Despite navigating through multiple recessions, the unprecedented pandemic, and the persisting housing crisis, Dermot Bannon’s fame as a renowned architect remains unscathed. With the resilience matching that of a 70s bungalow, it wouldn’t be surprising to find Bannon surviving an asteroid hit on Ireland, all while expounding the virtues of expansive windows.
Returning in his new series, Dermot Bannon’s Super Spaces (on RTÉ One, Wednesday), he departs from his usual assignment, Room To Improve – a home renovation series that’s become somewhat repetitive in its recent instalments. Instead, the current series is dedicated to exploring fresh concepts, such as an aesthetically pleasing treehouse in Connemara, reminiscent of a scene from Lord of the Rings with Pippin and Merry captured by a talking tree.
Journeying across the country, Bannon also heads to the affluent region of Kildare, adjoining the Wicklow border, to inspect a thatched cottage that houses futuristic minimalist decor akin to the famous Mandalorian. Another tour takes him to Limerick, where ex-Ireland international Paul O’Connell guides him around the International Rugby Experience.
While the show is brimming with fun, it occasionally misses the mark in its sensitivity, notably during Bannon’s visit to Phibsborough, a gentrified former working-class suburb of Dublin. Here, he meets an architect eager to present his stylish revamp of a historic Georgian abode. The show, Dermot Bannon’s Super Spaces, gives a refreshing change from the routine, illuminating the screen like sharp sunlight piercing through an extravagant house extension.
The house is charming and you genuinely wish the owner well. However, for those who were brought up in that part of Dublin – or any former working-class neighbourhood – the sight of two architects waxing lyrical about life in the city can be a bitter pill to swallow. It’s a harsh reminder of how many locals are priced out of their own communities and are banished to suffer endless traffic in far-flung commuter towns. It feels uncomfortably voyeuristic overseeing this different lifestyle.
There’s also some pretentious language being used. “My obsession with spaces goes back to my childhood,” says Bannon in one of the several ramblings. “[Spaces] don’t need four walls and a roof. But they need to be exciting and inspirational.” He later mentions “connecting to a building on an emotional level rather than a historical one” – a phrase that begs for simpler translation.
Viewers who have just endured traffic on the M50 might scoff at the show’s admiration for a city centre cottage situated under Croke Park’s shadow. To clarify, this isn’t your average cottage in central Dublin, but one equipped with a home office, gym and a clever periscope integrated with mirrors and a skylight.
City centre cottages equipped with periscopes and suburbs stretched over miles… this is the convoluted nature of urban design which contributes to the struggle of finding a place to reside near workplaces (then again, shouldn’t we expect such complications in a state where ‘sustainability’ is the government investing €300,000 in a bicycle shed?). However, this doesn’t cast a negative light on the homeowners or Bannon, whose relentless enthusiasm illuminates the show like the sunshine filtering through the bay windows of an extravagant extension.