Building Talks..‪.‬ Building Magazine

Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Building Talks podcast.

As you may know, Building Magazine is 180 years old this year - having launched as “The Builder” back in 1843. 

In this special one-off episode, we celebrate by going back to the not-too-distant past with four previous editors of Building Magazine. From the tail-end of Thatcherism, through the Blair years, and right up to Brexit - they were covering the major the stories affecting the construction industry. 

We gathered Peter Bill, Adrian Barrick, Denise Chevin and Sarah Richardson in the studio to talk about their personal memories, the big projects, the larger-than- life characters, and the sagas that hit the front pages of Building magazine during their eras.

To get in touch with the show go to: Twitter: @BuildingNews, Email: newsdesk@building.co.uk. For more news and analysis go to www.building.co.uk.

Hosted by Building’s editor Chloe McCulloch. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Our guest in episode 4 of Building Talks… Creating Communities is Anna Mansfield, a director at the research-based urban design consultancy Publica.

Anna initially thought she wanted to be a fashion designer, but found her way into architecture, and from there into urban design and thinking about the city at a much larger scale. 

Like many people now working in a sector that has community, engagement and place at its heart, Anna observes how much the urban design discussion has moved on over recent years.

A key change that has occurred is the emphasis that is now put on celebrating and reinforcing the existing sense of place in every location where the built environment has an impact.

To get in touch with the show go to: Twitter: @BuildingNews, Email: newsdesk@building.co.uk. For more news and analysis go to www.building.co.uk.

Hosted by Building’s Ben Flatman with Chloe McCulloch, Building’s editorial director. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Our guest in episode 3 of Building Talks… Creating Communities is David Rudlin, urban design director at BDP.

David is one of the UK’s leading urban designers and planning experts. He began his career as a town planner and is a big supporter of the idea of the planner as someone who helps provide a clear strategic direction, and sets high standards for placemaking.

The belief that British cities have much to learn from looking at successful international case studies has also been an important part of David’s approach, and one of the ideas that led him to spend several years working for Urbed, an innovative urban design and research company.

To get in touch with the show go to: Twitter: @BuildingNews, Email: newsdesk@building.co.uk. For more news and analysis go to www.building.co.uk.

Hosted by Building’s Ben Flatman with Chloe McCulloch, Building’s editorial director. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Our guest in episode 2 of Building Talks… Creating Communities is Selina Mason, director of masterplanning and strategic design at Lendlease. 

Selina has been at the heart of debates around urban design and how we build better cities for the last two decades. Few people have the wide-ranging experiencing of public and private sector that she draws on to inform her approach to practice.

In her current role she is overseeing the development of the massive Smithfield masterplan in central Birmingham, but in her previous jobs, she has been director of architecture and design review at CABE, and was closely involved in the design of both the 2012 Olympics, and the delivery of the games’ legacy.

She is a huge advocate for a greater focus on people-focused urbanism, and in this podcast interview, she highlights the need for engagement and consultation.

To get in touch with the show go to: Twitter: @BuildingNews, Email: newsdesk@building.co.uk. For more news and analysis go to www.building.co.uk.

Hosted by Building’s Ben Flatman with Chloe McCulloch, Building’s editorial director. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Welcome to Building Talks …Creating Communities. 

New developments can face massive local opposition, attacked for poor design, a lack of public services, and low quality civic space. 

These are the challenges we'll be tackling in season 2 of the Building Talks podcast. By talking to built environment professionals over four weeks we will explore their personal stories, influences and motivations. We will ask them: why is there so much interest in the placemaking agenda? And how can we make the places we work and live in better?

In episode 1 Building’s architectural editor Ben Flatman interviews Jo Wright, managing director of Perkins & Will. Jo has years of experience integrating complex multidisciplinary teams and working on largescale urban projects. 

She discusses the influence that working in Berlin before the wall came down had on her career, and the need to build for the long term. 

To get in touch with the show go to: Twitter: @BuildingNews, Email: newsdesk@building.co.uk. For more news and analysis go to www.building.co.uk.

Hosted by Building’s Ben Flatman with Chloe McCulloch, Building’s editorial director. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Episode 6 of our Building Talks Net Zero podcast is a bumper edition as it's the last in the current series. We talk to the engineering firm Webb Yates about key construction materials: Anna Beckett and Tom Webster explain the potential to reuse or recycle materials such as concrete and steel. 




We also hear from Edmund Fowles and Fergus Feilden, the founding partners of Feilden Fowles, a young practice that has attracted attention for its sustainable approach to architecture, and which has its office co-located with a city farm in the centre of London.




Simon Wyatt, partner at Cundall, provides our jargon buster session, this time taking on the hot topic of heat pumps. Are they the best option we currently have to decarbonise heating in our buildings?




To get in touch with the show go to: Twitter: @BuildingNews, Email: newsdesk@building.co.uk. 




For more news and analysis go to www.building.co.uk.




Hosted by Building’s editor Chloe McCulloch with Elizabeth Hopkirk, assistant editor at Building Design. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.