Explore every episode of the podcast Brick + Block

We are often guilty of looking at the small picture and it is often quite hard to take a step back and look at things at a macro scale.

We are familiar with the challenges that we face at a building or local scale but have we spared a thought about how things sit globally?

I discuss with my final guest of Season 1, Peter Oborn, who is the former Deputy Chairman for Aedas and is now a key member of Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) and UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) - Stakeholders Advisory Group Enterprise (SAGE), about what challenges we face globally:

- How sustainability has changed globally

- The influence of the RIBA abroad and its relationship with other countries

- Urbanisation and the global north and global south

- Commonwealth association of architects and their work to tackle sustainability and learning that we can take across the commonwealth 

Biophilia is something that we talk a lot about in relation to sustainability but how can we actually use it effectively?

I discuss with my guest Katie Le Chevalier, Business Development Manager from Planteria Group, about trying to integrate biophilia into buildings. Katie adds insight into:

• How planting has changed over the past decade
• What key things to think about when thinking about specifying plants in buildings and wellbeing
• Considerations regarding supply chain
• Rethinking logistics and carbon footprint

Conservation architecture requires a very thoughtful and careful approach. I discuss with my guest Samantha Gill, who is an Associate and AABC and RIBA Specialist Conservation Architect from Seven Architecture, the ever growing challenges within conservation architecture of trying to integrate sustainability, where traditionally the "building and the significance comes before anything" With over a decade of experience in the field, Samantha adds insight into:

• Differences between conservation and restoration
• Guidance from Historic England to introduce sustainability into conservation architecture
• How to introduce renewable technology into conservation architecture
• Conservation of energy and the challenges of upgrading historic fabrics
• Technical issues with introducing new and old materials

"I think what we often don't do is understand the building to begin with" Annie Marston

For this insightful talk, I discuss with Annie who is the CPO at ReSustain about:

• Her route from academic researcher to service industry professional
• EPCs and the nuances of calculations
• How modelling should be approached throughout the design process
• Smart Buildings and the 'rush for data'

"...architecture has the power to change...if were hoping to change the world and...change the behaviour of people in order to tackle some of the hugely pressing crises that we have globally, then starting younger with an awareness of what architecture really is for the general public...could be one of the most powerful things that we do." Victoria Farrow For this latest episode, I discuss with Victoria who is the subject architecture lead at de montfort university: - Her unplanned journey from practioner to educator - Association of Architectural Educators UK - BIM in Birmingham and Leicester - And her thoughts on Architecture and its role and influence

Looking at the last 10 years, its clear that the Industry has moved on from a design for compliance culture into looking at the value added approach by liaising with various stakeholders.

Join me, as I discuss with Oliver Morris, who is a Director for Sustainability at CBRE:

• How the industry has moved on in the last 10 years
• How to support client's with developing their brief's
• Whether EPC's still have a place in the industry with NABERs hot on its coat tails
• Whether Greenwashing still exists?

With sustainability being at the heart of lots of projects and their brief’s, what are the key success factors of ensuring success within a project?

Join me, as I discuss with Martin Smith who is a Director at TFT, what are the key elements to bear in mind, whether its brief, programming or design teams – there are many factors that lend to the success of the project.

With houses being a major part of the built environment, it is important for us to understand how we can upgrade these homes to better deal with climate change. Join Pradumn and Alex, from Nikjoo Architects, having a pragmatic discussion on the challenges facing the residential market and how client's are approaching projects.

Circularity is a term that gets used a lot these days but how can you implement this? Pradumn discusses with Bushra how her experience from being a Studio Lead, Lecturer and Researcher has led her to implement Circularity principles in temporary architecture through Contextualism.

Everyone is talking about AI and what it can do. Edward and Pradumn discuss if AI is actually ready to help us tackle the challenges that Climate Change is presenting.

Dive into discussions about the rapidly evolving challenges of architecture and climate change with host Pradumn Pamidighantam, an experienced architect with over a decade of experience. Pradumn and his guests will be discussing topics around how we can influence change and implement them to make a real difference. New episodes every fortnight.