Archives: Episode

Hugh Broughton – Episode 7

On the programme this week is Hugh Broughton. Hugh is perhaps best known for his practice’s work designing the British Antarctic Survey’s Halley VI Research Station. Its bright red and blue modules set atop large hydraulic stilts loom large over the glistening white Antarctic landscape.

The research station’s iconic outline has entered the popular imagination, having featured both on the front of a Royal Mail Stamp and the back of a Two Pound coin. More recently the station featured on a BBC Horizon documentary, which covered the extraordinary process of moving the building.

After university in Edinburgh and a brief spell working with John McAslan, Hugh founded his own practice in 1996. Following their successful work for the British Antarctic Survey, the practice went on to forge an enviable track record for their other work in remote and polar regions – as well as work closer to home on a string of cultural and heritage projects.

In this week’s episode we talk about the chilly task of designing for the Antarctic, about working for NASA and the architects’ role as a marriage councillor.

We discuss the joy of winning competitions and the pain of losing them. And we consider the benefits and necessity of having many strings to your bow.

You can listen to the episode below or subscribe on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts so that you never miss an episode.

Michael Squire – Episode 6

On the programme this week is Michael Squire.

In 1976 Michael founded his eponymous practice from a basement studio in Pimlico. Over the intervening 41 years the practice has grown at a prodigious rate, now being ranked as the 9th largest architecture firm in the UK, according to the AJ100 rankings. The firm now employs more than 215 staff.

The practice has moved several times from those early days, first to South Kensington and then Kings Cross, but most recently to their stunning new building – The Department Store – in Brixton.

In this week’s episode we ask what it means to create ‘polite architecture’ and find out when you might get paid in traveller’s cheques.

We talk about succession planning and why you really can do without an HR department, but really shouldn’t go without buying your own building.

And finally we find out why it’s so important to still feel the fear.

You can listen below or why not subscribe on iTunes or search for ‘Architecture Masters’ in your podcast app so you never miss an episode?

Chris Dyson – Episode 5

On the programme this week is Chris Dyson, principal of Chris Dyson Architects – a multi-award-winning practice, much lauded for their sensitive conservation work on historic buildings in London.

In today’s episode we speak about Chris’s passion for drawing and his work for James Stirling. We talk about going to boarding school and walking the plank. And finally, about making grand plans – or perhaps plans to be grand.

Chris originally studied Architecture at Oxford Brookes University and then at Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow before going on to spend 11 years working at James Stirling Michael Wilford and Associates.

Chris then spent three years as a Design Director at Sir Terry Farrells’s practice, from where, in 2003, he left to start his own firm.

I joined Chris in his studio – in a former pub in Spitalfields – where I began by asking where he found his calling for conservation architecture – especially after working for such renowned modernist architects.

You can listen below, on iTunes or subscribe by searching for ‘Architecture Masters’ in your podcast app.

Mary Duggan – Episode 4

On the podcast this week is architect Mary Duggan.

In 2004 Mary and her then partner Joe Morris founded Duggan Morris Architects which quickly went on to become one of the most critically acclaimed young practices of the early 2000s.

Over the intervening 12 years the practice grew from a team of two – to now employing more than 50 staff. The rapid success of the business also coincided with the practice winning a huge number of architectural awards.

Earlier this year the practice announced an amicable demerger, with Joe continuing to lead Duggan Morris whilst Mary – along with nine members of staff – went on to launch a new practice Mary Duggan Architects.

I joined Mary at her new practice in Shoreditch where I asked about the nature of creative partnerships; about convincing clients and dealing with business growing pains. We also spoke about their Alfriston School Swimming Pool and the PedElle cycling challenge.

You can listen to the episode below or subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Peter Rees – Episode 3

My guest this week is Peter Rees, now Professor of Places and City Planning at The Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London.

Before returning to the Bartlett in 2014, Peter was, for nearly 30 years, the Chief Planning Officer in the City of London. Over this time he oversaw the architectural transformation of the Square Mile.

In this week’s episode we find out which architect used a model of a stealth bomber as his inspiration. We talk about egos and editing; Penarth and Powerpoint. We ask why London Mayors are obsessed with changing the design of buses.

We find out how James Stirling called meetings and discover which influential architect would like to sleep – or pretend to sleep – in meetings.

Listen below, subscribe on iTunes or by searching for Architecture Masters in your podcast app.

Hazel Rounding – Episode 2

On the programme this week is Hazel Rounding, Director at award-winning architectural practice shedkm.

In this week’s podcast we ask what it means to have a ‘house style’. We also talk about shedkm’s new style of house.

We talk about opportunities in Croydon and regeneration in Liverpool. We ask why colour palettes matter and from where architects get their inspiration.

Finally we discuss the process of opening a new outpost for your practice; we talk about retaining staff and maintaining an office culture.

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My guest this week is Hazel Rounding, director at Liverpool and London based practice shedkm

Perhaps unusually in the architectural profession, Hazel has spent almost her entire career forging a reputation at one architectural practice

With her undergraduate architecture degree completed in London, Hazel moved to Liverpool to complete her architectural studies at John Moores University. She subsequently joined the then fledgling practice Shedkm in 1998 shortly after it had been spun out of the well respected developer Urban Splash. She stayed at the practice going on to become one of three day-to-day directors.

After 15 years with the practice in Liverpool Hazel led the opening of a new London office for shedkm in 2013.

Over a beer I joined Hazel in the practice’s new London studios, a stones throw from the Barbican.

Peter Murray – Episode 1

Episode One – Peter Murray
Architecture Masters is a new podcast about the people shaping our cities – a series of short conversations with some of architecture’s leading lights.

For this week’s episode we speak to acclaimed architectural communicator Peter Murray about his career spent writing and talking about architecture.

We discuss the founding of both Blueprint Magazine and the London Festival of Architecture. Peter tells us how architects can be better communicators and how to make sure you get things done.

And finally, we find out which architect dressed up as a pantomime cow for a protest and which engineer went a year without speaking.

In the podcast Peter mentions the Architect Skills website, as well as his video on the importance of a marketing strategy.

He also recommends watching the videos of Park Avenue pitches by OMA, Rogers, Zaha, and Foster.

Carl Turner – (Pilot Episode)

Architecture Masters is a new podcast series about the people shaping our cities – a series of short conversations with some of architecture’s leading lights.

For the pilot episode we speak to RIBA Manser Medal-winning architect Carl Turner about what it’s like to build, then sell your dream home.

We talk about gentrification in Brixton, the threat from Brexit and why architects are always moving offices. From a brutalist carpark in Peckham to temporary buildings in Tokyo, we talk about how long buildings should last and why architects have to take risks to get ahead.

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My guest this week is Carl Turner, founder and Director of Carl Turner Architects.

Carl first shot to public attention in 2013 when he and his young practice won the RIBA’s Manser Medal – the architecture award for Britain’s house of the year. Slip House, the home he designed and built for himself is a steel-framed translucent glass home inserted into a gap in a traditional terraced street in Brixton, and featured on an early episode of Channel 4’s Grand Designs.

Following an architectural competition his practice went on to design and build Pop Brixton, a hugely popular community of independent retailers, restaurants and businesses in Brixton, which opened in 2015. Constructed principally from shipping containers, Pop Brixton went on to position Carl as a leading proponent of high-impact low-cost architecture.

Carl is now working on the Peckham Levels – a project to transform a former multi-storey car park in Peckham – which currently hosts the famous rooftop bar Frank’s Café – into a series of artist spaces.

Architecture Masters

Architecture Masters is a new podcast about the people behind the buildings: a series of short conversations with some of architecture’s leading lights

These are the people quietly shaping our cities – all hugely respected within the architectural profession, yet somehow their modest profile often belies the impact they have on the world around us.

You might have seen the stunning buildings they create, but what drives the creative genius behind these designers as they balance the difficult and often conflicting demands of running a profitable business with their passion for delivering beautiful, functional and uplifting spaces.

Architecture sits at the boundary between the arts and sciences. As architects they are all natural polymaths – their expertise and interests spans engineering to economics, transport to typography.

And their work touches every area of how we live today. They’re people buzzing with ideas, energy and a desire to change the world around them.

We take architecture as our starting point and let the conversation flow freely from there.

This is a programme for those that are interested in the people who are shaping our world.

Listen to the introduction here or subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode.