Hugh Wallace: Oliver Plunkett Street is a vibrant part of Cork but nobody lives on that street

“I drive around the country and there are so many properties that are vacant, particularly on the West Coast of Ireland. If you go through Donegal, Clare, Galway, Mayo or Sligo, there are hundreds of empty houses because of immigration. People literally closed the door and went off to America or England or Canada, but the property is still there. A lot of the time, the person that left is dead, but they still have title to the property. We need to resolve what happens in those cases, because no one can buy those houses because they don’t have title.

“They’re just little simple things, but that might release a thousand houses. Then you do another little thing and that releases another thousand homes and all of a sudden, you’ve got movement. Every thousand properties you free up are assisting in delivering sustainable homes.

“Look at Oliver Plunkett Street. It’s a vibrant part of Cork but nobody lives on that street. If that was in Paris, they’d f*cking eat your hand off. If it was London, they’d chop your hand off. We’re pushing people further and further out of towns and cities and it’s not sustainable.”

As an architect with a huge passion for the built heritage of the country, Hugh wants to see more old properties brought back to life but believes that we have to find the right balance between protecting our history and allowing people to find a home in properties that would otherwise crumble.

“I think that a conversation needs to be had about protection. At the moment, a building could well be protected, but there are lots of buildings around the country that are protected and are falling and disappearing back into the ground. A lot of that has to do with people being unable to undertake the work that the building needs because of the associated cost that goes with a protected building. These buildings, that are so closely protected, then disappear. We need to have a much more balanced approach as to what you can and cannot do.

“We live in an age where we talk about sustainability and heat and insulation and we just can’t do that on these protected buildings, but you should be able to. I’m just saying there’s a balance here, as to how you move forward. We worked on a project that was a very large important house, which was literally a half year away from being so badly damaged, that it would collapse. The client wanted, first of all, to heat the house and put the radiators on the wall. They weren’t freestanding radiators, and the conservation officer absolutely lost the plot.

“I just thought hang on, hold on now, this building was about to have no roof, was about to not exist and you are losing the plot over a radiator appearing on a wall? There really needs to be a sensible approach so that people can bring these magnificent buildings back to life.”

Hugh’s passion for old houses is always evident when watching The Great House Revival. The new series starts tomorrow on RTÉ 1, it’s the first since 2020, and Hugh has spent two years visiting the homeowners. His delight in their projects and admiration for the sometime mammoth tasks they’ve taken on is clear.

“The interesting thing about the different programmes is how Home of the Year takes seven weeks to film in the summer and early autumn where, in contrast, The Great House Revival is two years in the making.

“This year we have six amazing properties, six amazing homeowners and I’ve been up and down the country for all that time checking in and seeing how they’re doing.

“What these people take on is amazing. First of all, they’re novices and it’s not like they’re architects or engineers or builders. These are just normal people who have found a dream home. The house in Passage West this series is owned by an IT person, who’s doing this extraordinary makeover and then there’s another lady who works in social media. We have a beautician, a hairdresser, a manager and air crew. These are just an amazing group of people, who have the passion and a love for our heritage and my golly, do they have a learning curve.

“I love to see their plans and how they’re going to achieve it. Then someone will say that they have a budget of €150,000 and that seems outrageous but interestingly they almost always manage to do it.

“They roll up their sleeves and do an awful lot of the donkey work themselves. They do all the house clearing and the demolitions. They’re the labourers of these projects and that makes a huge difference to overall cost on the project.”

Of all the TV projects that Hugh is involved with, The Great House Revival is the most gripping. There feels like there’s real jeopardy attached to the projects and you’re rooting for the homeowners and what they’re doing.

“There’s so much of that this season both because of Covid and also, and I’m not being rude, because of the lack of knowledge and experience of the homeowners. They’re just incredible people because they’re not only amazing creatively but they’re so passionate. It’s just fabulous to watch.”

Fans of all three of Hugh’s shows will know that he gives great peeks into the homes featured on his Instagram account, where his bio says: Architect (yes, still designing). With his successful TV career, it might be easy for people to forget that he still runs a busy practice working on some amazing projects.

“I love it. I’m involved in a number of one-off houses, and I really enjoy working with owners on their homes. I particularly love working on houses, which are perhaps past their sell-by date, and being grabbed, lived in and enjoyed again. I love to see them come back to life with families and kids running around. Houses love to be loved and they give so much back when they’re loved.

“I don’t have a particular style and that’s very important, because the house is about the client’s style, not mine.

“But in my opinion if you buy an old house, even if you have to bring the sleeping bag, you need to sleep in it first, because you’ll realise that where you thought you wanted the living room isn’t actually where you want the living room. You’ll understand what the sunlight does. Sunlight is so important in Ireland, in the winter it’s completely different to the light in the summer and I think you need to see that.

“An awful lot of people buy a house, get in the architect, do the extension, but haven’t actually lived in the house. It’s my job to occasionally say no, that’s not what you need.”

Hugh has taken on his own passion project this year. Together with his husband Martin, they’re building on the site of a derelict house off Clanbrassil Street in Dublin city. Work was delayed because of the pandemic but has started now and they hope to be in by Christmas.

Interestingly, Hugh will take a back seat on the interiors and allow Martin free reign (though he laughs that he hopes to get his hands on a small room to wallpaper from floor to ceiling).

“Martin has great taste as well. The houses we’ve lived in have been fabulous. Pretty simple, white walls, timber floors, nice kitchen, stuff like that, but I’m hoping to get out the wallpaper somewhere. We do disagree and I’m hoping I get the spare room to do, but then I might end up in it! He and Amanda Bone would really be perfect bedfellows.”

• The Great House Revival is on RTÉ 1 on Sunday