George Clarke tells Chris Evans about 'inspiring kids' with his 'very simple' new book

Virgin Radio

26 Jan 2024, 11:58

George Clarke visited Virgin Radio to talk about his new children’s book, How To Build A Home.

The architect, presenter and writer’s latest book lands next Thursday, February 1st. Joining the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch, he said: “It's my first kids book. This is for six to nine year olds. Really, really simple. I mean, I'm personally passionate about homes, home design, home innovation.”

He continued: “I've got this home educational charity called MOBIE, as well. So we do a lot of work with kids, and using home as a vehicle to inspire them into design and changing their environment. And really then define what the future of home is for them, you know, so it's a very, very, very simple kids book.”

The book is part of the Little Experts series, an illustrated series for children aged 6-9, which sees leading experts introduce curious young minds to hot topics. In it, George shares how homes are built all around the world, teaching children the different materials, technologies and environments that an architect considers while making a house a home. George told Chris: “If you've got a decent roof over your head, it's like the foundation stone for everything. You know, everything else in life gives you a chance, basically.

“But also, I think there's a lot of housing that is a bit rubbish.”

The book focuses on looking into the future and sustainability and has accompanying drawings by illustrator, Robert Sae-Heng: “There’s a lot of big, mass house building that's been done, and you think, ‘Is that really the best that we can do for the environment and the way people live in communities?’ and things like that. 

“Just inspiring kids to define the homes of their future is something I'm super, super passionate about.”

When asked by Chris his top three materials to build a home, George enthused about graphene, saying: “It’s a kind of atomic, beautiful, mad, crazy material,” and also raved about timber and stone. “The good thing about timber and stone is they are materials we’ve used for 1000s of years,” he said. “They get better with age, and they're absolutely beautiful if they’re well crafted.”

George has been a television presenter since 2004, best known for his work transforming houses in The Home Show, The Restoration Man, George Clarke's Old House New Home and George Clarke's Amazing Spaces. He told Chris: “I can never give my eyes a day off. It's actually kind of slightly annoying. It's an occupational hazard really. You just can't switch off from it, because you kind of eat, sleep and breathe architecture. So whether you're walking down the street, whether you're on holiday, I can never switch off from it, ever.”

He added: “I can still enjoy it, but I can't really fully separate from it.”

The presenter said: “I've just been making a new series called George Clarke's Adventures in Americana, all about American design, cars, houses, the lot. Fridge-freezers, even.”

How to Build a Home Is out next Thursday, 1st February.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.