Another Architecture Podcast

In this episode I talk to Tristan Wigfall, one of the co-founders of the London based architecture studio, Almanac. We talk about their recently completed project House Within A House.

The project looks like a new house that has been inserted into a Victorian terrace, but it is in fact a renovation of what used to be a rather ugly 1950’s property. Almanac have cleverly concealed the house in an entirely new skin, not only making it bigger and more visually appealing, but also managing to preserve of a lot of materials that would otherwise have gone to landfill.

It is a very inventive project, from a practice that have come to be known for their imaginative ways of working with challenging sites, and with projects like Slim House, In-Betweeny House and Wedge House, they turn convention on its head.

At the end of the episode, I ask Tristan the three questions I ask all my podcast guests;
– what really annoys him about his home?
– what house has he visited that has really inspired him?
– and, if he could choose anyone to design him a new house, who would he choose?

If you would like to find out more about House Within a House, you can see pictures and drawings of the project on the episode page at anotherarchitecturepodcast.com 

I hope you enjoy listening.

In this episode I talk to Oliver Schütte, co-founder and director of the interdisciplinary office for design and development A-01 (A Company / A Foundation). We talk about his recently completed project, No Footprint House, which is located in Ojochal, Costa Rica.

The house has received international recognition and numerous awards, including being publicly voted as the best rural house at this year’s Dezeen Awards. Next year, the project will be presented at the Venice Biennale.

It is a prefabricated house, created as a zero carbon home prototype. The form is very distinctive and sculptural, like a minimalist pavilion but with slanted sides and opening louvred wall panels.

The interview was great fun, finding out about designing for a tropical climate and how to create a home with a minimal carbon footprint that can be prefabricated and transported as flat pack on the back of a truck.

At the end of the episode, I ask Oliver the three questions I ask all my podcast guests;
 – what really annoys him about his project?
 – what house has he visited that really inspired him?
 – and, if he could choose anyone to design him a new house, who would he choose?

You can find out more about their work at https://www.a-01.net and on the podcast Instagram. 

Photography by Fernando Alda

I hope you enjoy listening.

In this episode I talk to Aaron Peters, one half of the Australian architect duo Vokes and Peters. As a company they have designed numerous award winning houses in and around Brisbane. We talk about the recently completed project, Teneriffe House.

The project can be described as a kind of greatest hits of their work so far, as it embodies so many of their principles and to approach to the design of homes and architecture in the wider sense. 

An existing colonial style Queensland home has been raised to sit atop a new concrete colonnaded pediment and has been extended with an angular shingle clad extension to create a stunning and varied home.

There is so much going on in this project, journeying through the house is like exploring a well-designed art gallery, with contrasts in materials, in natural light, and in spaces of both prospect and refuge.

At the end of the episode, I ask Aaron the three questions I ask all my podcast guests;
– what really annoys him about his home?
– what house has he visited that has really inspired him?
– and, if he could choose anyone to design him a new house, who would he choose?

You can find out more about their work at https://www.vokesandpeters.com/ and on the podcast Instagram. 

I hope you enjoy listening.

In this episode I talk to Juan Luis of the Mexican architecture practice Palma, about their project the, Litibu Bungalow.

A simple holiday home on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, the bungalow is essentially two rooms constructed out of concrete and separated by a covered courtyard. Each of the two concrete rooms are topped by what can be described as hats constructed out of palm leaves, known as palapa’s.

Me and Juan discus the design, its remote location and the references to modern construction and traditional Mexican building techniques. I love this project for its simplicity and for the striking contrast between the hard lines of the concrete and  the fluffiness of the palm leaf rooftops.

At the end of the episode, I ask Juan the three questions I ask all my podcast guests;
– what really annoys him about his home?
– what house has he visited that has really inspired him?
– and, if he could choose anyone to design him a new house, who would he choose?

You can find out more about Palma’s work at Palma-MX.com and on the podcast Instagram. 

I hope you enjoy listening.

In this special Bonus episode of the podcast for Open House, regular host George Bradley switches places and becomes the interviewee for a change, as his co-director Ewald Van Der Straeten does a takeover. Ewald interviews George about their recent project, Two and a Half Storey house.

The house is located in London and was extended to provide an additional bedroom for a growing family. There were limits on how high the property could be extended upwards, so the solution was to add a half-height roof extension and find a clever solution to make the internal spaces work.

The property has recently been shortlisted for a Wood Award, as well as being featured in numerous press publications, including Dezeen. The interview is an opportunity to explore the home through audio, listen to the ideas and influences behind the design and figure out exactly how dynamic living spaces fit into two and a half floors.

At the end of the episode, Ewald asks George the three questions he usually asks his podcast guests;
– what really annoys him about his home?
– what house has he visited that has really inspired him?
– and, if he could choose anyone to design him a new house, who would he choose?

I hope you enjoy listening.

In this special episode for London Open-House 2020 I talk to the architect Sophie Goldhill of London based studio Liddicoat Goldhill about their project, Makers House.

The project was a hit for the 2018 Open House event and received thousands of visitors over one weekend. It received an RIBA award in the same year, was shortlisted for the RIBA home of the year award and the Manser prize as well as receiving a commendation for the Sunday Times home award.

It is a new build home on an overlooked plot in Hackney, London, which has a distinctive asymmetric form externally, at once familiar as a terrace property but equally unique and unusual. The interiors have been personally crafted and all layers of the building and its construction are legible.

Wallpaper described the project as 'uncoventional, yet intuitive' and the Guardian said 'it’s a supreme lesson in getting the most – space, value for money, beauty – from one patch of land'

At the end of the interview I ask Sophie the three questions I ask all of my guests; what is the one thing that annoys her in her home, what home has she visited that has inspired her the most and, if he could choose anyone to design her a house, who would she choose?

You can find out more about her work at LiddicoatGoldhill.com and on the podcast instagram. You can find out more about Open House at Open-City.org.uk

I hope you enjoy listening!

In this episode I talk to the Australian architect Nic Brunsdon about his award winning (and, soon to be featured on Grand Designs Australia) project, North Perth House.

The project is a two storey home built on an in-fill block in the city of Perth.  The design of the house is based on a very simple structural arrangement of concrete pre-cast panels with small and large arches cut out of them. Four of these panels are laid out on the ground floor, and then a further four are stacked, perpendicular on the first floor.

This seemingly simple, stacked design, creates an interior that is incredibly rich and complex, with spaces defined by big concrete arches, beautiful walnut joinery and long views.

We chat about how he created the design, what the house is like to live in and the experience of having the Grand Designs film crew following the construction.

At the end of the interview I ask Nic the three questions I ask all of my guests; what is the one thing that annoys him in his home, what home has he visited that has inspired him and, if he could choose anyone to design him a house, who would he choose?

You can find out more about his work and the project at nicbrusnden.com and on the podcast Instagram.

I hope you enjoy listening!

In this episode I talk to Ant from Frankie Pappas Architects in South Africa. They have recently been voted as one of the top 20 emerging architects in the world. They describe themselves as a collective and their mantra is ‘wonderfully similar, incredibly different’

Their homes are predominantly located in remote rural areas of South Africa and are nestled and submerge in their surrounding landscapes. They are like no other houses you have ever seen, and actually that’s the beauty of some of them, you can't really see them. Like the people that designed them, they are an enigma. 

House of the Big Arch is completely nestled in the trees of a Nature Reserve, with terraces overlooking the surrounding canopy. The entrance is tall and narrow like a trunk and the strange and familiar shapes of the property weave between the trees, like an old Roman ruin, leaving you asking the question, what came first, the building or the foliage? The predominant material is brick in a tone that matches and blends with the surrounding wood. From the air, the property is barely perceptible, from inside, the occupants can enjoy all layers of the forest, with terraces at the same height of the roof canopy.

At the end of the interview I ask Ant the three questions I ask all of my guests; what is the one thing that annoys him in his home, what home has he visited that has made him feel happy and, if he could choose anyone to design him a house, who would he choose?

I hope you enjoy listening.

In this episode I talk to the architect Tom Raymont, who is a co-founder of London based studio Arboreal Architecture, a company that describes itself as an ecological practice. We talk about their award winning Re-Use Flat project in London, which is a transformation of an existing apartment and was designed with the aim of resulting in zero waste.

Construction is wasteful. As an example, the construction industry in the UK contributes a staggering 60% of the UK’s total waste. With Re-Use flat, Arboreal have demonstrated a different way of doing things. The existing wood floor has been used for wall panelling, rubble has been used for garden walls and recycled jeans from France have been used for the insulation.

What I like about the project is that it demonstrates creative and common sense ways to reduce the waste coming out of the construction site, with certain aspects that could easily become mainstream.

At the end of the interview I ask Tom the three questions I ask all of my guests; what is the one thing that annoys him in his home, what home has he visited that has made him feel happy and, if he could choose anyone to design him a house, who would he choose?

In this episode I talk to Ray Dinh, design associate at Austin Maynard Architects In Melbourne, Australia. We talk about their amazing, award winning project Empire House. 

It is a suburban bungalow, located in Canberra, that has been radically transformed with the addition of two extensions. The additions are pavilions, both separated from the existing building by glass corridors. As well as being physically distinct, they are visually distinct from the host building and clad in zinc shingles. 

It is a very unique way of transforming an existing house. The fact they are pavilions means the spaces inside, which are a new bedroom and a new kitchen, are cross lit and cross ventilated and have 360 degree views of the garden.

At the end of the interview I ask Ray the three questions I ask all of my guests; what is the one thing that annoys him in his home, what home has he visited that has made him feel happy and, if he could choose anyone to design him a house, who would he choose?