Oh to love anything as much as George Clarke loves a triple aspect house. Show the man a room with two windows and he’s perfectly happy, but show him three and he is giddy. “Amazing!” he will beam brighter than the sunlight pouring in.
While Clarke might celebrate exceptional transformations, the 12th (12th!) series of George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces looks much the same as it did when it started back in 2012, albeit in higher definition. As always, the loveable architect checks in with imaginative, enterprising and occasionally bizarre “small space trailblazers” – people who see the potential in cabins, caravans and carriages that are past their best. This series kicks off by tugging on the heartstrings.
Ten years ago, Clarke featured carpenter Adam, who converted a knackered old double decker bus into a quirky holiday home in East Sussex. But in 2022, disaster struck when it was ravaged by a fire. As a devastated Adam picks through the wreckage of his beloved bus, we learn that he’s lost more than merely the fruits of his enormous hard work – the bus rental had provided his only source of income since a diagnosis of Ménière’s disease (an inner ear condition that causes extreme fatigue).
It’s an unexpectedly downbeat start to a usually feel good show. But Adam’s discovery of a pot plant that has somehow survived the fire is emblematic of a new start: the conversion of four shipping containers into a new holiday let that will hopefully restore his li.