Small wonders and amazing spaces
George Clarke celebrates thinking outside the box in his Amazing Spaces special in which he visits New Zealand. Jim Maloney reports.
George Clarke returns to TVNZ 1 this week for a two-part special of Amazing Spaces. In the series, Clarke reviews his global search for the world’s most ingenious small-space builds, from Canada to Japan, Norway to New Zealand, and from minimalist glass cabins to an epic beach house.
But while the series has taken him all over the world and seen him build a sizeable fan-base, he is keen to dismiss any notion of being a celebrity.
‘‘I don’t want to be a celebrity. I want to be a good architect and to make and craft really beautiful programmes that people love watching,’’ he says.
‘‘I set up my own TV production company five years ago because I love the process of making a TV show, and getting beautiful shots and writing nice scripts.
‘‘But I don’t really watch them that much when they go out because it feels a bit weird watching myself.’’
Such refreshing comments stem from a firmly-rooted, less-thanglamorous background growing up in Sunderland, in England’s northeast.
But he looks back on it fondly.
‘‘I had the most fantastic upbringing,’’ he says. ‘‘We had a strong, stable community and it was great, living on an estate of affordable homes for rent for people who really needed it.’’
His interest in building and design came as a child from watching his builder grandfather at work on building sites.
‘‘It was before the days of health and safety and so I even got to sit in a bulldozer,’’ he laughs.
‘‘When I was a little older I got more into the design aspect and would get a bus into town and sketch various buildings. I always had a pencil in my hand. I started work for an architect’s practice when I was 16.’’
His TV break came after he wrote a book about
architecture and was then asked to screen test for a new TV programme.
He was offered the job and then found himself as frontman for various other architecture/ building programmes. He also works with charities to help build affordable accommodation for the homeless and underprivileged – something about which he is passionate.
His Amazing Spaces show has featured some eye-opening developments from a tree-top home to a boat turned into a luxury apartment.
‘‘An ‘amazing space’ is somewhere that you just think ‘wow’ when you walk in. It’s a place where you instinctively have a positive reaction and puts a smile on your face.
‘‘The story behind the space is important too, in the series. It’s the person brave or eccentric enough to do something different. It’s not about the master builder.
‘‘One of the most surprising builds I’ve seen was by a woman who lived in a straight-forward suburban terraced house and who built a cob house at the end of her garden, with mini-turrets, painted pink. It looked like a mini-castle.
‘‘I love people like that, who think outside the box and do something remarkable. That’s what the show is all about.’’
George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, TVNZ 1, Thursday, April 16