Talking Architecture & Design

Celebrating their 10th anniversary in Sydney,along with 33 years in Melbourne, Rothelowman Sydney Principal Ben Pomroy talks about the years that have passed, what influences their residential designs and what the future holds for the design sector.

Amanda York is a highly accomplished Interior Designer with over 20 years’ experience and is currently the Interiors Lead for Grimshaw Architects. Amanda has been responsible for delivering a wide variety of award-wining projects throughout Australia including public/cultural, hospitality/hotel, retail, sports, education and workplace. Most notably she was the Interior Design Lead for Optus Stadium Perth and Marvel Stadium Melbourne where she played a key role in the design of the team facilities, function rooms and hospitality offerings across the general admission and premium product spaces. Amanda explains how design-related issues, specifically the use of custom add value, design authenticity, and help with designing for place. This podcast is brought to you in association with GH Commercial proud sponsors of our 2024 Commercial series of podcasts.

David Malvern is the General Manager of the Residential Communities & Home Building arm of Sekisui House Australia. David is a skilled professional with over 23 years industry experience. Commencing his career as a carpenter and later advancing into supervisory, construction management and general management positions with some of Australia’s largest home builders, David has developed the unique ability to successfully lead and manage large home building operations through his hands-on understanding of home building in NSW. In this interview, he explains the SHAWOOD prefab home building model and whether the solution to Australia’s housing crisis lies buried within the walls of SHAWOOD's 7000 sqm factory in south-west Sydney.

Gabrielle Suhr is a leader in the residential space. With a focus on elevating the ease of every day living into memorable moments of delight, Gabrielle brings clarity and refinement to the design process that ensures considered and rewarding outcomes. As project lead for Nightingale Marrickville, alongside Juan Munoz-Tamayo and Charlotte Wilson, Gabrielle has seen the project from conception through to completion - resulting in Nightingale Marrickville receiving the Premier’s Prize, Commendation for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing in 2024. In tis interview, she talks about the role of sustainability and wellbeing in modern design. This podcast is brought to you in association with Moddex, proud sponsors of our 2024 Sustainability series of podcasts.

The City of Sydney's resident architect-councillor HY William Chan leads at the helm of the city’s urban planning, heritage, transport, and environment. The Forbes '30 Under 30' innovator is the Head of Delegation to the UN COP climate negotiations for Sydney and the co-founder of Climate Action Week Sydney. William is a registered architect, advocate for design excellence, and a sustainability and housing rights leader. With experience in the design and innovation of cities, William has contributed to Sydney’s most significant public space, social housing, rapid transit, infrastructure, and community developments over the past decade. His work has won numerous industry awards including from the Australian Institute of Architects and Good Design Australia. In this exclusive interview, William outlines his ideas on making Sydney an even better city than it already is.

Anna Fox is an Associate Principal and architect at STH and Stuart Turk is a Clinical Health Planner with STH. The both work predominately within healthcare architecture, including acute hospitals, rehabilitation, mental health and aged care, and are inspired by a desire to create spaces to better support healing and enhance human experiences. In this interview, they talk about new ways to manage noise control within health care design. This Podcast was brought to you by Siniat, proud sponsors of our 2024 Aged & Healthcare series.

Rory Hunter is an entrepreneur, founder and CEO of multiple award-winning, sustainable property companies across Australia and South-East Asia. He brings a planet-conscious and people-centred approach to projects including his latest venture - MODEL, which he founded in 2022 and presently steers as CEO. MODEL is a new, Australian build-to-rent (BTR) group with a purpose to cultivate places where there is no compromise between taking care of ourselves, each other, and the planet. Built on the pillars of climate action, community building and design innovation, MODEL delivers thoughtfully designed, secure, connected, carbon neutral homes where health and wellbeing are at the core of the everyday experience. In this interview, Rory explains his unique concept of the idea of BTR and its place in helping solve Australia's housing crisis.

A commercial architect with 20 years of international and local experience across institutional, commercial, retail, serviced apartment and residential projects, Jeff Morgan creates an environment of learning and collaboration that inspires those around him to do their best work. Jeff leads the charge on sustainability in the Sydney studio and contributes to Hassell’s global sustainability strategy and industry groups. He has an unwavering focus on embedding market-leading sustainable initiatives into his projects. Some of his Key projects include: In this interview, Jeff talks about Low Carbon Aluminium – what is it, how is it made and why it's important to the built environment. This podcast is brought to you in association with Moddex, proud sponsors of our 2024 Sustainability series of podcasts.

Head of Design, Australia, at Unispace, Ian Worthy has helped to transform over 25 workplaces across the Asia Pacific region. He holds over 30 years’ of in-depth knowledge and experience in workplace transformation. Much of Ian’s project work has focused on multi-site accommodation strategies supported by design-based change management programs. He explains where the workspace and workspace design are heading as we enter the 2nd half of the 2020s. This podcast is brought to you in association with GH Commercial proud sponsors of our 2024 Commercial series of podcasts.

Trivess Moore is an Associate Professor in the School of Property, Construction and Project Management at RMIT. He is also Associate Director of the Sustainable Building Innovation Laboratory and co-chair of the Fuel Poverty Research Network. Currently, he is working on several projects which are based upon monitoring and evaluating sustainable housing and compact cities more broadly. He has also co-authored: 'A Transition to Sustainable Housing'. Moore explains how to unlock barriers to cost-effective carbon reduction opportunities in our dwellings, and how we can empower the design community as well as authorities to facilitate the widespread adoption of low carbon housing design to lower Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions targets while maintaining industry competitiveness and improving our quality of life. But what is the best and fastest way to get there? This podcast is brought to you in association with AWS, proud sponsors of our 2024 Residential series of podcasts.

Adam Haddow has been a director at well-known architecture firm SJB since 2002. Adam is a Churchill Fellow who is known for his study of alternatives to conventional models of urban design. As NSW Chapter President of the Australian Institute of Architects, Adam leads the Institute in its mission to promote excellence in architecture and advocates for the role of architects in shaping the built environment. He is also the National President Elect of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. He talks exclusively with Talking Architecture & Design on a range of subjects including his view on the future of the arch/design profession.

With 18 years’ experience working across health, science, education and research projects at BVN, Conor Larkins will head up HDR’s health sector and work with directors to elevate the practice’s design rigour and deliver human-centred facilities. Larkins has worked across many of Australia’s most significant health precincts, including Prince of Wales Acute Services Building, the Lang Walker AO Medical Research Building, Nepean Hospital Redevelopment, Royal North Shore Hospital, and Northside Hospital in Canberra. In this exclusive interview, we talk about how designers prioritize resilience in healthcare design, and how to enable facilities to readily respond to disruptions, big and small, and adapt as needs evolve. This Podcast was brought to you by Siniat, proud sponsors of our 2024 Aged & Healthcare series.

Immigration is a driver of GDP and a solution to Australia’s declining birth rate, but as housing pressures mount, polls showing strong support for reduced intake could force the government into a debate on population growth," says Mike Secombe writing in the Saturday Paper. "The high pace of immigration is not compatible with the level of housing supply that we have in this country. We're just not building enough homes to keep up with our population growth," AMP deputy chief economist Diana Mousina said late last year to the ABC. However some people think that this is not the main issue that’s causing our house prices and rentals woes. One of those is Tone Wheeler, regular A & D columnist, and a director at Environa Studio who is also a passionate advocate for environmental architecture. Tone has taught at universities for thirty years, served on boards and appeared regularly on television and radio. We recently sat down with him to talk about what he thinks is the reason behind our housing affordability crisis.

Eilish Barry, a project leader at Hayball, found her passion for architecture through a pivotal conversation with a family friend who emphasised the profound impact architects have on shaping the built environment. This inspiration has guided her professional journey, predominantly focused on social infrastructure projects aimed at enhancing communities. Eilish’s work showcases a commitment to designing for both social and environmental wellbeing, incorporating considerations such as local materials, communal spaces and support for local labour opportunities. Through these endeavours, she explains what she has witnessed and how the tangible value of good design for communities is universal. This podcast is brought to you in association with Moddex, proud sponsors of our 2024 Sustainability series of podcasts.

For many Sydneysiders the old White Bay Power Station at Rozelle, some 4km from Sydney’s CBD has been a familiar landmark as they travel over the Anzac Bridge. Fenced off, with broken windows, covered in graffiti and sporting rusted metal smokestacks, the century-old industrial site hasn't been used since the lights were switched off on Christmas Day, 1983. While successive state governments have spent decades arguing over its future, now after almost $110 million was invested by both the previous Coalition and now ALP state governments in the restoration and remediation of this iconic site, its not only ‘new’ again, but also winning design awards. We talk with Barbara Moore, CEO of Biennale of Sydney, one of the top three Biennials in the world, along with Sao Paolo and Venice and Anita Mitchell Chief Executive at Placemaking NSW, part of Planning NSW that focuses on development and management of some of our most important harbourside precincts, on what it took to turn the White Bay Power Station from an disused power station to a global art powerhouse.

Tamica Lewis is the Principal Building Designer and founder of Tempus Design Studio and has been involved in the Building and Construction Industry since 2005. Tempus operates across Queensland with a focus on the Whitsundays, Mackay, Hervey Bay and Brisbane. Her team consists of both Building Designers and Interior Designers, providing a holistic approach to Building Design. Tamica studied at CQ University and obtained her Bachelor of Building Design. She is a member of BDQ (Building Design Queensland) and not only is she a member, she is the first female President as of 2021. Tamica was also previously elected to the role of National President for the NABD (National Association of Building Designers). In this interview, Tamica talks about her her holistic approach to residential building design and creating inspired spaces. This podcast is brought to you in association with AWS, proud sponsors of our 2024 Residential series of podcasts.

Chris Hayton is a Principal at Rothelowman. With a passion for driving positive change through critical thinking, Chris embodies Rothelowman's core value of radical exploration – creating bold, sustainable, and inspiring places for people and cities. As a leader of urban design, master planning and mixed-use, Chris encourages his team to recognise the unseen opportunities of projects and utilise collective thinking to turn concepts into reality. In this podcast, Chris explains his design of the residential part of the magnificent Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre and how this trend for building apartments in shopping centres is both new and different form the usual residential typology. This podcast is brought to you in association with Moddex, proud sponsors of our 2024 Sustainability series of podcasts.

Lahznimmo Architects has completed the Powerhouse Castle Hill in northwest Sydney, an imposing shed-like storage facility wrapped in corrugated aluminium and concrete. Owned and operated by the Powerhouse Museum group, the 9000sqm facility is intended as a public-facing storehouse containing a mix of storage, exhibition and conservation facilities, alongside spaces for research and community engagement. The expansion of the Museums Discovery Centre, Powerhouse Castle Hill was delivered to better protect State heritage and cultural assets. The new building also provides more space for education, research and public programs. It will enhance the conservation, preservation and exhibition of collections for generations to come. We talk with Powerhouse Group CEO Lisa Havilah and Principal of Lahznimmo Architects, Andrew Nimmo.

Tara Veldman, Principal and Health Sector Leader at BLP brings over 15 years' experience designing projects across Australia, Europe, and the Middle East. She initially joined BLP in 2003 to work on the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Royal Women's Hospital and led the masterplan and feasibility for the Royal Children's Hospital Redevelopment. Tara’s expertise in mental health design began in the Netherlands, working on Regional Mental Health Centres, Intensive Care clinic and Protected Living including mental health rehabilitation units. In this podcast, Tara explains how she is shaping the future of social infrastructure by designing health care spaces that promote collective wellbeing. This Podcast was brought to you by Siniat, proud sponsors of our 2024 Aged & Healthcare series.

Metricon’s National Design Director, Adrian Popple talks about industry transformation, expected challenges, sustainability, and why he has just laid down a design challenge to the rest of the house building industry. He also explains why new house design should always emulate the design of classic cars.