Channel 4 commissions: George Clarke's 100 Years of British Homes (w/t)

14 November 2018

Growing up on a council estate in Washington, Tyne and Wear, architect George Clarke has a very personal experience of the positive impact of social housing.

Marking the centenary of the nation’s council house movement, George Clarke’s 100 Years of British Homes (w/t) -  a landmark 3 x 60’ series for Channel 4 - sets out to explore the very latest design and building methods to build the perfect council estate - aspirational and beautiful in design, somewhere where communities can grow and where people can be proud to live.

George will visit some of the world’s most outstanding social housing schemes, sharing ideas and experiences to design and help create part of a community neighbourhood in Manchester.

George Clarke said: “I’m really excited to be working with Manchester City Council on our innovative new social housing project.  Council housing is as important today as it was 100 years ago when it was first set up  to   tackle the country’s housing crisis. Families need high quality, beautiful homes and most importantly they need to feel part of an inclusive community, as I did growing up on an estate. We must also get rid of the stigma sometimes associated with council housing. Truly affordable homes for rent are needed by so many people and I hope our exciting project will help stimulate much needed change across Britain and inspire council’s to build better and build beautiful.”

Clemency Green, Channel 4 Commissioning Editor Features and Formats, added: “This is a hugely exciting project at a pivotal moment in the history of social housing. We love the ambition at the heart of this series; to create a blueprint for the next generation of social housing to be proud of, and that is a joy to live in.”

Rebecca Mulraine from Amazing Productions added: “In this series George will design social housing that is fit for the 21st century family. It is a subject that he is passionate about and we are thrilled to be working with Manchester City Council to make this happen.”

Councillor Suzanne Richards, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and regeneration, said: “Meeting the ever growing demand for high quality housing is a challenge faced by Councils across the country - and delivering new social homes at scale is a particular feat, but hugely important to our residents. We look forward to working with George Clarke and his team on one of our social housing projects.”

George Clarke’s 100 Years of British Homes (w/t) (3 x 60’) was commissioned by Channel 4 Commissioning Editor, Features and Formats Clemency Green and produced by Amazing Productions, Executive Producers Rebecca Mulraine and Tania Fallon.

ENDS