Talking Architecture & Design

Architecture & Design

Now celebrating its 8th year (Season 9), Talking Architecture & Design is Australia’s first B2B architecture podcast that regularly talks about a range of issues that affect Australia’s architects, building designers and built environment professionals. Run by Australia’s most popular architecture magazine, Architecture & Design, the Talking Architecture & Design podcast gives a regular bite-sized dose of what is important and sometimes what is just plain old interesting to anyone and everyone in the business of building design.

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303 episodes
Updated Monday

Episodes303

Newest first

Mar 14, 2021 · 34 min
Episode 64: Alexander Symes describes how a practical and poetic understanding of crafting a building is crucial
Alexander Symes Architects was founded in 2014 with a mission to advance sustainable architecture. The world’s climate is changing and as Alex notes, he believes that architecture must lead the way in changing how we utilise resources to contribute to a sustainable future. As a multi-award winning designer, Alex's vision for sustainable architecture is layered through all aspects of our practice and through all the stages of a project. This starts with the examination of a project brief to ensure the grounding principles of a project support a sustainable way of life. As the project takes shape, Alex says he deploys his depth of technical expertise to realise the project to its full potential.
Feb 14, 2021 · 31 min
Episode 63: Chris McCue from Carr on New Brutalism, Biophilic design and his new project at Brunswick Yard
Chris McCue, the managing director Carr, with extensive experience and speciality within the architecture and interior design of high-end residential, multi-residential and hospitality work, is now focusing on redesigning former industrial sites like that at Brunswick Yard in Melbourne. As a firm believer of wellness for the home environment, McCue notes that light and biophilia are just some of the ways we can better our living spaces. “Given we now spend more than 90 percent of our time indoors, it is vital that we explore new ways to engineer our indoor environments so they become ecosystems for improving physical and mental health," he says.
Dec 16, 2020 · 30 min
Episode 62: Dr. Steve Cummings from Caroma talks about the importance of designing for dignity in aged-care
Dr. Steve Cummings Director Innovation, GWA Group, owners of the Caroma brand of bathroom products, a brand just about everyone in Australia is familiar with. Dr. Cummings talks about designing with the consumer's dignity in mind, aged-care issues and how a constant thirst for great design drives innovation at Caroma.
Dec 6, 2020 · 45 min
Episode 61: Troy Creighton, MD of Stormtech on why lowering our water usage is now more crucial than its ever been
The managing director of Stormtech, Troy Creighton, talks about Stormtech’s history - its humble beginnings and the interesting back-story of the NSW South Coast company's stellar growth. Troy also covers a number of other areas including his passion - manufacturing to proper standards in Australia as well as the current state of the industry, and how the continuing move towards higher levels of sustainability is set to change the future of his company and water usage in general across this wide, brown land. This podcast was bought to you in association with Stormtech, proud sponsors of the Residential Series of podcasts. For more information on Stormtech please go to: https://stormtech.com.au/specifiers
Nov 15, 2020 · 27 min
Episode 60: Tisha Lee, a director at K2LD explains how the design world is adapting to our new normal
Since graduating from the University of Melbourne, Tisha Lee has accumulated over twenty years of experience working on significant educational, residential, and civic precincts. Before joining K2LD in 2007, Tisha was previously a Senior Associate with HASSELL where she was responsible for the management of a dedicated team working on educational and community projects for both the State Government and the Private sector. Tisha says that design, as well as designers, are changing and adapting and even thriving to the new normal reality that is the way we live, work, and play.
Nov 2, 2020 · 26 min
Episode 59: William Chan talks about how architecture and the design sector are vital to tackling both climate and social change
HY William Chan is an urbanist, architect, and designer dedicated to creating resilient and inclusive places for people. A UNICEF Young Ambassador during the 25th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, William has led community-building projects for the homeless, slum dwellers, and refugee youth. He was named in the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 list as a game-changing business and industry leader in the Asia-Pacific region. He is also an ambassador for the 2020 Sustainability Awards. Here William talks about how architecture and designers, in general, have a crucial role to play both in mitigating climate change and in improving social conditions here and around the world.
Oct 23, 2020 · 27 min
Episode 58: Aidan Mullan from Interface talks about floors, floor design, building waste, sustainability and is there such a thing as smart flooring?
Aidan Mullan, the Interface Engineering and Sustainability Manager about company initiatives, processes and methods, and where the evolution of technology is headed. With sustainability being at the core of everything that Interfacer does, Mullan describes how flooring manufacture is key to achieving sustainability across our built environment.
Oct 8, 2020 · 22 min
Episode 57: Christian Hampson, Co-founder and Director of Yerrabingin, on urban rooftop farms, Indigenous bushfire mitigation & sustainability
Christian Hampson is a Woiwurrung and Maneroo Aboriginal man interweaving Indigenous tacit knowledge and collaborative design thinking to walk a new path, away from conventional approaches, and create new opportunities for intergenerational capital to allow future Indigenous generations to thrive. As the co-founder and Director of Yerrabingin, Hampson, who is also an Ambassador for the 2020 Sustainability Awards talks about the need for more rooftop farms in urban environments and how Indigenous knowledge can be used far more effectively for bushfire mitigations and control.
Sep 27, 2020 · 24 min
Episode 56: Nicci Leung from Lifepod Evolution on how data, automation and AI are influencing sustainability in the built environment
Nicci Leung from Lifepod Evolution began her career providing design and project services to some of the most highly regarded architectural and interior design practices in Melbourne. Combining her passions for design, innovation, and technology, Nicci’s vision for the future is a positive one, and in this episode, she talks about how technology, data, automation, and AI are all combining to play an ever-increasing role in influencing sustainability in the built environment.
Sep 13, 2020 · 43 min
Episode 55: Tone Wheeler on social housing and do we need a housing crash to fix all our social housing woes?
In this episode of Talking Architecture & Design, architect and lecturer Tone Wheeler looks at where we went wrong with the design and build of our social housing stock. Wheeler discusses some novel ideas to get social housing back on track in Australia and what are some examples from overseas that we could emulate, as well as wondering whether a housing crash would be the best thing to invigorate the social housing sector?
Aug 30, 2020 · 33 min
Episode 54: Architect, lecturer, author and councilor Professor Philip Thalis talks about the design of Sydney, where its gone wrong & what we can do about it
One of Australia's most well-known and most respected architects, Philip Thalis is a founder and principal of Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects, professor of practice at UNSW Sydney, and a City of Sydney councilor. Philip's advice and expertise have regularly been sought by government and private clients and in this episode, he talks about what we need to do to make Sydney great once again in terms of urbanism, liveability, and overall design. After 30 years’ experience in the design of public space, urban design, multiple housing, infrastructure, and heritage adaptation, his insights, views, and understanding of what a modern city needs both now and in the future are incisive and unparalleled and he shares these views in this exclusive podcast.
Aug 13, 2020 · 28 min
Episode 53: Gerhana Waty, director of urban design at the Hansen Partnership on how humans and their space is more crucial than ever thanks to COVID-19
Gerhana Waty is a well-rounded designer with a solid understanding of built form and an appreciation for viable, sustainable and pedestrian-oriented cities. She talks about how to strike the right balance between stakeholders’ interests and achieving triple bottom line outcomes through urban design practice when it comes to our urban spaces. Gerhana explains why evidence-based design and urban analytic influence quality decision making and design outcomes in a constantly evolving urban environment, more so now with the fallout from our global pandemic.
Jul 22, 2020 · 37 min
Episode 52: Koichi Takada talks about sustainable design and how COVID-19 has forever changed how we work, live and design our buildings
Koichi Takada is a member of a new generation of architects that aim to ‘naturalise’ architecture in the urban environment – an approach he developed after living in cities of high urbanization: Tokyo, New York, and London. In this interview, he talks about his latest projects, why bringing the 'outside-in' is the new black, and how COVID-19 has altered human activity for god and what this means for architects and designers both here and abroad.
Jul 9, 2020 · 36 min
Episode 51: Peter Hogg talks about the challenges of teaching design, post-COVID architecture and why work will never be the same
Peter Hogg is a practicing architect with more than 30 years experience in the field and is a foundational tutor and lecturer in the Bachelor of Built Environment program at Melbourne Polytechnic, where he has been Head of Program since January 2018. Peter is presently researching traditional indigenous building typologies in Victoria for his PhD at Deakin University. He talks about the challenges of teaching, the impact COVID-19 will have on apartment design, why work will never be the same and why sustainability needs to be at the very core of everything we design in the urban environment.
Jun 22, 2020 · 20 min
Episode 50: Troy Creighton talks about the importance of making building materials in Australia, sustainability and smart drains
Troy Creighton is the managing director of Stormtech Grates & Drains who has some 31 years of working in the building materials industry. In 2004 Stormtech won a Design Mark at the Australian Design Awards for their drainage design and since 2006, Stormtech has been a member of the Standards Australia Committee and has been involved in the writing of the code covering linear drainage in bathrooms, and other plumbing products. With his unique outlook on the industry, Creighton talks about bringing manufacturing back onshore, water conservation and sustainability and the latest in 'smart' drains.
Jun 6, 2020 · 34 min
Episode 49: Steve Fox from BIM Consulting & Sydney University talks about the huge impact data is having on the design profession
Steve Fox is an architect and the general manager and principal of BIM Consulting as well as a leading expert in BIM technology and on the impacts of technology on the construction process. After 15 years working as an architect for well-known firms like Architectus, he has spent the last 10 years in technological leadership positions as well as being a lecturer at Sydney University. He explains how the explosion in data is changing the world of design and how it is more than ever leading the industry into different ways on how it will design and construct the buildings of the future.
May 19, 2020 · 24 min
Episode 48: How COVID-19 has changed the built industry, why moving to green buildings now makes sense and should building products be manufactured onshore
We talk with executive director of the Suzanne Toumbourou, executive director of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council and a judge for the 2020 Sustainability Awards about how the pandemic has changed the way we look at green buildings, why sustainability should be now on everyone's mind and is there a real possibility that Australia will start manufacturing more of its own building products and materials. Toumbourou also talks about what she would like to see included in the entries for this years' Sustainability Awards.
May 14, 2020 · 21 min
Episode 47: John Lorente discuses sustainability, the building industry, timber use in architecture and manufacturing building products in Australia
Big River Group began operations in the early 1900s as a family-owned timber business. Today, it has established its position as a major Australian building materials distributor, supplying an extensive range of high quality timber, builders’ hardware, building supplies and services for the residential, commercial, industrial, building and construction industries. With almost 20 years of working in the building materials industry, John Lorente, general manager sales and marketing talks about sustainability, the building industry, timber use in architecture and what he thinks this pandemic will bring the industry and the idea of bringing more manufacturing of building products back to Australia.
May 9, 2020 · 30 min
Episode 46: Kris Daff talks about why rent-with-the-option-to-buy is the smart way to address housing issues
Builder and developer Kris Daff is the managing director of two progressive building firms – the first is Make Ventures, a Melbourne-based property development and investment group focusing on large scale urban renewal projects and the second is Assemble Communities, an end-to-end build to rent developer and community manager responsible for the introduction of a new and exciting housing model gaining significant interest across the country. He explains why the the social, human and societal benefits of building housing for rent-with-the-option-to-buy schemes far outweigh by a wide country mile any arguments over potential lower or for that matter, slower profits.
Apr 21, 2020 · 28 min
Episode 45: Architect Jo Gillies on how social isolation will change who we are as people and as workers
This episode we talk with founder and owner of design firm Archisoul Architects Jo Gillies about what is really important in these days of lockdowns, social isolation and social distancing and how we respond to these challenges will determine how we will get through them. Gillies also talks about wellness and its intimate relationship to our mental and physical wellbeing in a time of stress and isolation and how individual wellness is critical to our eventual general recovery as a society.

Talking Architecture & Design

Episode 64: Alexander Symes describes how a practical and poetic understanding of crafting a building is crucial

Episode 63: Chris McCue from Carr on New Brutalism, Biophilic design and his new project at Brunswick Yard

Episode 62: Dr. Steve Cummings from Caroma talks about the importance of designing for dignity in aged-care

Episode 61: Troy Creighton, MD of Stormtech on why lowering our water usage is now more crucial than its ever been

Episode 60: Tisha Lee, a director at K2LD explains how the design world is adapting to our new normal

Episode 59: William Chan talks about how architecture and the design sector are vital to tackling both climate and social change

Episode 58: Aidan Mullan from Interface talks about floors, floor design, building waste, sustainability and is there such a thing as smart flooring?

Episode 57: Christian Hampson, Co-founder and Director of Yerrabingin, on urban rooftop farms, Indigenous bushfire mitigation & sustainability

Episode 56: Nicci Leung from Lifepod Evolution on how data, automation and AI are influencing sustainability in the built environment

Episode 55: Tone Wheeler on social housing and do we need a housing crash to fix all our social housing woes?

Episode 54: Architect, lecturer, author and councilor Professor Philip Thalis talks about the design of Sydney, where its gone wrong & what we can do about it

Episode 53: Gerhana Waty, director of urban design at the Hansen Partnership on how humans and their space is more crucial than ever thanks to COVID-19

Episode 52: Koichi Takada talks about sustainable design and how COVID-19 has forever changed how we work, live and design our buildings

Episode 51: Peter Hogg talks about the challenges of teaching design, post-COVID architecture and why work will never be the same

Episode 50: Troy Creighton talks about the importance of making building materials in Australia, sustainability and smart drains

Episode 49: Steve Fox from BIM Consulting & Sydney University talks about the huge impact data is having on the design profession

Episode 48: How COVID-19 has changed the built industry, why moving to green buildings now makes sense and should building products be manufactured onshore

Episode 47: John Lorente discuses sustainability, the building industry, timber use in architecture and manufacturing building products in Australia

Episode 46: Kris Daff talks about why rent-with-the-option-to-buy is the smart way to address housing issues

Episode 45: Architect Jo Gillies on how social isolation will change who we are as people and as workers