BuildingDesignExpert Podcast – Grande Designs Live 2013

I was pleased to be invited to be part of the ‘Ask an Expert’ stand at Grand Designs Live. It was rewarding to assist members oif the public who are understandably not versed in the intricacies of building design and construction, either get to on the right track, or perhaps provide some useful direction and priorities to their individual ‘Grand Design’ – no matter how grand. It also proved to be a useful opportunity to promote awareness of my profession as a Chartered Architectural Technologist. After all most people can identify with the title of Architect, but not so many are aware that there are complimentary professions that can provide perhaps a different approach to the same problems.

Shows like Grand Designs come with the inevitable presentational bling. I sought to peel away some of that facade and uncover some of the hidden gems, by seeking out the innovators and the knowledgible. I talk to a construction product designer, Ex ‘Apprentice’ contestant and architect Gabrielle Omar, an expert on the subject of heat pump design specification and installation, an exhibitor who has developed a space age tree tent, and an architect who has developed a high-tech modular housing solution.