Talking Architecture & Design

Interface has always been a forward-thinking and highly-innovative flooring company, but its latest initiative is very-much industry leading in every sense of the phrase. As Aidan Mullan says, "As human activity releases more and more carbon dioxide, the natural world is struggling to keep up. So why create products that contribute to this problem and do more harm than good? ​" "Tak...

An apartment featuring flooring, wall tiles, kitchen and lighting features, and furniture and artworks, all made entirely from waste glass and textiles, offers an optimistic view into the future of residential building. Unveiled recently at the Sydney Olympic Park, Mirvac’s industry-first apartment made using waste materials has the potential to revolutionise home construction, sustainably reduce...

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 pra...

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 t...

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.

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 leve...

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 Governmen...

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 in...

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.

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 Sustai...

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...

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 invigo...

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 grea...

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 ana...

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 th...

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...

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 bathro...

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 h...

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 bui...

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...

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 gai...

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 is...

Principal and director of Sydney-based architecture studio Furtado Sullivan Sandra Furtado talks about what it's like working as an architect under a lockdown situation with an economy that's in hibernation and an industry desperately trying to keep going under the most unusual and trying of socio-economic conditions. Furtado gives us an insight into how things are at present and where t...

Dr Peter Sweatman graduated with first class honours in Industrial Design from the University of Canberra Peter started work with Caroma R&D on research to launch the first generation of Smart Flush toilets to the market and is currently completing a PhD in user centred bathroom design for older people at UNSW Built Environment.  He talks about creating a new class of bathroom that works as an...

Architect Nermine Zahran talks about how it is vital to continually learn and to educate others in the industry and in the general public about ways to minimise the impact of the built environment on the planet.  With a career that started in Egypt and that has now come to one sense of fulfilment in Australia, Nermine Zahran explains her journey from one side of the world to another and how she is...