Architect and television presenter
George Clarke
- Born: 27 May 1974, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England
- Age: 52
George Clarke is an English architect and television presenter, 52 years old, best known for Channel 4's The Restoration Man, George Clarke's Amazing Spaces and Old House, New Home. Born in Sunderland, he is also Chancellor of Northumbria University. He grew…
George Clarke: films and works
George Clarke's Amazing Spaces: First Home
2026 · TV series
Co-presenter
Four-part Channel 4 spin-off in which he and Will Hardie meet people building affordable homes from buses, boats, disused toilet blocks and tiny homes; the season finale is dated 9 October 2026.[32]
Where to watch it- George Clarke's Two Houses, One Home
George Clarke's Remarkable Renovations
2021 · TV series
Host
Channel 4 series meeting people who convert unused and unloved local landmarks into family homes; TMDB credits him with 18 episodes and a third series ran in 2024.[1][27]
Where to watch it
You Live in What? International
2020 · TV series
Host
Seven-episode series in which he travels the world looking at unusual homes for ideas for his own space-age concept house.[26]
The Restoration Man
2010 · TV series
Presenter
Channel 4 series, from March 2010 and made by Tiger Aspect, in which he travels Britain to meet people restoring historic buildings such as follies, churches and windmills; seven series to 2017.[14][21]
Where to watch it- The Home Show
Build a New Life in the Country
2005 · TV series
Presenter
His Channel 5 debut as a presenter; he fronted it from 2005 to 2007 after a screen test arranged through a literary agent.[1][4]
Where to watch it- Dream Home Abroad
- Property Dreams
Property Dreams
2004 · TV series
Presenter
Channel 5 series from 2004, the first of the main presenting jobs listed by Wikipedia.[1]
About George Clarke
George Clarke is an English architect and television presenter, 52 years old, best known for Channel 4's The Restoration Man, George Clarke's Amazing Spaces and Old House, New Home. Born in Sunderland, he is also Chancellor of Northumbria University. He grew up on a council estate in Washington, Tyne and Wear, where both his grandfathers were builders. He left school at 16, took a BTEC in building and construction at Wearside College, then won a first-class architecture degree at Newcastle University and finished his training at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London. He worked for FaulknerBrowns and for Terry Farrell, in London and Hong Kong, before founding his own practice, clarke:desai, in 1998, and later George Clarke + Partners in 2011. Television came by chance: a literary agent he approached about an architecture book put him forward for a screen test for Channel 5's Build a New Life in the Country, which began in 2005. He moved to Channel 4 and made his name with The Restoration Man (from 2010, seven series), then George Clarke's Amazing Spaces (from 2012, 13 series by 2025), which was nominated for a BAFTA in the Features category in 2015. Old House, New Home, Ugly House to Lovely House, George Clarke's Remarkable Renovations and a run of recent series followed, with George Clarke's Amazing Spaces: First Home airing from September 2026. Away from the camera he is a housing campaigner: a government adviser on empty homes from 2012, the presenter of the 2019 film George Clarke's Council House Scandal, founder of the education charity MOBIE and an ambassador for Shelter and the National Trust. He holds honorary degrees from several universities, was the youngest person ever given honorary membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and took up the Northumbria chancellorship on 1 November 2025.
- Known for
- Presenting The Restoration Man, George Clarke's Amazing Spaces and Old House, New Home on Channel 4; architecture and housing campaigning[1][5][8]
- Spouses
- Catriona (married for over ten years, separated 2013 and divorced); Katie Morgan Jones (married September 2018, reported to have separated in 2022)[1][7]
- Net worth
- No reliable public figure[2]
Fun facts about George Clarke
- In January 2014 he became the youngest person ever given honorary membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
- He decided to become an architect at about 12, after summers on building sites with his builder grandfather and a gift of an architecture book.
- When a careers adviser told him he would need a maths A level to become an architect, he wrote to about 50 local practices instead and took an apprenticeship paying 40 pounds a week.
- His television career began by accident: he approached a literary agent about writing a book and was asked to screen test for Channel 5's Build a New Life in the Country.
- George Clarke's Amazing Spaces was nominated for the 2015 BAFTA for Features alongside The Great British Bake Off and Long Lost Family; the winner was Grand Designs.
- In February 2025 the advertising regulator banned a Scottish Power advert featuring him because viewers were likely to mistake it for an episode of Amazing Spaces.
- The Amazing Spaces spin-off Shed of the Year has visited entries including a replica Millennium Falcon, a museum of antique lawnmowers and a shed that can travel at 80 mph.
- He became the fourth Chancellor of Northumbria University on 1 November 2025, succeeding Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
Famous George Clarke quotes
“There was nothing else I ever wanted to do. When most of the kids were playing with building blocks and pieces of Lego, I was actually on building sites.”
“I decided to make the absolute most out of life”
George Clarke's career, year by year
1974
Born in Sunderland
Born on 27 May 1974 and brought up on a council estate in Washington, Tyne and Wear, with both grandfathers working as builders.[1][2][4][5]
1990
Starts work at 16
Leaves school at 16, writes to about 50 architects in Sunderland, Washington and Newcastle and takes an apprenticeship at a small practice. He also takes a BTEC in building and construction at Wearside College.[1][4]
1995
Graduates from Newcastle
Graduates in architectural studies with first-class honours from Newcastle University, then trains with FaulknerBrowns in Newcastle. He later completes his architecture training at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.[1][6]
1998
clarke:desai
After working for Terry Farrell in London and Hong Kong, founds his own practice, clarke:desai, with Bobby Desai. Clients included Simon Fuller and Jamie Oliver.[1][4][5]
2001 to 2003
Visiting lecturer
Teaches as a visiting lecturer at Newcastle University, and later also lectures at Nottingham University.[1][6]
2004 to 2007
Channel 5 presenter
Presents Property Dreams (2004), Dream Home Abroad (2005) and Build a New Life in the Country (2005 to 2007) for Channel 5.[1][6]
2008
Moves to Channel 4
Starts presenting The Home Show for Channel 4, where he stays for more than 17 years.[1][8]
2010
The Restoration Man
Fronts The Restoration Man, following people who save historic buildings; it ran for seven series until 2017.[1][14]
2011
George Clarke + Partners
Leaves clarke:desai and opens George Clarke + Partners, a practice of about 25 staff focused on renovation and refurbishment. It was dissolved in August 2023.[1][4]
2012
Amazing Spaces and empty homes
George Clarke's Amazing Spaces premieres on 23 October 2012. In April the government names him an independent adviser on bringing empty homes back into use.[1][8][13]
2014 and 2015
Honours
Becomes the youngest person to receive honorary membership of the RICS (2014), and in 2015 gets honorary doctorates from Leeds Beckett, Wolverhampton and Northumbria universities. Amazing Spaces is nominated for a 2015 BAFTA.[1][6][15]
2016
Two new Channel 4 series
Ugly House to Lovely House and Old House, New Home both begin, extending his Channel 4 slate beyond Amazing Spaces.[1][22][23]
2017
MOBIE founded
Founds the charity Ministry of Building, Innovation and Education to inspire young people into architecture, design and construction, with school outreach and courses from BTEC to Master's level.[1][5]
2019 and 2020
Campaign film and lockdown series
Presents the campaigning film George Clarke's Council House Scandal (July 2019) and, in 2020, visits closed National Trust houses and tours the world's unusual homes.[24][25][26]
2024
Americana and a children's book
Presents George Clarke's Adventures in Americana on Channel 4 (January) and publishes his first children's book, Building a Home (1 February).[1][28]
2025
New series, National Trust and a chancellorship
Becomes a National Trust ambassador, presents Building Home, Beautiful Builds and Homes in the Wild, and is appointed Chancellor of Northumbria University, taking up the post on 1 November.[1][5][29][30][31]
2026
First Home and Two Houses, One Home
Channel 4 announces Two Houses, One Home in March, and Amazing Spaces: First Home, with Will Hardie, airs from September. His Home of Books project, a bookshop planned for Sunderland, is listed as coming soon.[5][9][16][32]
Awards and festival selections
7 awards won and 1 other nominations and festival selections.
| Year | Festival or award | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | University of SunderlandGeorge Clarke | WonHonorary Fellowship[6][8] |
| 2012 | London 2012 Olympic torch relayGeorge Clarke | WonCarried the Olympic torch through Camden, taking the place of his late brother-in-law, the original nominee[1] |
| 2014 | Royal Institution of Chartered SurveyorsGeorge Clarke | WonHonorary membership (Hon RICS), the youngest person ever given it[1][6] |
| 2015 | British Academy Television AwardsGeorge Clarke's Amazing Spaces | NominatedFeatures category; Grand Designs won[13][15] |
| 2015 | Leeds Beckett UniversityGeorge Clarke | WonHonorary Doctorate of Arts, for his contribution to the arts (July)[1][6] |
| 2015 | University of WolverhamptonGeorge Clarke | WonHonorary Doctor of Technology (September)[1][6] |
| 2015 | Northumbria UniversityGeorge Clarke | WonHonorary doctorate of civil law (December)[1][5][6] |
| 2023 | Teesside UniversityGeorge Clarke | WonHonorary doctorate (July)[1][8] |
Frequent collaborators
Will Hardie
Co-presenter on Amazing Spaces, credited on 79 episodes on TMDB, and his partner on the 2026 spin-off Amazing Spaces: First Home.[13][19][32]
Max McMurdo
Builder and fellow presenter who appears alongside him on Amazing Spaces.[13][19]
Luke Millard
Garden designer who works with him on Beautiful Builds, where homeowners choose how to split a budget between kitchen and garden.[30]
Bobby Desai
His business partner in the practice clarke:desai from 1998 until Clarke left in 2011.[1]
Terry Farrell
The architect whose London practice Clarke joined after FaulknerBrowns, working in London and Hong Kong.[1][5]
Simon Fuller
The entertainment entrepreneur was among the private clients of clarke:desai.[1]
Jamie Oliver
The chef was another early client of clarke:desai.[1]
Style, technique and reception
He is an architect who presents rather than a presenter who plays an architect. His shows put ordinary owners, builders and makers in front of the building, often converting spaces never designed as homes such as military, agricultural and industrial structures, and he has described pitching a restoration series about ordinary people who are quietly extraordinary. Amazing Spaces extends this to containers, horseboxes, buses, huts and treehouses, with the aim of showing affordable ways to live.[8][11][19]
Campaigning runs through the programmes. He became a government adviser on empty homes in 2012, made the 2019 film Council House Scandal, and founded MOBIE to bring young people into construction and design. He describes himself on his own site as an architect, campaigner and broadcaster, and promotes net-zero and ecological housing.[1][5][8][9][24]
Critical and audience reception has been warm and consistent: Amazing Spaces earned a BAFTA nomination in 2015, and a 2020 Guardian review headline called it Grand Designs with a smile on its face. In February 2025 the advertising regulator upheld complaints about a Scottish Power advert that borrowed the show's look; the ruling concerned how the advert was presented, not his conduct as presenter. Organisers of the 2025 KBSA conference billed him as having transformed the way Britain thinks about homes.[10][12][13][15]
By his own account he was a very shy teenager, and he has said that he had to learn to be confident. He still describes the north-east as home: he has family in Washington and Sunderland, is a Sunderland supporter, and plans to spend more time in the region.[1][5]
Where to watch George Clarke's films in Australia
George Clarke's Amazing Spaces: First Home (2026)
- Subscription: Binge, Foxtel Now
- Free: ABC iView
George Clarke's Two Houses, One Home (2026)
Not streaming, and not for rent or sale, in Australia.
George Clarke's Homes in the Wild (2025)
- Subscription: BINGE, Foxtel Now
George Clarke's Beautiful Builds (2025)
- Subscription: BINGE, Foxtel Now
George Clarke's Building Home (2025)
- Subscription: BINGE, Foxtel Now
- Free: ABC iview
George Clarke's Adventures in Americana (2024)
- Subscription: BINGE, Foxtel Now
- Free: ABC iview
George Clarke's Remarkable Renovations (2021)
- Free: ABC iView
You Live in What? International (2020)
Not streaming, and not for rent or sale, in Australia.
George Clarke's National Trust Unlocked (2020)
Not streaming, and not for rent or sale, in Australia.
George Clarke's Council House Scandal (2019)
Not streaming, and not for rent or sale, in Australia.
George Clarke's Old House, New Home (2016)
- Free: ABC iview
Ugly House to Lovely House with George Clarke (2016)
Not streaming, and not for rent or sale, in Australia.
Amazing Spaces: Shed of the Year (2014)
- Buy: Apple TV Store
George Clarke's Amazing Spaces (2012)
- Subscription: BINGE, Foxtel Now
- Free: ABC iview
The Restoration Man (2010)
- Subscription: Prime Video
- Buy: Apple TV ($22.99)
Build a New Life in the Country (2005)
- Subscription: Prime Video
- Free with ads: 10
Where to watch: JustWatch, checked 11 November 2026. Services change their catalogues often.
Latest releases
- Cameron of the Royal Mounted1921 / TMDB 9.0
- Marriages Are Made1918
- Redemption1917 / TMDB 10.0
- The Tiger Woman1917 / TMDB 5.0
Questions about George Clarke
Who is George Clarke the architect?
George Clarke is an English architect, television presenter, lecturer and writer, best known for Channel 4's The Restoration Man, George Clarke's Amazing Spaces and George Clarke's Old House, New Home. He was born in Sunderland in 1974, trained at Newcastle University and the Bartlett, and has been Chancellor of Northumbria University since 1 November 2025. He is not any of the other people who share his name.
How old is George Clarke?
George Clarke is 52 years old. He was born on 27 May 1974 in Sunderland, England, a date given by Wikipedia, Wikidata and TMDB. Some older websites wrongly say 27 June.
How tall is George Clarke?
There is no reliable published height for George Clarke. Wikipedia and Wikidata give none, and the figures on unofficial height sites cite no measurement or interview, so we do not publish one. What is on record is that his shows are filmed in some of the smallest homes in Britain, such as shipping containers, horseboxes and tiny huts.
Is George Clarke married?
George Clarke has been married twice and is not currently reported to be married. His first marriage was to Catriona, lasting more than ten years until they separated in 2013 and divorced, and his second was to Katie Morgan Jones in September 2018, with reports of a split in 2022. Kirstie Allsopp, whom some websites name as his wife, does not appear among his spouses in Wikipedia or Hello! Magazine.
Who is George Clarke's wife?
George Clarke has no wife that we can confirm at present. His first wife was Catriona, whom he met while renovating a property for her brother, and his second was Katie Morgan Jones, whom he married in 2018. Reports in February 2022 said they had separated.
What is George Clarke's net worth?
There is no reliable published figure for George Clarke's net worth, and Wikidata carries none, so we do not give one. What is on record: he has fronted Channel 4 programmes for more than 17 years, including seven series of The Restoration Man and 13 series of Amazing Spaces; he ran an architecture firm of about 25 staff from 2011 until it was dissolved in 2023; he has written the Home Bible book series and a children's book, and speaks at industry events. None of this gives an amount, and we do not repeat net-worth website estimates.
Does George Clarke have a partner or girlfriend?
George Clarke has not spoken publicly about a current partner in any source we could verify, so we do not name one. Magazine coverage has reported a relationship since his second marriage ended, but he has not confirmed it in an interview we could read.
What TV shows has George Clarke presented?
George Clarke has presented Property Dreams, Dream Home Abroad and Build a New Life in the Country on Channel 5, then for Channel 4 The Home Show, The Restoration Man, George Clarke's Amazing Spaces, Shed of the Year, Ugly House to Lovely House, Old House, New Home, National Trust Unlocked, Remarkable Renovations, Adventures in Americana, Building Home, Beautiful Builds, Homes in the Wild, Two Houses, One Home and Amazing Spaces: First Home. He also made the 2019 film Council House Scandal.
What is George Clarke's new show?
His newest series is George Clarke's Amazing Spaces: First Home, a four-part Channel 4 spin-off with Will Hardie that aired from September 2026. Channel 4 also announced George Clarke's Two Houses, One Home on 31 March 2026, and George Clarke's Homes in the Wild, which visits unusual homes in New Zealand and along Australia's east coast, arrived in 2025.
When is George Clarke's birthday and where is he from?
George Clarke's birthday is 27 May. He was born in Sunderland in 1974, grew up on a council estate in Washington, Tyne and Wear, and is English (British). He still has family in Washington and Sunderland.
Does George Clarke have children?
Yes, George Clarke has three children, all from his first marriage to Catriona, according to Wikipedia and Hello! Magazine, and Wikidata also records three. We do not publish their names.
How did George Clarke become an architect and TV presenter?
He decided on architecture at about 12 after summers on building sites with his builder grandfather. After a BTEC at Wearside College he took a first-class degree at Newcastle University and finished at the Bartlett, working for Terry Farrell and founding clarke:desai in 1998. A literary agent then put him forward for a Channel 5 screen test, which led to Build a New Life in the Country in 2005, and he was presenting for Channel 4 by 2008.
Has George Clarke won any awards?
George Clarke's biggest television nod is a 2015 BAFTA nomination in the Features category for Amazing Spaces; Grand Designs won. His honours include honorary RICS membership in 2014, as the youngest person ever, and honorary degrees from Leeds Beckett, Wolverhampton, Northumbria and Teesside universities plus an honorary fellowship from Sunderland.
Sources
- [1]Wikipedia: George Clarke (television presenter)
- [2]Wikidata: George Clarke (Q2872524)
- [3]TMDB: George Clarke (person 1549106)
- [4]The Big Issue, 4 February 2024: Architect George Clarke on making the most out of life
- [5]Northumbria University press release, 20 October 2025: George Clarke appointed Chancellor
- [6]Newcastle University, Architecture alumni: George Clarke
- [7]Hello! Magazine: Inside George Clarke's family life
- [8]Arlington Talent: George Clarke speaker biography
- [9]George Clarke official website
- [10]Advertising Standards Authority ruling on ScottishPower Energy Retail Ltd, 5 February 2025
- [11]Ideal Home Show: George Clarke shares his early inspiration
- [12]KBB Review: George Clarke to headline the 2025 KBSA Conference
- [13]Wikipedia: George Clarke's Amazing Spaces
- [14]Wikipedia: The Restoration Man
- [15]Wikipedia: 2015 British Academy Television Awards
- [16]Channel 4 press release, 31 March 2026: Two Houses, One Home
- [17]Perpetual Entertainment: George Clarke's Homes in the Wild highlights NZ's remote architecture
- [18]Hachette Australia: George Clarke author page
- [19]TMDB: George Clarke's Amazing Spaces
- [20]TMDB: Amazing Spaces: Shed of the Year
- [21]TMDB: The Restoration Man
- [22]TMDB: George Clarke's Old House, New Home
- [23]TMDB: Ugly House to Lovely House with George Clarke
- [24]TMDB: George Clarke's Council House Scandal
- [25]TMDB: George Clarke's National Trust Unlocked
- [26]TMDB: You Live in What? International
- [27]TMDB: George Clarke's Remarkable Renovations
- [28]TMDB: George Clarke's Adventures in Americana
- [29]TMDB: George Clarke's Building Home
- [30]TMDB: George Clarke's Beautiful Builds
- [31]TMDB: George Clarke's Homes in the Wild
- [32]TMDB: George Clarke's Amazing Spaces: First Home
- [33]TMDB: George Clarke's Two Houses, One Home
Profile researched from these sources and reviewed 5 November 2026.