George Clarke’s Blog

The long-awaited second series of Restoration Man is on Channel 4 at 9pm on Thursdays. Let George know what you think of it in the forum.
Across the country, thousands of old buildings lie forgotten and neglected, tangled up by red tape and development restrictions. Many of these orphaned properties are steeped in history and are of outstanding architectural interest, yet are slowly being left to rot.
Architect George Clarke is passionate about our architectural heritage. He travels the British Isles meeting the stubborn romantics who want to breathe new life into the …

This summer George began to investigate Britain’s housing crisis and set out across the UK to discover why hundreds of thousands of properties were lying empty.
George has found streets of houses caught up in red tape in areas where thousands of people are on housing waiting lists. He’s met owners of properties that have been empty for years. And he’s met people on the sharp end of the housing crisis – ex-soldiers sleeping on sofas, single mothers in overcrowded conditions and families from a professional background forced to give up …

Channel 4 has brought together a team of some of the most experienced property experts for a hard-hitting series about the property crisis and how it affects us all. It has commissioned Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud, Phil Spencer from Location, Location, Location, and architect-turned-presenter George Clarke to investigate how Britain got into such a mess with its housing stock, and what we might do about it. Veteran news anchor Jon Snow has also joined the team.
George Clarke – aka TV’s Restoration Man, usually charged with looking at how to …

George has been crowned the nation’s Favourite Home TV Celebrity at the eighth annual House Beautiful Awards. George stole the votes in the reader-selected category, beating off competition from much-loved gardener, broadcaster and novelist Alan Titchmarsh, who was runner-up. Last year’s winner Kirstie Allsopp, along with Jamie Oliver and Nick Knowles were also shortlisted for the award.
The House Beautiful Awards 2011 was held this year in one of England’s finest Art Deco buildings, Freemasons’ Hall in London. The awards comprised 26 categories, commending not only the UK’s top TV personalities …

George interviewing the Minister for Housing and Local Government, pushing for changes in policy to get the scandalous number of Empty Homes across Britain back into use.
George also met the Prime Minister, Boris Johnston, many government minister and the boss of Urban Splash developments, Tom Bloxham MBE.
All of this was for George’s Empty Home Show which transmits on Channel 4 this coming December.

Read the full Grand Designs Magazine article here
Ask most people what they think about basements and they’re likely to say ‘dark, damp,
dank, dingy’ – or pretty much anything other than ‘airy, light-filled, bright’. And really it’s
no wonder, given that basements are, by definition, below ground level. Imagine, then, my surprise when I walked into architect George Clarke’s basement to shafts of sunlight flooding the rooms. The white, sun-drenched space is so gloriously open that you quickly forget it’s an underground lair.
George, presenter of Channel 4’s The Home Show and Restoration …

New research from Pilkington energiKare™ has found that three quarters of us don’t know what the Green Deal is, with nearly one in five (17 per cent) admitting we have heard of the term but don’t know what it means for us.
The Green Deal, which is part of the proposed Energy Bill, could benefit the 72 per cent of homeowners who are keen to reduce their home’s energy usage. It aims to encourage consumers to make their homes more energy-efficient, by providing all of the upfront finance for the …

After being in partnership since 1998 with the successful, London-based architecture and design practice, Clarke:Desai, the two senior partners, George Clarke and Bobby Desai have decided to restructure their business, in order to pursue different business ambitions.
Clarke:Desai has completed a wide range of projects throughout London. From award winning Art Galleries to Master Planning projects,andan incredible portfolio of private residential and commercial projects, including many for high profile clients such as Simon Fuller and Jamie Oliver. They have also contributed an enormous amount of time to academic institutions in the …

Nearly two million British families don’t have adequate housing, and yet one million homes lie empty across the country. Fired up by this senseless waste, George will set out to raise awareness on the issue and offer practical solutions for those affected.
The UK’s housing crisis has had a devastating impact on thousands of people from a wide range of backgrounds – and some of those featured in the series have shocking stories to tell: an elderly couple forced to move because of a right-to-buy scheme, single mothers who remain on …

Garages are an interesting one when it comes to modern day family homes.  I can honestly say that out of the hundreds of garages I’ve been into when visiting someone’s home I cannot for the life of me remember the last time I’ve seen a car in one!
Garages are quite often packed with mountains of boxes, lawnmowers, kids bikes, tools, Christmas decorations, extra fridges and feezers and quite often the odd kitchen sink. Cars are often left on the driveway so the garage is used instead for storage. For me, …