build a modern castle, complete with a tower, castellations, a moat, arrow slits, and courtyards with loggias, but costs eventually spiralled to around £5million.
Piers, who founded his first start-up aged 15, was forced to sell multiple businesses, his London flat, and a home by the south coast – and even asked his mother, Trisha, for a six-figure loan from her pension fund.
By the end of filming in September 2025, the project was yet to be finished, with Piers admitting they probably needed to spend another million on it to complete the property.
The quasi-finished structure shown to host Kevin McCloud was an ultra-modern take on a castle made from recycled bricks, featuring what looked like PVC windows.
Writing on X, one critic commented that it looked like a ‘multi-storey car park’, while another even declared it was the ‘ugliest building I’ve ever seen’, and likened it to ‘a cross between a prison and a nuclear bunker’.
A third viewer said: ‘Is it a prison? Is it a college? Is it a power station? No it’s a “castle”,’ while a fourth added: ‘Money can’t buy taste.’
Grand Designs viewers said Piers and Emma’s unfinished £7million castle in Warwickshire looked like a ‘multistorey car park’
The project had seen the couple invest millions into the home in the Warwickshire countryside. Pictured: The property during construction
Others wrote: ‘I’m sorry, but it’s a no from me. What an epic unattractive waste of money!’
‘The exterior fits right in. It’s part Tesco’s car park, part Marbella new money villa, part new build housing association “edgy” architecture, part ergonomic adventure playground, part Acropolis and ALL “we’re richer then you”.’
‘Is that white PVC windows!? Money doesn’t buy taste,’ another critic added.
However, one, more positive, viewer said: ‘It seems I am in a minority tonight but I think the castle in Grand Designs is going to be amazing. Fair play to the couple going all in with their vision. I hope they get to keep it.’
Measuring in at nearly 1,100 square metres with 25,000 blocks, 14,000 fake tiles and 81 windows, it didn’t take long for the couple’s budget to soar and the project to be in peril, with Piers forced to sell multiple businesses and properties, and even borrow his mother’s pension fund to fund it.
The old castle they hoped to knock down, it soon turned out, was an asbestos-riddled nightmare, creating £100,000 of unforeseen costs from the outset.
It took an additional four weeks for the property to be deemed safe enough to be destroyed – another hefty sum, considering their £10,000-a-month workforce costs.
Emma admitted: ‘Our bills each month are eye-wateringly large figures, £50,000 to £100,000 each month.’
Writing on X/Twitter, one person commented that it looked like a ‘multi-storey car park’
Emma and Piers had knocked down a 17th-century hilltop folly (pictured) to build their modern home
Locals were left furious at the couple for knocking down the original property on the site – a converted folly that had been constructed on the advice of the Prince Regent to Lord and Lady Hertford at the end of the 17th century.
Speaking on the show, one person said: ‘I’m absolutely aghast. I can’t believe that they would demolish such a lovely building.’
A second added: ‘I’m devastated, whatever comes in its place is going to be a hard task to follow.’
Piers, however, said the existing structure was a ‘horrible looking building’ made from ‘pebble dash’. He did, however, say they would aim to salvage ‘everything possible’, keeping in with the old building’s features.
Kevin said: ‘This place is damp, cold and miserable, very much out of date. But that’s not an excuse to tear a piece of history down.’
After the asbestos was cleared, work finally began in January 2022 and diggers were brought in to knock down the old building.
By April, however, Piers admitted that ‘things weren’t going to plan’ financially and he was needing to ‘talk a bit more with the bank’.
In July, he promoted one of his ground workers, Matt Allen, to the position of site manager, despite him admitting he’d never built a house before – a huge risk, in the eyes of Kevin and viewers.
Some viewers looked like the building had ‘white PVC windows’, saying that ‘money can’t buy taste’. Emma and Piers’ unfinished castle is pictured
In 2021, Entrepreneur Piers and police officer Emma (pictured) bought on old folly in Warwickshire for £1.4million
Some aspects of the property showed much promise, including a stunning roof terrace with 360 degree views
The couple had also finished their locally made kitchen – but the rest of the property remained a building site
Tense footage saw nearly 90 cubic metres worth of concrete being poured into wooden shuttering that Matt had signed off, made even worse when the foundation footings began to collapse in the rain, adding a further bill of £6,500.
By March 2023, 18 months into the project, Emma and Piers had spent £1.1million on the groundworks alone, twice what they had forecast.
With banks rejecting his application for a mortgage, Piers took the difficult decision to sell the London flat he used for work and asked his mother Trisha for a six figure loan.
‘Asking them to gamble their future on a project I don’t really need to do is a big ask,’ he admitted, while Trisha worried that her son was ‘overdoing it’.
Two years in, and the couple were rewarded with a much-needed cash boost. Piers had built a modern ‘test house’ in the grounds near the castle and sold it for £2.5million. Nevertheless, they had initially invested £3million into it – leaving a further £500,000-sized hole in their finances.
The following months saw more progress: the external garages were completed, the ground floor was set up and 183 pieces of steel and 81 windows were installed around the castle. Finally, in December 2024, there were established rooms and, by February, there was a ‘shell’ of the castle standing – more than three and a half years in.
At this point, Piers predicted that, far from their initial £2million budget, the castle would be costing them around £7million.
‘It comes from borrowing. I’ve sold my car, I’ve sold the house we had down by the south coast, we’re selling a commercial building. We are selling everything we can,’ he told Kevin.
In despair, he and Emma had put the castle up for sale in agreement with the lenders in order to finish the project.
This meant, despite their dreams of making it a family home with their two daughters, there was no guarantee they would be able to live there themselves.
Kevin was shown the unfinished grand hallway, which was partially outside
The couple hadn’t finished their moat either, which lay empty and without water
Kevin was left baffled by the project’s ongoing and soaring costs
A mock-up of the finished property, as it appears on a Sotherby’s listing online
In September 2025, Kevin visited the site one final time – with the castle still in an unfinished state.
Piers told Kevin it was ‘probably 50/50’ that they’d be able to keep the castle, explaining: ‘There’s always a small risk. I’ll make sure we wake up tomorrow, work hard and fight hard and we’ll try and get the outcome we want.’
Emma added: ‘We have put everything into this, we’ve put our hearts, souls, everything’s in financially as well.’
Indeed, the home, now named Alcester Castle, is currently up for sale for £7,950,000 with Sotherby’s, boasting eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and 11,595 square feet of floor space.
It appears it still hasn’t been finished and is described as ‘set for final completion in 2025’.
Despite this, the couple insisted they had ‘no’ regrets, with Piers saying: ‘I feel like we built something quite substantial. This I think will be here in 500 years.’
‘We’re definitely done the right building for the right environment and the right place,’ Emma added.
Touring the home at the end of the episode, Kevin was shown the empty grand hallway and even an unfinished moat without water.
However, the home did show signs of promise, with a locally-made kitchen and a roof terrace with 360 degree views showing lots of potential.
The new home is as close to achieving net zero energy as possible, with bricks made from recycled materials, photovoltaic roof slates, air source heat pumps and a wind turbine.
Grand Designs airs on Wednesdays at 9pm on Channel 4.