Interface has always been a forward-thinking and highly-innovative flooring company, but its latest initiative is very-much industry leading in every sense of the phrase.As Aidan Mullan says, "As human activity releases more and more carbon dioxide, the natural world is struggling to keep up. So why create products that contribute to this problem and do more harm than good? ​""Taking our cue from nature", says Mullen, "we’ve learned to work with carbon by using it as a building block to engineer better products. This journey has led us to create products that store carbon, keep it  out of the atmosphere and help restore the health of the world."And so Interface&apos;s road to carbon negativity concept was born, an idea that as Mullen explains in this wide-ranging podcast, is now imperative both for the industry itself as well as for the climate as a whole.This podcast was brought to you in association with Interface, proud sponsors of the Sustainability series of podcasts. For more information on Interface, please go to www.architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/interface-aust

Talking Architecture & Design

Episode 66: Aidan Mullan, Sustainability and Lean Manager for Interface talks about the road to carbon negativity

An apartment featuring flooring, wall tiles, kitchen and lighting features, and furniture and artworks, all made entirely from waste glass and textiles, offers an optimistic view into the future of residential building.Unveiled recently at the Sydney Olympic Park, Mirvac’s industry-first apartment made using waste materials has the potential to revolutionise home construction, sustainably reduce waste in the building industry as well as transform waste into a valuable resource.As a collaboration between Mirvac and the UNSW Centre of Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT), we talk to Professor Veena Sahajwalla and Mirvac&apos;s General Manager Design, Marketing & Sales, Diana Sarcasmo on how building from waste is set to revolutionise Australia&apos;s apartment building industry.

Episode 65: Veena Sahajwalla from UNSW & Diana Sarcasmo from Mirvac explain how building new apartments from waste is the next big thing

Alexander Symes Architects was founded in 2014 with a mission to advance sustainable architecture. The world’s climate is changing and as Alex notes, he believes that architecture must lead the way in changing how we utilise resources to contribute to a sustainable future. As a multi-award winning designer,  Alex's vision for sustainable architecture is layered through all aspects of our practice and through all the stages of a project. This starts with the examination of a project brief to ensure the grounding principles of a project support a sustainable way of life. As the project takes shape, Alex says he deploys his depth of technical expertise to realise the project to its full potential. 

Episode 64: Alexander Symes describes how a practical and poetic understanding of crafting a building is crucial

Chris McCue, the  Director of Architecture at Carr, with extensive experience and speciality within the architecture and interior design of high-end residential, multi-residential and hospitality work, is now focusing on redesigning former industrial sites like that at Brunswicks Yard in Melbourne.As a firm believer of wellness for the home environment, McCue notes that light and biophilia are just some of the ways we can better our living spaces. “Given we now spend more than 90 percent of our time indoors, it is vital that we explore new ways to engineer our indoor environments so they become ecosystems for improving physical and mental health," he says.

Episode 63: Chris McCue from Carr on New Brutalism, Biophilic design and his new project at Brunswick Yard

Dr. Steve Cummings Director Innovation, GWA Group, owners of the Caroma brand of bathroom products, a brand just about everyone in Australia is familiar with. Dr. Cummings talks about designing with the consumer's dignity in mind, aged-care issues and how a constant thirst for great design drives innovation at Caroma.

Episode 62: Dr. Steve Cummings from Caroma talks about the importance of designing for dignity in aged-care

The managing director of Stormtech, Troy Creighton, talks about Stormtech’s history - its humble beginnings and the interesting back-story of the NSW South Coast company's stellar growth.Troy also covers a number of other areas including his passion - manufacturing to proper standards in Australia  as well as the current state of the industry, and how the continuing move towards higher levels of sustainability is set to change the future of his company and water usage in general across this wide, brown land.

Episode 61: Troy Creighton, MD of Stormtech on why lowering our water usage is now more crucial than its ever been

Since graduating from the University of Melbourne, Tisha Lee has accumulated over twenty years of experience working on significant educational, residential, and civic precincts.Before joining K2LD in 2007, Tisha was previously a Senior Associate with HASSELL where she was responsible for the management of a dedicated team working on educational and community projects for both the State Government and the Private sector.Tisha says that design, as well as designers, are changing and adapting and even thriving to the new normal reality that is the way we live, work, and play. 

Episode 60: Tisha Lee, a director at K2LD explains how the design world is adapting to our new normal

HY William Chan is an urbanist, architect, and designer dedicated to creating resilient and inclusive places for people. A UNICEF Young Ambassador during the 25th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, William has led community-building projects for the homeless, slum dwellers, and refugee youth. He was named in the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 list as a game-changing business and industry leader in the Asia-Pacific region. He is also an ambassador for the 2020 Sustainability Awards.Here William talks about how architecture and designers, in general, have a crucial role to play both in mitigating climate change and in improving social conditions here and around the world.

Episode 59: William Chan talks about how architecture and the design sector are vital to tackling both climate and social change

Aidan Mullan, the Interface Engineering and Sustainability Manager about company initiatives, processes and methods, and where the evolution of technology is headed. With sustainability being at the core of everything that Interfacer does, Mullan describes how flooring manufacture is key to achieving sustainability across our built environment.

Episode 58: Aidan Mullan from Interface talks about floors, floor design, building waste, sustainability and is there such a thing as smart flooring?

Christian Hampson is a Woiwurrung and Maneroo Aboriginal man interweaving Indigenous tacit knowledge and collaborative design thinking to walk a new path, away from conventional approaches, and create new opportunities for intergenerational capital to allow future Indigenous generations to thrive.As the co-founder and Director of Yerrabingin, Hampson, who is also an Ambassador for the 2020 Sustainability Awards talks about the need for more rooftop farms in urban environments and how Indigenous knowledge can be used far more effectively for bushfire mitigations and control.

Episode 57: Christian Hampson, Co-founder and Director of Yerrabingin, on urban rooftop farms, Indigenous bushfire mitigation & sustainability

Nicci Leung from Lifepod Evolution began her career providing design and project services to some of the most highly regarded architectural and interior design practices in Melbourne. Combining her passions for design, innovation, and technology, Nicci’s vision for the future is a positive one, and in this episode, she talks about how technology, data, automation, and AI are all combining to play an ever-increasing role in influencing sustainability in the built environment.

Episode 56: Nicci Leung from Lifepod Evolution on how data, automation and AI are influencing sustainability in the built environment

In this episode of Talking Architecture & Design, architect and lecturer Tone Wheeler looks at where we went wrong with the design and build of our social housing stock.Wheeler discusses some novel ideas to get social housing back on track in Australia and what are some examples from overseas that we could emulate, as well as wondering whether a housing crash would be the best thing to invigorate the social housing sector?

Episode 55: Tone Wheeler on social housing and do we need a housing crash to fix all our social housing woes?

One of Australia's most well-known and most respected architects, Philip Thalis is a founder and principal of Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects, professor of practice at UNSW Sydney, and a City of Sydney councilor.Philip's advice and expertise have regularly been sought by government and private clients and in this episode, he talks about what we need to do to make Sydney great once again in terms of urbanism, liveability, and overall design.After 30 years’ experience in the design of public space, urban design, multiple housing, infrastructure, and heritage adaptation, his insights, views, and understanding of what a modern city needs both now and in the future are incisive and unparalleled and he shares these views in this exclusive podcast.

Episode 54: Architect, lecturer, author and councilor Professor Philip Thalis talks about the design of Sydney, where its gone wrong & what we can do about it

Gerhana Waty is a well-rounded designer with a solid understanding of built form and an appreciation for viable, sustainable and pedestrian-oriented cities. She talks about how to strike the right balance between stakeholders’ interests and achieving triple bottom line outcomes through urban design practice when it comes to our urban spaces.Gerhana explains why evidence-based design and urban analytic influence quality decision making and design outcomes in a constantly evolving urban environment, more so now with the fallout from our global pandemic.

Episode 53: Gerhana Waty, director of urban design at the Hansen Partnership on how humans and their space is more crucial than ever thanks to COVID-19

Koichi Takada is a member of a new generation of architects that aim to ‘naturalise’ architecture in the urban environment – an approach he developed after living in cities of high urbanization: Tokyo, New York, and London.In this interview, he talks about his latest projects, why bringing the 'outside-in' is the new black, and how COVID-19 has altered human activity for god and what this means for architects and designers both here and abroad.

Episode 52: Koichi Takada talks about sustainable design and how COVID-19 has forever changed how we work, live and design our buildings

Now celebrating its second year, Talking Architecture & Design is Australia’s first B2B architecture podcast that regularly talks about a range of issues that affect Australia’s architects, building designers and built environment professionals.Run by Australia’s most popular architecture magazine, Architecture & Design, the Talking Architecture & Design podcast gives a regular bite-sized dose of what is important and sometimes what is just plain old interesting to anyone and everyone in the business of building design.