George Clarke moves housebuilding education charity to the North East

The architect and presenter says he wants to establish real roots and a legacy in the region

TV architect George Clarke has revealed his educational charity MOBIE will move to the North East in a bid to introduce school children to careers in housebuilding.

The Wearside-born and raised star, who studied at Newcastle University, says he wants to inspire children predominantly between the ages of 10-18 about home design and building - in a bid raise the standards of housing in the region and help plug skills gaps. He described the move as a "homecoming" and hinted he will also be relocating back to the North East.

It will see the charity Mr Clarke founded in 2017 - the Ministry of Building Innovation and Education (MOBIE) - based out of the forthcoming £18m Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy (HICSA) which is under construction in the Sheepfolds area of the city and is a joint venture between Sunderland College, Sunderland Council and MOBIE. And while the charity will operate its Sunderland home, its activity will stretch to schools across the whole region.

Mr Clarke, who is also a trustee for the nearby Foundation of Light charity, said being part of the development - which will be a centre for innovating future housing - was a "dream come true". He called on industry people from across the North East to engage, pointing to MOBIE's army of volunteers that have already helped deliver schemes across the country.

Speaking to ChronicleLive at the Sunderland Business Festival taking place at the nearby Sheepfolds Stables development, he said: "I've been Sunderland through and through, all of my life. My Nana worked for a printers across the road, my family were brought up on this side of the river in terraced housing - this is my patch. You've just got this amazing energy here at the moment. What Sunderland Council have been doing with Peter McIntyre and the team in regeneration - it's brilliant. Bridges are being built, housing is coming up, developments being done on the Vaux site."

In its new guise, MOBIE will continue to run "design challenges" which invite school children to come up with visions for future living based on local requirements. It will also introduce three-to-five day "bootcamps" where children will be connected with people working in the housebuilding industry, and will take part in workshops designed to get them thinking about the future of architecture and design. The pupils will also get to visit developments across the region, both those deemed to be good and bad, and will be encouraged to think about what makes good architecture. At the end of the bootcamp, they will have one day to design a house, either as individuals or as a group.

Mr Clarke explained the catalyst for moving MOBIE to the North East was its lead role in this year's Washington 60 Design Challenge, which saw schools across the town participate in a competition that marked the 60th anniversary of the new town where he grew up. The response to the challenge was said to have been the most successful of the charity's challenges around the country.

On the purpose of the new bootcamp format, Mr Clarke said: "You might come away and think, you know what, I didn't think the built environment industry had that much to offer. I think a lot of people think it's just about construction. What am I going to be? A plasterer, a bricklayer, an electrician or a plumber? That's all great, and we need all that, but what about being a sustainability consultant if you're passionate about net zero, what about getting into materials technologies where you might be testing materials to be more innovative for the 21st century. It's for us to inject a massive amount of inspiration and energy into them."

He added: "It's also about staying in touch with the children - particularly if some of them show a real passion for it. We'll have already made connections between them and industry in that week and before you know it, we could have them going back to architectural practices or going into universities to talk to architecture students.

"For me it's about forging those links. I was so lucky that I had a CDT teacher called Bob Radcliffe, and he basically got me work experience in an architectural practice when I was 14. That changed my life."