Homing

Does modern design shelter us, or is it cutting us off from the world? Architect Stefan Behling believes that many of today's buildings have turned us into what he calls "humans in captivity”. They keep the temperature constant, shut out the sounds and smells of the outside world, and misunderstand what it really means to be comfortable.    As a senior partner at Foster + Partners, Stefan has spen...

Sophie Hicks has helped fashion brands like Paul Smith, Yohji Yamamoto and Acne Studios translate their vision into built form.   But before becoming one of Britain's most respected architects, she was immersed in the world of fashion. She worked alongside Grace Coddington and Azzedine Alaïa, styled shoots for Vogue and Tatler, and became an iconic face of the early Eighties after appearing on the...

Loneliness, anxiety and a loss of belonging are among the defining crises of our time. Johann Hari believes they share a common cause. Johann is the author of Lost Connections and Stolen Focus – two of the most widely read books on mental health published in the last decade. He argues that depression and anxiety are often misunderstood: not simply as biological problems, but as signals that our mo...

Margot Henderson is one of Britain's most influential chefs, and a pioneer of “nose-to-tail” cooking. She's spent her career finding value in what others might disregard – a philosophy that extends far beyond the kitchen. Alongside her husband, Fergus Henderson, she's helped redefine the way we eat, with an approach that's simple, honest and rooted in ingredients rather than technique. While Fergu...

Today's guest is psychotherapist Julia Samuel MBE, one of Britain's leading experts on grief and trauma. Julia has worked with hundreds of families navigating bereavement, including members of the Royal Family. She was a close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales, and supported Prince William and Prince Harry following Diana's death. In this conversation, we explore belonging and why some people nev...

Patrick Williams is an interior decorator who specialises in period buildings and restoration projects. He views design not just as decoration, but as a form of storytelling and historical preservation. Patrick is the founder of Berdoulat, a design practice named after the remarkable house in France that his parents restored over a twenty-year period during his childhood – a project that became ce...

Should the home be considered one of the pillars of health? Dr. Esther Sternberg believes good design can heal us — and that architects should think of themselves not just as designers, but almost as health professionals. Esther is a physician and researcher whose work focuses on the relationship between mind, body and environment. She is the author of Healing Spaces and Well at Work , which explo...

David Shrigley has spent his life creating art that makes people laugh. He is one of Britain’s most recognisable contemporary artists, celebrated for his deadpan drawings that mix humour, bleakness and childlike simplicity. Growing up as a shy, introspective child, on a red-brick estate in the suburbs of Leicester, David was happiest alone with a blank sheet of paper and a pencil – fifty years lat...

The spaces we inhabit shape who we become. But what does that mean for the people who have no choice where they live? Yvonne Jewkes is a professor of criminology, author, and leading expert on prison architecture. She has spent her career studying what echoing corridors, metal doors and harsh fluorescent lighting do to the people living inside prisons — and designing spaces that restore rather tha...

Sue Stuart-Smith is a psychiatrist, gardener and the author of The Well-Gardened Mind . She has spent her career making the case that going outside and getting your hands in the soil is one of the most powerful things we can do for our mental health. Sue runs the Serge Hill Project, along with her husband, Tom Stuart-Smith — a garden and events space where children and groups from disadvantaged ba...

We tend to think of home as the space inside our four walls. But for David Engwicht, home doesn't stop at the front door – it extends out into the neighbourhood beyond. David is a master placemaker and urban designer – he explores how the design of our towns and cities can either bring us closer or push us apart. With his cowboy boots, heavy-framed glasses and 'Pat Cash' hair, he's more like a roc...

Artist Sue Webster built a career and a home by refusing to fit in — it’s why she identifies with the Mole Man so much.  She found fame alongside her husband Tim Noble, as part of the post-YBA generation — their anarchic self-portraits, made from found objects and discarded rubbish, made them the “rock stars” of British art. Together they built the Dirty House in Shoreditch, which helped define th...

Most of us think we need more — more space, more things, more possessions. Japanese architect Takero Shimazaki believes we may already have enough. Takero has designed some of the most elegant private houses in Britain, including one that was nominated for the Stirling Prize. His buildings are never grand or showy. Instead, they are thoughtful and restrained. He grew up in Japan, where there’s a l...

For fashion designer turned ceramicist Henry Holland, reinvention isn't about starting over – it's about evolving on your own terms. Henry first made his name with the cult fashion label House of Holland, famous for cheeky slogans like 'Do Me Daily Christopher Bailey' and 'Let's Breed Bella Hadid'. But in recent years, he has pivoted to making homewares and contemporary ceramics, using the Japanes...

We think of home as our ultimate refuge – a sanctuary from the noise and pollution of the outside world. But what if the space meant to protect us is actually the one we should be questioning most? Dr. Jenny Goodman , a practitioner of ecological medicine, has spent years examining how modern life exposes us to toxins and sharing practical steps we can take to reduce exposure. Jenny breaks down th...

Beyond the whirlwind of galleries and exhibitions, Tate Director Maria Balshaw 's home holds the quieter, deeply personal moments of her life. Growing up in Northampton, she longed to escape her characterless new-build house and nurtured a desire to be different. Her current home in Kent is a reflection of that creative rebellion, with medieval beams at its centre, classical sash windows on one si...

Why are some people drawn to minimalist architecture while others prefer nostalgic rooms filled with antiques and personal artefacts? Writer and philosopher Alain de Botton believes the answer might lie deeper than taste.  For many years, Alain has explored the emotional forces that shape our inner lives – from love and loss to status anxiety. Through his educational organisation, The School of Li...

Landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith has spent most of his life on the same plot of land, tending its gardens and letting the land shape him in return.   Tom has designed gardens at places like Chatsworth, Tate Britain and The Hepworth Wakefield. He’s won nine gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show, and was awarded an OBE in 2023.   But long before any of that, he was a child roaming Serge Hill in...

Anxiety is something many of us carry quietly. It can shape everything, from how we move through the world to how we feel at home. In this episode of Homing , Dr Alexandra Shaker explores how the home can become a sanctuary and how physical environments can either soothe or unsettle us. Alexandra is a specialist in anxiety disorders with a PhD in Clinical Psychology. Her book The Narrowing combine...

Author and podcaster Elizabeth Day spent years chasing a vision of the ‘perfect’ home life, only to discover that reality can look very different. She grew up in the Northern Irish countryside, in a home that was physically safe but shadowed by unrest in the wider community. Childhood fears of monsters under the bed were replaced by the reality of masked terrorists, which has made the concept of h...

In the first episode of a new strand of Homing , Katherine May frames the home as a place to slow down and take refuge from the overstimulating world beyond. Katherine is known for her bestselling book Wintering , which explores the importance of rest and retreat during the fallow periods of life that we all experience.  The conversation delves into what happens when we allow ourselves to notice n...

For interior designer and art curator Natasha Landers, home is where the public and private worlds meet. Her Walthamstow house is a curated gallery, where Black art is not just displayed, but lives among her daily life. Natasha grew up in a Hackney council house, sharing a bedroom with her brother in a home where space was tight, but imagination wasn’t.  From an early age, she found ways to expres...

For Dan Pearson, working with the landscape isn’t simply his profession — it’s how he makes sense of the world. In this emotional conversation, he opens up about self-image, mindfulness and the alchemy of gardening – something that can feel like magic, but is really about careful attention and a deep respect for the natural rhythms of life. Dan fondly recalls his childhood home: a dilapidated hous...

For homewares designer Matilda Goad, balance isn’t just a design principle – it’s a way of living. Her home is a reflection of that: comfortable and familiar, but full of playful touches. Growing up in a country cottage, boredom became a lesson in invention. With her grandfather an artist and her mother a fashion designer, Matilda was surrounded by creativity from an early age and developed a stro...

For a special Christmas episode of Homing , I was invited into the home of cookery writer and ultimate host, Skye McAlpine. Skye is like a modern-day “Mother Christmas”. She was raised between London and Venice by parents who were great bon viveurs , and her childhood home was an open house, filled with guests, conversation and celebration. It’s there that she absorbed the idea that a home is mean...