George Clarke launches exciting home design competition for young people in Scotland

Architect and TV presenter George Clarke today launches a national challenge for young people in Scotland to design an extension to the Resource Efficient House in Glasgow.   

The challenge is being run by the City of Glasgow College, the Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) and George’s education charity for young people, MOBIE (the Ministry of Building Innovation and Education).  The challenge will inspire the next generation of home designers, makers and innovators.

The presenter of Channel 4 TV programmes Restoration Man, George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces and Old House New Home, joined Jacqueline Schindler of Tigh Grian Ltd and Robert Cowie of ÜserHuus Ltd, the creators of the Resource Efficient House, at a webinar hosted by Caitriona Jordan of the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC), to launch the exciting challenge to schools and colleges.

The Resource Efficient House was assembled in 2013 at the Building Research Establishment’s Ravenscraig site. It is a ground-breaking, exemplar quality, sustainable and affordable family home of the future that includes the latest green technologies.  It was purposely designed to be deconstructed and moved to a new site and it is now time for it to be relocated to the centre of Glasgow and retrofitted with the latest technology. 

The challenge invites schools and colleges from across Scotland to design an extension to the Resource Efficient House, to provide a beautiful, green and healthy living space for its occupants. College students are also being asked to plan the dismantling and relocation of the house to the centre of Glasgow and to upgrade the building with the latest smart technology and services to make it more energy efficient and zero carbon.

The challenge is open to young people aged between 11 and 25. The deadline for entries is 28 June 2021.

Speaking at the launch George said: “MOBIE is all about the future of home design in Britain and across the world. I am delighted to be launching this exciting challenge, the first MOBIE challenge for young people in Scotland, with our partners the City of Glasgow College and the Energy Skills Partnership.

Clarke added “We all need a shelter and 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. That is why we are asking students to think about designing an extension for and relocating the Resource Efficient House, so they are thinking about new technologies and approaches to buildings that can help us become zero carbon.   

He went on “By harnessing the talents, ideas and energy of the young people of today we can change the way we build homes. The amazing student designs that I know will flow from this challenge will show that we have a future generation with the talent and the imagination to really make a difference for people and the planet.”

John Renwick, Construction Sector Manager at the Energy Skills Partnership, a collaboration of all Scotland’s regional colleges, said “construction is a vital sector to the economy and it is an industry crying out for more people with the right skills.  This challenge gives students at Scottish colleges an opportunity to experience real construction problems with a real house.  By involving schools, it will help show children how interesting, rewarding and varied a career in the built environment can be. 

He added “Our future homes need to help us avoid climate change and environmental damage, so with COP26 the UN Climate change conference coming to Glasgow in November, it is most appropriate that this challenge is asking young people to learn about and further develop the ground-breaking ideas used in the Resource Efficient House”.  

George Clarke is the founder of MOBIE, an educational charity which is spearheading a fundamental change to the building industry. MOBIE is focused on raising the design standards, build quality and innovation around home building.  Its mission is to inspire new generations into the building profession and to fundamentally transform the way we think about, design and construct homes in the UK.

Competition brief:

The Design Challenge has 3 age groups ages 11-16, 16-18 and 19+.  It focuses on the Resource Efficient House.  The challenge has four elements:

1. How to dismantle the existing house;

2. Logistics of transporting the parts across Glasgow and reconstructing it on new site, including site and services preparation;

3. The design of a new extension/annexe to the existing three-bedroomed family home. A self-contained home for additional family members, (elderly or young relatives) with flexible/adaptable rooms and facilities to meet their different lifestyles;

4. Upgrading and equipping the building with new and smart technologies/services to make this a fully zero carbon and energy efficient house for now and the future.

The different parts of the challenge are designed to fit in with existing Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) school and college courses and to offer something for everyone studying Construction and the Built Environment and Design and Technology, including those interested in design and architecture.

City of Glasgow College

Since 2010, the City of Glasgow College has transformed the delivery of college education in terms of its physical estate, its performance levels and its reach. The quality of learning and teaching is sector leading and the new twin site super campus development is heralding a new era in college education.  The College is consistently in the top two in the UK for WorldSkills and composite overall number one in the Scottish sector for success in student attainment in combined Further and Higher Education.  Its innovative approaches to teaching and learning enable personalised development for all its students - and our college is designed for 40,000 of them - across a range of nearly 2,000 courses from Access Level to Masters. 

Energy Skills Partnership (ESP)

ESP was established in 2011.  It is a collaboration of all Scotland’s regional colleges. It wants to see a college sector which works collaboratively to deliver the right skills, in the right place at the right time for engineering, construction and the energy sector.  Its vision is for a college sector working in partnership alongside industry that will meet the regional skills needs to maximise investment and build Scotland’s economic development to generate the capacity of future jobs. 

MOBIE: The Ministry of Building Innovation and Education

Established in 2017 by architect and TV presented, George Clarke, MOBIE promises to inspire new generations to join the building and construction professions and fundamentally transform the way we think, design and construct homes both in the UK and abroad. An educational, research and development charity, MOBIE’s purpose is to focus on developing innovative ways to build homes, providing access to education and skills development and vitally, challenge the housing market to do better. Spearheading advanced home design and construction thinking, MOBIE will work with both industry and government to create homes that will genuinely transform the way we live in Britain. www.mobie.org.uk