Hugh Wallace’s passion for people and place
'His sense of humour, fun and mischief made me laugh loudly'. Picture: Darragh Kane
The celebrated architect's 'sense of humour, fun and mischief' remembered, writes Eve Kelliher AMIDST the heartbreak following the sudden loss of Hugh Wallace this week, it felt as if people from every walk of life knew him personally.
Because of course we all welcomed him into our living rooms as he became a small-screen star from 2015 – he is the only Home of the Year judge to have been in the series from the start.
His fellow architect and RTÉ Home of the Year co-presenter Amanda Bone Hugh brought out her “inner child”: “His sense of humour, fun and mischief made me laugh loudly over the last six years.” Amanda’s tribute, on Instagram, reminded me of a conversation I had with Hugh as he, Amanda, interior designer Sara Cosgrove, were travelling to visit one of the houses they were judging.
They were like siblings squabbling on a road trip, whizzing through the Sunny South East, en route to a house that featured in the 2024 series. “We take in one house per day, as we snoop, digest and cogitate,” said Hugh at the time with Amanda pointedly interjecting to tell him how they liked to “disagree” – a reference to how their opposing tastes were a running joke.
Hugh spoke of how his husband Martin Corbett and his friend Amanda had a similar views on interior design. “They both share the beautiful taste of the minimalist whereas Sara and I love opulence,” he said.
Hugh and Martin were renovating a house on Clanbrassil Street in Dublin’s city centre and Hugh was talking about his excitement at moving in to the Georgiann property once work finished.
Hugh was a director and co-founder of architecture firm Douglas Wallace Consultants and was widely known and admired for his work as the presenter of RTÉ’s The Great House Revival and as a judge on Home of the Year.
On the airwaves and TV, his frankness about his personal life endeared him to the public.
Dave O’Brien, Cork, Home of the Year 2021 runner-up, is one of many to have been struck by Hugh’s kindness and fun nature whenever they met him, during the TV series and later during many home interior design events: “Hugh was wonderful – and just full of divilment,” he says.
The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) spoke of Hugh's "important and enduring" contribution to Irish architecture both as an architect and as a broadcaster. "As a broadcaster he connected public audiences with the value that architecture brings to all our lives – from a well-designed room to a large historic or contemporary building. Hugh Wallace made architecture accessible and emphasised that good design is available to everyone," said Carole Pollard, past president of the RIAI, who worked with Hugh.
“Hugh was a brilliant communicator, and he gave his full attention to everyone, no matter if they were a client, colleague or a building contractor – he believed that everyone was a valuable contributor to a project. He was generous with advice and believed in giving everyone responsibility for their projects. He was self-deprecating and a great mentor to many young architects as well as interior designers."
Hugh was no elitist and loved all kinds of design from the conventional clean lines to the quaint and the quirky.
The architect revealed he was a fan of Ireland’s bungalows in 2020 when he was fronting My Bungalow Bliss.
The development of bungalows represents “people having a little bit of money” and moving out of the traditional homes they grew up in, he said at the time: “People give out about the bungalow but it was a necessity. Along the way bungalows became maligned. Architects didn’t like them. There was snobbery about them.
“Bungalows were about us as a society growing up.” Though raised in Dundrum, his passion for people and places across Ireland showed in the verve with which he presented RTÉ’s The Great House Renovation.
Siobhan O’Mahony and Timmie O’Brien, who featured on the series in 2025, as they transformed the former post office in Butlerstown, Co Cork, into their forever home had been keen to enlist Hugh’s help.
Once the architect arrived onsite, Siobhan said they found the TV personality to be “exactly what you’d expect — only nicer”.
You see, Hugh had a knack of finding community spirit wherever he roamed. In an interview with Home two years ago he said: “I’m very lucky. Martin and I have moved into a very lovely community. People have such pride in the street where we live.
“A lady on our street, Pat, comes down to me with the street brush and the bleach so that I can clean the weeds and the rubbish that have accumulated. You don’t expect the council to do everything,” he said.
“There are two little parks, one is a sort of themed village with little houses. The community maintains the two little parks, spaces which all the neighbours got together to fill with plants — and with fairy lights at Christmas.” This week “a light has gone out” – in the words of Hugh’s fellow celebrity architect Dermot Bannon. “We were colleagues even though we never appeared on screen with each other,” wrote Dermot on Instagram. “Hugh loved, loved, loved TV and TV loved him. When I was stressed he would constantly remind me what a privilege it is to be on ‘the telly’ and to just enjoy it as he did, every minute of it. He was kind and fun.” Our sympathies to Hugh's husband Martin, his family, and friends.
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