George Clarke Restoration Man
To highlight the painstaking restoration currently taking place at Sir John Soane’s museum hosting the event, George Clarke partner of architectural practice Clarke:Desai and presenter of the channel 4 design programmes “The Home Show” and the upcoming “Restoration Man” was invited to talk about restoration of derelict properties.
Having a passion for old buildings, his interest is to help his clients preserve and find a new use for them thus prolonging their life. This thought comes as a response to environmental concerns as it is a truly sustainable way to treat existing buildings and the delight in the distinct design opportunity each project offers. The case studies presented were varying in their degree of historic importance and architectural merit, but each showed a unique challenge to restoration.
There are many different approaches to restoration to meet a range of tastes and the English Heritage Agenda, whose current policy seems to be in favour of retaining and renovating original features without mimicking the past in the new build elements of the project. This gives scope for a clear juxtaposition of the modern against the original, which is George’s idea of restoration as encapsulated in the phrase: “I am not interested in creating living museums. The challenge is to give these historic buildings a modern twist and drag them into the 21st century by creating unique homes”.
All this can be done very cheaply -as George outlined many of the projects featured on the programme cost less than the average UK house price. However keeping the cost low may mean doing some of the work yourself or purchasing materials upon availability, even off ebay, as in one of the projects featured. However what seems to have on average resulted in more successful outcomes was the passion of some of the individuals in their single-minded determination to save a structure than its profit oriented counterpart.
To estimate the magnitude of any restoration challenge to be taken on, one would need to consider all restrictions associated with such a project, as dictated by the building’s “listing” and of course its original structure and condition. Restoration should not be seen as the panacea for all abandoned buildings out there that one can put their hands on. Some buildings are simply unsuitable for their new proposed use, they may be virtually uninhabitable with a failing structure, which again is not 100% prohibitive based on budget and the degree of alteration allowed by the local authorities, none of which is to be underestimated.
As an example, in one of the properties highlighted in the presentation, the living room was accessed via a trap door in the coffee table. Another one, a Martello tower in Kent, roughly illustrated by George in the sketch above, failed to deliver a reasonable accommodation layout for the client and with English Heritage being obstinate in their view of not accepting a modern extension to the tower, the idea of restoration had to be abandoned. The hidden cost behind “grabbing a bargain” is also commonly underestimated at the onset leading to early abandonment of an ambitious, maybe overly so, project.
Sometimes it is probably wiser to just let such buildings be: there is probably a reason why they have been standing there empty of use at first place… There are always some hidden gems, if one was to look hard enough, but it would be recommended to seek expert advise before judging the suitability of what seems to be a promising restoration project.
Many varied thoughts were exchanged on the subject while mingling over a glass of wine that the hosts kindly provided after the talk. We would like to read your views, so please take this opportunity to comment below.
Restoration man will commence on Channel 4 in April with a variety of intersting projects to spark one’s imagination so watch this space http://www.georgeclarke.co.uk/
If you would like further information about George Clarke and Bobby Desai’s studio please visit their website at http://clarkedesai.com/
A visit to the magical interiors and sacred gardens of Sir John Soane’s museum is also highly recommended for those who have not yet had the chance http://www.soane.org/
Tags: George Clarke, London, restoration, Sir John Soane's museum, talks
