George Clarke says that protecting the environment is the focus of young people’s home designs, on World Environment Day, as he launches a report featuring amazing future homes from the Home of 2030 Young Persons’ Design Challenge.
The presenter of Channel 4 programmes Restoration Man, George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces and Old House New Home, launches a showcase of the homes that young people dream about and want to create for themselves and their families. The report summarises the key design themes that matter to young people and showcases their high-quality designs. Appropriately on World Environment Day, the designs major on reducing the environmental impact of our homes by:
- Using recycled and repurposed traditional materials, such as reclaimed steel, timber and even plastic, and using alternative building materials including cork and bamboo.
- Generating energy naturally through solar power and recycled heat (from the London Tube Network); and
- Providing lots of greenspace and beneficial environments in the form of gardens, planted roofs and green walls.
Clarke said: “We all need a shelter – our home is the most important piece of architecture in our lives. But home is more than just a shelter, it is a place that enhances the quality and experience of our everyday lives and our health and well-being. Homes of the future must look after our planet. A well-designed home can enhance the way we live and promote good health and wellbeing”.
He added: “Young people from primary schools to university graduates amazed us with their creativity, design skills and passion for home, placemaking and the environment. They responded brilliantly to our design challenge with incredible and inspirational, future thinking designs – and they clearly demand homes that protect and enhance our natural world”.
The visions of young people published in the report set solid foundations upon which we can create affordable, energy-efficient, beautiful, healthy homes and communities for future generations to live in and love.
The Home of 2030 Young Persons’ Design Challenge was created by George Clarke’s education charity MOBIE – Ministry of Building Innovation and Education, alongside a design challenge for professionals, both supported by three Government Departments, including the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government.
The challenge asked young people to let their imaginations run free by designing an innovative and inspirational green home that meets the changing needs of future generations, including protecting the environment, promoting wellbeing, quality of life and healthy ageing – homes young people can afford and enjoy, where they can bring up families, create memories, and grow old, and that utilise smart new technologies and do not further damage our planet.
Housing Minister, the RT Hon Chris Pincher MP said: “I am hugely impressed by the range of innovative and exciting design ideas put forward by all the young people who took part in the competition. It is a priority of the Government to improve the energy efficiency of homes, reduce carbon emissions and build homes that are better for the environment. The standard of entries were incredibly high and I would like to thank all the participants for sharing their vision of a greener and more sustainable future.”
Young people had to design a ‘home for life’, and to think about how people will live in their homes in 10 years’ time. The designs needed to tackle the key issues facing our society today – climate change, an ageing population, multi-generational living, and changing work patterns and lifestyles. It called for homes that incorporate new technologies and that use sustainable materials and construction methods to create a healthy, happy and affordable home to live in.
Clarke continued: “The home of the future will be lived in by today’s young people and they should have a hand in the way homes are designed. That is why I am so excited to be launching the Home of 2030 young persons’ design challenge report today. It showcases brilliant sustainable, adaptable and green future home designs by young people aged 11 and 25. Young talent is fundamental to the transformation and future of design and construction and it is essential for the house building industry to nurture this talent. The future of homes is in safe hands if we let these amazingly talented young people help design our homes of the future!”