Hugh Wallace dies aged 68: architect, TV mainstay and champion of thoughtful design

Hugh Wallace, the award-winning architect and television presenter, has died at the age of 68. His husband, Martin Corbett, shared the news on Monday morning, noting that Wallace passed away suddenly at home on Sunday night, November 30, 2025. The announcement prompted a wave of tributes from colleagues, former collaborators, and viewers who spent a decade watching Wallace judge inventive Irish homes and front renovation series that celebrated craft, character, and sustainability.

Hugh Wallace’s legacy in architecture and broadcast

For many, Hugh Wallace was the instantly recognisable face of home design on Irish television—warmly frank, keen-eyed, and unafraid to champion personality over perfection. As a long-serving judge on Home of the Year and host of The Great House Revival, he helped demystify architecture for mainstream audiences, arguing that good design is less about expensive finishes and more about flow, light, and how people actually live.

Beyond the screen, Wallace built a respected architectural career spanning hotels, retail spaces, and private homes. A founding partner of Douglas Wallace Consultants, he earned professional honours and mentored younger practitioners, pushing for solutions that balanced commercial reality with civic value. His portfolio reflected a consistent belief: buildings should foster belonging and spark conversation.

A personal story shared openly

Hugh Wallace did not hide from the difficult parts of his life. In recent years he spoke candidly about overcoming alcoholism, describing treatment as a second chance that reshaped his routines and relationships. That openness resonated with many who reached out privately and in public, saying his candour helped them seek support. He also used his platform to call for stronger addiction services and less stigma around asking for help.

The programmes that shaped a nation’s taste

• Home of the Year: Wallace was the constant presence across ten seasons, the judge who could praise boldness yet still demand coherence. Viewers came to expect his insistence on sightlines, sensible storage, and rooms that make you smile.

• The Great House Revival: As presenter, he accompanied owners through painstaking restorations of derelict cottages, townhouses, and farm buildings, showcasing traditional skills, salvage culture, and energy upgrades.

• Specials and public events: Wallace regularly appeared at design festivals and industry conferences, where he championed retrofitting Ireland’s older building stock as a climate and cost-of-living solution.

Advocacy: retrofit, reuse, and the power of place

In interviews and on stage, Hugh Wallace returned to three themes. First, that Ireland holds hundreds of thousands of under-loved structures worth saving; second, that retrofitting is both environmental necessity and economic common sense; third, that design should be humane—prioritising comfort, daylight, and social connection. He argued that the fastest route to better neighbourhoods wasn’t always new build, but smarter reuse of what already exists.

Tributes and what comes next

By Monday afternoon, messages of condolence poured in from across architecture, television, and the wider public. Former contestants spoke of his generosity during filming days; craftspeople recalled unexpected phone calls after broadcasts when he’d ask about a technique or supplier; younger architects credited him with opening doors and drawing national attention to their work.

Funeral details were not immediately available at the time of writing. Colleagues suggested that forthcoming episodes and production schedules may be adjusted, and there were early calls for a bursary or annual lecture in his name to support students focused on conservation, adaptive reuse, or residential design.

Hugh Wallace: milestones and impact

Career highlights

• Founding partner of Douglas Wallace Consultants; led projects across hospitality, retail, and residential sectors.

• Nationally recognised television presence for a decade, bringing design literacy to a mass audience.

• Frequent juror and mentor within professional circles, nurturing the next generation of Irish designers.

Public influence

• Advanced the retrofit conversation, urging practical steps to reduce energy use and preserve heritage.

• Normalised conversations around recovery and wellbeing in high-pressure creative industries.

• Encouraged homeowners to trust their taste—colour, craft, and context—over fleeting trends.

A life remembered

Hugh Wallace combined precision with empathy. He could critique a floor plan in a sentence, then spend twenty minutes admiring a hand-built staircase or a perfectly placed window seat. He understood that homes are repositories of memory as much as they are feats of engineering. His sudden passing is a profound loss to Irish culture and the built environment community.

He is survived by his husband, Martin Corbett. In the months ahead, the finest tribute may be the quiet, enduring changes he inspired: a salvaged door rehung rather than skipped, a draughty terrace made warm, a family who now sees their home not as a list of defects, but as a place with a story—one that, thanks to Hugh Wallace, they feel confident continuing to write.