The new series of his popular RTÉ show Room to Improve is under way, and the architect and TV personality talks to John Scally about his love of his job and the health scare that changed his outlook on life and work.

 

Dermot Bannon is a leading voice in modern Irish architectural design. He runs his own practice, Dermot Bannon Architects, which was established in 2008 and runs on the belief that good design responds to its surrounding environments and resonates with the soul of a site in order to enhance the daily lives of its inhabitants. The aim is to integrate fun into function, to generate opportunities from site constraints, and to produce designs that are consistently bright and inspiring. He is best known for hosting the popular RTÉ series Room to Improve. He aims to improve his client’s conditions by renovating their homes.

In 2019, he presented a four-part series for RTÉ called Dermot Bannon’s Incredible Homes. From sunny Sydney to London City, and from stylish Melbourne to the snowy landscape of Northern Sweden, Dermot explored how people around the globe live. In 2020 the show returned as Dermot’s Incredible Homes series focused on Ireland, showcasing some of the nation’s most spectacular properties.

Additionally, on RTÉ, Dermot also presented House Hunters with property locator Liz O’Kane, which sought to find the best properties on the market to satisfy the house hunters requirements and budgets.

He is also a successful published author who released his book titled Love your Home: Secrets to a Successful Space where he translated his passion for good design to offer readers practical advice, insider tips and solutions for home improvement ensuring the reader will avoid expensive mistakes.

Although he is seen as ‘a Dub’ he didn’t spend his whole childhood in Dublin and lived for some years in Egypt. At the age of 18, he attended the Hull School of Architecture in the UK. He currently lives in Dublin with his wife and three children.

His profile means that he is a frequent guest on programmes like The Late Late Show but on one visit he was surprised by a clip of his appearance on the famous dating show, Blind Date. He married his wife Louise in 2002. The pair grew up together in Malahide.

He and his family have made their home on the northside of Dublin in Drumcondra. Viewers got to see the renovation of the house he bought on Valentia Road in a special two-part series of Room to Improve. It was an impulse buy because he hadn’t been looking to move from his native Malahide.

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own