Talking Architecture & Design

WeWork is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, headquartered in New York City .  As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 756 locations in 38 countries, and had 590,000 members. WeWork’s Global Head of Studios, Franquibel Lima has extensive design experience, having been with WeWork since 2017. He shares his thoughts on what the office should look like...

Ben Vielle is a partner of m3architecture with over 20 years of experience in architectural practice. He has worked extensively in the education sector, having master planned, designed, documented and administered contracts on numerous school and university projects. He also has expertise in contemporary learning environments, passive solar design, environmentally sustainable design, and life cycl...

Kate Nason is  the chairperson of Australian Passive House Association and is a passionate advocate of high-performance, healthy and resilient buildings.  With a background as an architect (ARBV) she has worked across multiple low-energy buildings including Certified Passive House projects such as the Monash Gillies Hall and several single residential homes utilising low carbon prefabricated const...

Aidan Hill,  Global Technical & Sustainability Manager from Autex, explains sustainability, carbon zero and just what are companies like his doing about lowering their environmental footprint.

Paul Ratcliff is a building consultant with over 30 years’ experience, with an onsite building background, and a strong foundation in understanding how structures are built and why they fail. Involved in building litigation in all jurisdictions, written litigation reports on residential houses, multi-level residential buildings, commercial buildings, hotels and public buildings, Paul understands t...

Alex Goad is passionate about using design for marine restoration and the role it is playing to communicate research to the wider public. His work is focused on combining digital fabrication with traditional techniques to create economically viable habitat solutions that respond to current environmental issues. Alex leads the studio’s collaborative approach to research projects and product develop...

Clare Connan Senior Associate, Woods Bagot Architect and Stewart Lock,  Principal of Jackson Architecture explain the complexity and challenges in redesigning the Victoria University tower in Melbourne. From incorporating the 32-story glass tower onto a super-tight site to understanding the sites past as a one-time early 20th century STD clinic, the trials and tribulations of adaptive and heritage...

Scott Davies is an Urban Designer who in his own words is all about creating places people love.  Scott had over 14 years experience in urban design across Australia, with a focus on large scale precinct planning, master planning for town centres and urban regeneration. One of Hassell’s Senior Associates, Scott Davies, is the project lead on Hassell’s work in the new Western Sydney Aerotropolis an...

Kittiphot Boochangkool is the new Group Sustainability Leader at dwp overseeing group sustainability initiatives and helping architects and designers unlock their full sustainability potential.  Boochangkool was raised and educated in the United States, Thailand and United Kingdom with a background in law, international relations and public policy and a specific focus on climate and energy.   In t...

Paolo Bevilacqua, the General Manager of Real Utilities, an authorised energy retailer and utilities business established in 2017 wholly owned by Frasers Property Australia, has 20 years’ experience in the property sector and is one of Australia’s leading sustainability professionals, responsible for delivering cutting-edge sustainability solutions to many high-profile projects across various sect...

HDR has moved into its new office space at the revamped 25 Martin Place, utilising all the floorspace on the 24th floor of the iconic Harry Seidler building to bring together its local architectural and engineering teams. The office features an open plan office configuration as well as breakout spaces, exercise and stress management rooms and programs, parent facilities and high-quality lighting a...

Andrew Tobin is the Development Director – Mixed Use at Mirvac where he was responsible for the management and delivery of two of Mirvac’s most complex and high-profile mixed-use projects, Harbourside and Waterloo Metro Quarter both in Sydney. Before joining Mirvac, Andrew spent over 20 years at Lendlease, most recently based in London as Head of Office Business Unit in Lendlease’s Europe Developm...

DKO design director Jesse Linardi is a highly talented and innovative designer who has designed several award-winning projects, including projects such as Campbell Street which won a Victorian Architecture Award for Small Project and Multi Residential Architecture. He shares with us his secrets on modern-day apartment design and what it takes to be a successful and award-winning designer in what i...

Robyn Rutley is the owner and CEO of AM-BOSS Access Ladders, a family run company that was started by her father in 1979. She joined him in 2004 and her husband Graeme joined her in 2007.  Since 2011 Robyn and Graeme have been responsible for managing Manufacturing and Production, Quality Control, Implementing Management Systems and maintaining CodeMark Certification. In 1979 AM-BOSS first designe...

The Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) NSW CEO Michele Adair talks about her a unique understanding of housing challenges facing older Australians, people living with chronic illness and those experiencing financial hardship. As the CEO of the Housing Trust since 2017, which now manages 1,100 affordable rental properties in the Wollongong region for 2,100 families, in this exclusive int...

 Ruth McKenzie established North by North Interior Architecture in early 2020, specializing in sustainable commercial fit-outs and small scale residential.  She is a registered architect in NSW and Ireland, has worked as a design journalist for national newspapers and is experienced in a number of project typologies from education to aged care.  Ruth holds Masters in Sustainability from the Univer...

Oliver Heath is the founder of Oliver Heath Design, an architectural & interior design firm specialising in health and well-being. Oliver has been a television presenter on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and National Geographic Channel for over 20 years​. Author of 4 books on sustainability and interior design, most recently: Design a Healthy Home​  ​As the Biophilic Design Ambassador for Interface​,...

Dr Shane Geha, who is well-known to our listeners, is the Managing Director and co-founder of EG Advisory, a rezoning company with expertise in land transformation operating across Australia.  His work focuses on working closely with clients on property uplift strategy and implementation and has worked on some of the largest land use changes in both size and value in Sydney and New South Wales. In...

Winner of the Emerging Architect/Designer category at the 2021 Sustainability Awards David Coates lives and breathes sustainability and has been delivering beautiful buildings that perform to an exemplar level in both sustainability and practicality.  David, who founded and runs  Sustainable Building and Design Pty Ltd, specialises in sustainable renovations, but has a keen eye for design and deta...

The People Parkers recycled plastic mobile parklet facilitates the rapid, sustainable and considered reimagining of car parking spaces and roadways into temporary outdoor dining quarters.  Roadways are public space and this product is a tactical mechanism to temporarily relocate this space and inform options for long term changes of use.  In 2015 People Parkers was born out of Glebe Point Road Tri...

Interface Product Development Manager Jan Peter van Deutekom, or JP as he's known talks about the flooring maker's approach to product management and concept design to support its many customers. JP gives us a global perspective of how to approach designing products with sustainable thinking as well as how its possible to design products that will suit the needs of many diverse markets a...

Dr Davina Jackson is an international writer and promoter of creative applications of post-internet technology for urban development, and pan-Pacific architecture, geography and history.  Her latest book is Australian Architecture: A History (Allen & Unwin, 2022). In this revealing interview, Dr. Jackson  talks about Australian architecture and its history, the intrinsic value of Indigenous ar...

Kim Chadwick is the Director of Australian Trend Forecast and the creator of the Designer Colour Wheel. During 30 years in the design industry, Kim has chosen the colours of the inherently Australian corrugated roofs for Colorbond, hand selected colours for Wattyl and Dulux, created bathrooms for Laminex, curated complete house solutions for Brickworks Building Products, developed product style gu...

The managing director of Stormtech, Troy Creighton explains how now  re-adapting commercial technology for use in residential setting is becoming more commonplace. The main technology we are talking about here revolves around  the management of water and how this is becoming a vital part of many buildings and/or precinct design strategy. Troy also describes some of his latest commercial projects w...

We speak with ZED principal Engineer and CEO, Ahmed El Safty, the visionary behind the new technology.  He and his team of postdoctoral researchers and engineers have been developing the PowerCap technology for more than a decade. The PowerCap Hybrid Graphene battery is a sustainable energy storage system  that lasts two to three times longer than standard Lithium batteries.  It also provides up t...