George Clarke goes back to his roots to help his town celebrate its Big 60

George, whose TV shows include George Clarke's Amazing Spaces, was in Washington to announce the winners of a creative design challenge for schools in the town where he grew up.

The Washington 60 Design Challenge was organised in recognition and celebration of the town's 24 July landmark birthday by Sunderland City Council's Washington Area Committee in partnership with George Clarke and his charity MOBIE. 

It saw young people from schools across Washington being challenged to come up with their own vision for an innovative residential community for the next 60 years.

Schools taking part were asked to design a 21st century super sustainable 'courtyard' style housing scheme, with houses for all ages designed around a pedestrianised courtyard square - in line with the essential features of the original 1960's plan for Washington New Town.

Councillor Sean Laws, Chair of the Washington 60 Steering Group organising the town's 60th birthday celebrations, said: "We were delighted to welcome George back to Washington to kick off our birthday weekend celebrations.

"When it first became a new town in 1964, Washington was hailed for its innovative and forward-thinking residential designs for homes and for establishing long lasting communities.

"So when we began planning our 60th birthday celebrations last year, we thought it would be a lovely idea to ask the town's young people of today what they would come up with if they were designing their own Washington New Town of the future. 

"And naturally we could think of no-one better to lead this special birthday challenge than Washington's very own George Clarke.

"It's been a brilliant opportunity for the schools involved and who knows, some of the wonderfully talented youngsters who took part might even be inspired to follow in George's footsteps and take up architecture as a career, which would be a fantastic legacy."

More than 20 schools took part in the design challenge, with children from nine of the 10 shortlisted entries attending the awards ceremony at Arts Centre Washington.

Barmston Village Primary School scooped the title of overall winner in the 7 - 11 Primary School Category at the judging and awards ceremony, with George Washington Primary School and Harry Watts Academy named as runners up.

While St Robert's School and Biddick Academy were joint overall winners of the 12 - 16 Secondary School Category, with Oxclose Community Academy named as runner up.

George grew up in Blackfell area of Washington New Town in the 1970's and went to Blackfell Primary School the Oxclose Secondary School, before going to Sunderland College. He then went on to Newcastle University, where he became the first student from a vocational background to study architecture there before starting work at Faulkner Browns Architects. 

Commenting on the challenge, George Clarke, said: "My education charity, MOBIE, have run several student design challenges across all parts of the country over the last few years, but this one is very special to me personally. I grew up in Washington and so loved the home and the community where I lived. 

"It is great to be celebrating Washington New Town's 60th anniversary with a design competition. I am absolutely delighted and amazed by how so many of the schools here have engaged with our homes design challenge. 

"Most of the local schools, both primary and secondary have participated in our design workshop sessions over the last few months and today is the opportunity to showcase some of their designs and models.

"They have all worked so hard and hopefully learnt a lot about home design, sustainable materials and thought how people will live here over the next 60 years.

"Picking the winners and awarding the prizes has been so hard. A massive thank you to every school, teacher and student who have helped make this challenge so exciting."

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, said: "Washington has always been a pioneering place with a very proud and rich history. That spirit from the town's foundation is just as strong today on its 60th birthday. It's inspiring to see the town's young people show off their talent and I'd like to congratulate all the children who took part on their excellent efforts to imagine what Washington might look like in the future.

"I hope some will be inspired to follow in George Clarke's footsteps and make their mark on architecture and design in the region and beyond. We know our North East is a beautiful part of the world and what we've seen today shows our future is in safe hands with the creativity of the next generation."

Among the prizes awarded to the prize-winners on the day were:

- 40 copies of George's book - How To Build A HOME - donated by his publishers' Harper Collins

- 50 pairs of match day tickets - donated by SAFC

- 32 tickets for forthcoming shows - donated by the Sunderland Empire

- £2,000 from Lovell Builders to take 4 classes of children to Beamish Museum for the day

- 3D laser cut models of some of the award winning designs and for older pupils the chance to shadow architectural students - donated by Newcastle University

Washington is set to continue its birthday celebrations tomorrow (Saturday 20 July) with a family-friendly festival style Washington 60 Celebration Day at the Northern Area Playing Fields from midday until 9pm.

Featuring Washington's own Martin Stephenson and the Daintees, as well as  performances from Smoove and Turrell and the Revolutionaires, the celebration day will showcase the best of Washington's music and community groups and celebrate its past, present and future.

The full programme for the day is available here:oce23121 Washington 60 Artwork Stage Programme A4.pdf

Other highlights to celebrate Washington New Town's big birthday include: 

• An oral history project led by Washington Area Heritage Partnership which aims to capture people's memories of the time leading up and during Washington New Town's early years. You can check out the growing collection here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAF76RKVACqidyDilbBa0OImt7QTUJNSx&si=D2paKFES3_a8FMMk
• Memory Box sessions for community groups which will see members of Washington Heritage Partnership visiting community groups armed with memory boxes full of 1960s memorabilia. 
• Washington 60: Rock and Coal will celebrate 60 years of Washington New Town as we take a look back at music and fashions from the 1960s to the 1980s.