George Clarke

“One of the great things about my job is that people are always keen to show me the quirky bits of their house.”

“I love really creative thinking that can make the ordinary extraordinary.”

“Everyone wins if you buy an ugly house. The people who buy it win because they have got something at a much lower price than the nicest house on the street. They have a chance of making their own mark and making it personal, rather than paying more to buy someone else's taste.”

“No disrespect to Kevin McCloud, Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer, but that's the last thing I want to watch when I get home.”

“British housing stock has so much potential to be dragged into the 21st century.”

“I've got a place in Ibiza and that feels like home from home. But I love to go to far-flung, adventurous places.”

“I went to university, became an architect and - almost by accident - fell into a career in television, starting on Channel 5's 'Build a New Life in the Country.'”

“There's something magical about rooftops. You feel like you're in 'Mary Poppins.'”

“I love architecture, I love buildings, I love history, buildings that have got a story to tell, and we can save the building along the way by turning it into a house. For me, as an architect, there's nothing better than that.”

“Great architecture is not just about buildings like the Shard or the Guggenheim - it can be a caravan, castle, boat or house.”

“For me, one of the most flattering things in the world is for parents to write to me saying their children want to be architects.”

“You can't lay bricks in the snow or rain. We still use wet plaster on walls which might not dry for a week if it's frosty. The way we build houses today is unbelievably inefficient. Ridiculously inefficient. Gas technology has moved on, but building is still in the dark ages. We still build houses the way the Romans did.”

“I'm 6ft 3in and I think people think I'm around 5ft 10in.”

“Good design and talented architects can transform an ugly house on a relatively accessible and achievable budget.”

“Anyone can become homeless, and thousands of people grow up in homes that just aren't good enough. Working with them reminds me every day, just how blessed I am.”

“I was researching amazing spaces across the world and one project blew my mind - the glass igloos of Finland. There are 65 of these structures set in 1200 acres of pine forest.”

“I'd love to have a wine cellar.”

“When most of the kids were playing with building blocks and pieces of Lego, I was actually on building sites.”

“I don't watch any TV all week because I'm working. So at weekends, I'm always playing catch-up on box-set dramas, usually several at once.”

“New Zealanders don't do drama, they don't do stress - they choose not to worry about the small things to make time to enjoy life, and their lives are much the better for it.”