George and the house
EORGE CLARKE has seen some pretty spectacular design feats in his time, but there is one in this series opener that leaves his jaw on the floor.
He’s in Wales with couple Tracey and Guy – who happens to be an aviation engineer – who have come up with a mind-bending space saving solution.
Attached to their home is a little 170-year-old tower, a former bake house with a great big oven and not much room for anything else.
“Crikey, it’s tiny isn’t it,” says architect George.
But they have big plans to convert the bake house into a fully self-contained cottage with a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living and dining space.
Since this family are not the Borrowers, it seems impossible to imagine this will ever work, but you have to see the magic result to believe it.
A doorbell links to a 7ft dragon mural that breathes real fire on the front wall, a seemingly innocuous flower print transforms into a dining room table at one touch and the piece de resistance – there’s an actual disappearing bathroom complete with rotating cupboards that is hidden behind a kitchen when not in use.
“That is nuts!” says George. “It’s the daddy of all engineering tricks. It’s genius on another level.”
In other news of amazing spaces, George visits a bonkers property on the coastline of Chile.
It looks like two unattractive, massive blocks of concrete leaning on each other. With no windows or doors, he can’t even find a way in.
But when he does, just wait until you see inside…