Big Design Adventure

Tim and Kevin head into the English countryside to visit acclaimed artist Morag Myerscough and artist-musician Luke Morgan, who traded the excitement of inner-city London for an unloved modernist house, an ambitious renovation and a completely different way of living. Five years into the renovation, with the end in sight, they open up their home and their lives to share the unexpected ways the hou...

Can architecture help solve the housing crisis? Acclaimed London architect Peter Barber thinks it can, and he's proving it one street at a time. Tim and Kevin head to London to meet one of Britain's most admired architects, whose award-winning work is rethinking what social and affordable housing can be. From his remarkable King's Cross studio, where every wall is lined with hand-built architectur...

Tim and Kevin head to Melbourne for a special conversation with celebrated Australian designer Mary Featherston in her groundbreaking home, designed by Robin Boyd in 1967 - an intergenerational house where family life and creative work have been intertwined for almost six decades. One of Australia’s most influential voices in design, Mary reflects on the evolution of her home over nearly 60...

In this very special bonus mini episode, we have some huge news about our episode available exclusively on cassette, some even bigger news about another huge launch that’s definitely not on cassette. What else? A preview of Series 3 (which begins June 23) and Kevin’s incredible impersonation of a seagull. If you would like a copy of our cassette, they are available at modernisterbooks....

Tim and Kevin head to Perth to meet businesswoman, arts patron and National Living Treasure Janet Holmes à Court AC inside her extraordinary private gallery housed in a former paint factory. Janet’s gallery is open to the public and her belief that art should be seen by everyone is central to the generosity she shows as an indefatigable champion of the arts in Australia. This is an il...

Tim and Kevin head to Canberra to meet architect Shannon Battison, a former President of the Australian Institute of Architects, who spent a considerable amount of time designing the perfect home for her family. Then she threw a rather large spanner in the works and bought them a new one — a 1970s experimental house designed by her mentor. To make matters worse, it’s quite small and ne...

There’s quite a large amount of your emails in the Manila folder, and it’s time to get through them. We have questions, corrections and some rather bonkers observations. We are also looking to launch the most ridiculous extension to the podcast that anyone could imagine. A rather large small clue is in the graphic above. Rate, subscribe and give yourself a high five. Neil Clerehan audi...

We all want our cities and our neighbourhoods to be better, but what can we do about it? Tim and Kev head to Fremantle in Western Australia to meet Kate Hulett, a community-minded individual who isn’t afraid to step up and have a crack at making change. She’s passionate about Fremantle and her state and, with great positivity, advocates for better housing, more thoughtful and sustainab...

Tim and Kevin take a road trip down to Anglesea, on Victoria’s Surf Coast, to visit architect John Wardle at Burnt Earth Beach House, his award-winning holiday home. Described by his peers as “the architect’s architect”, John is the recipient of the Gold Medal, Australian architecture’s highest honour. He’s also a collector of things, people and ideas, and this...

What’s the most impressive thing you can do for an overseas visitor? Wrangle them an invite to the official residence of the Governor-General? That’s exactly what Tim managed to do for Kevin. In this very special episode, they take a tour of Admiralty House and sit down with the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC....

Kevin on the dance floor? The ultimate 1970s party house is on the menu as Tim and Kev hit the Perth suburb of Dianella to visit one of the city’s most talked-about homes. Designed by Bulgarian-born architect Iwan Iwanoff in 1976, the Marsala House is a sculptural, concrete-block Brutalist wonderland that boasts a Saturday Night Fever-style dance floor. The current owner, Greg, flings o...

Enter stage left: Neil Clerehan, the Melbourne architect who helped bring modernism to the suburbs - and a handsome, charming raconteur who waltzed his way through Melbourne society. A talented writer, his wit found a regular home in newspapers for much of his life. In this very special conversation, Tim and Kevin head to the leafy inner-city suburb of South Yarra to sit down with Neil’...

What happens when two young architects build their own home with little money but plenty of ideas? Tim and Kev head to London’s Hampstead to visit Patty Hopkins, one of Britain’s most influential architects and the co-founder of Hopkins Architects, the practice she started with her late husband Michael in 1976. For this very special interview she opens the doors to the iconic glass and...

Tim and Kev head to Brisbane to meet architect John Ellway, who has quietly built a reputation for transforming one of Australia’s most iconic house types - the Queenslander. Working almost entirely in his own neighbourhood, John carefully adapts these classic timber-and-tin homes so they can handle contemporary living while still embracing the subtropical climate that shaped them. Recorded...

Tim and Kev head to Melbourne to visit Ben Shewry, the chef behind the world-famous restaurant Attica, who lives in the 1966 home designed by émigré architect Ernest Fooks. Ben, who has a deep passion for architecture and design, had long admired the house from afar, but he never thought he’d actually own it. In this episode, he not only flings open the door to his incredi...

Tim and Kev head to the Sydney inner-city suburb of Marrickville to visit artist Leila Jeffreys and musician James Roden, who have spent a decade transforming a modest weatherboard cottage into a small but carefully considered home. Their dream? A small sustainable home that works for them and connects them to nature by creating habitat for birds and native species while rethinking what...

Can you imagine living in a museum? Tim and Kev head to Surrey to visit The Homewood, the modernist masterpiece Patrick Gwynne designed for his family in the late 1930s. Completed in 1938, The Homewood is one of the most remarkable examples of pre-war modernist architecture in Britain. Gwynne later gifted the house to the National Trust in 1999, with the stipulation that someone must live in it an...

What happens when you try to fix the housing crisis without destroying the suburbs we love? You get density by stealth. Tim and Kev head to the Perth suburbia to visit Giuseppe’s House, a 1960s home recently restored by local architect Kate Fitzgerald. Beneath the terrazzo floors and colourful character lies a bigger idea: how to add more housing to our cities without flattening their i...

We’re back with Series Two! Tim and Kevin head to Birmingham to explore a city defined by industry, reinvention and the home of Peaky Blinders , Black Sabbath and ELO. Over tea and biscuits with journalist and campaigner Mary Keating, they examine the fight to save the Smallbrook Ringway Centre, one of Europe’s longest modernist buildings and a rare surviving example of Birmingham...

In the special festive episode, can you have a room just reserved for Christmas Day? What’s our hot take on the merits of tinsel, and we present our all time favourite Christmas movies and songs. The model makers who create wooden Christmas ornaments of buildings can be found on Instagram here: Atelier Maps or their Esty store here .  For suggestions of places and stories for Serie...

In this mini episode we’ve got huge news about the final show for the year and we answer our most asked question. For questions and suggestions for our Christmas episode, shoot us an email to hello@bigdesignadventure.com For suggestions of places and stories for Series 2, shoot us an email to  hello@bigdesignadventure.com Tickets are now on sale for Kevin McCloud and Tim Ross – Li...

Tim and Kev head to London to visit Highgate New Town, a 1970s social housing scheme designed by Hungarian-born architect Peter Tabori. Over a cup of tea with architect and long-time resident Rachel Stevenson, they uncover the secret behind the development’s enduring success. In the 1960s and ’70s, Camden became a testing ground for a new kind of socialhousing in London — one tha...

In answering all your burning questions, Kevin reveals his one-sided feud with Jay Kay from Jamiroquai. There are a few mea culpas along the way as we tackle your criticisms and wonder if design can save us in a world without the communal joy of watching shows like Sale of the Century . Oh, and we’ve got a HUGE announcement to make!   You can check out Kev on Top Gear’s You Tube c...

In a semi-desperate attempt to find meaning in service station design, Tim and Kev head to Copenhagen to visit the famed filling station designed by Arne Jacobsen in the 1930s. A far-ranging conversation was recorded in front of the bowsers for your listening pleasure, and things may have gotten a little kooky. Also in this episode: find out how Sarah Jessica Parker has recently become a new fan....

What happens when you mix modernism, espionage, and a few Bauhaus legends in one London apartment block? You get the Isokon Building. Tim and Kev head to North London to visit the legendary 1934 modernist icon designed by Wells Coates and developed by Jack and Molly Pritchard. Once home to Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Agatha Christie and a bunch of spies, Isokon was a radical experiment in...