Architects of Ambition

Hosted by Weaver

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Mar 2024

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About the show

Explore the transformative world of UK residential architecture. Hosted by Weaver, the online platform that introduces contractors to architects, exploring how small practices are sculpting the homes and lives of people, underscoring their impact on the UK’s architecture. Each episode features insightful discussions with industry experts. They're not just building homes; they're pioneering in innovation, sustainability, and personalisation. https://weaver.build/architects https://www.instagram.com/weaver.build/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/weaverbuild/

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17 recent

March 13, 2024Episode 1150 min

James Rixon from Rixon Architecture / VAT Reforms and Decarbonisation

In this episode we reveal how UK Architects are spearheading a sustainable revolution, addressing rising costs, VAT issues, and material challenges in line with carbon neutrality goals, championing COP28 policy reforms and industry education to reshape the nation's architectural future. James Rixon from Rixon Architecture says "I think there's a certain amount of trial and error. I think it's come from experience. I think going back, I graduated from university in 2011. And that at the time, again, sustainability was just it was going to happen in terms of sustainable design. That was a time of code for sustainable homes. It was something I was very interested in and quite passionate about. It made complete sense that, hey, if we're going to make a positive contribution to the environment, it could be within the work that we do. At the time, there wasn't necessarily a need". https://www.rixon-architecture.com/ https://www.instagram.com/rixon_architecture/

March 13, 2024Episode 1032 min

Giacomo Calisti from beyonddesign / VAT Reforms and Decarbonisation

In this episode we reveal how UK Architects are spearheading a sustainable revolution, addressing rising costs, VAT issues, and material challenges in line with carbon neutrality goals, championing COP28 policy reforms and industry education to reshape the nation's architectural future. Giacomo Calisti from beyonddesign says "IWe live in a world of commodity, right? In which everybody like things, they can buy quickly and have the dream and then they are faced with the reality in which your Pinterest kitchen, like that you saw with the nice lining of the drawers, actually, you know, it's a very high expensive ticket item which you cannot afford in your budget. And then when you need to add sustainability to it, it's just too much of a challenge for them to accept that there's even more cost associated with it if you want to get sustainable". https://beyondd.studio/ https://www.instagram.com/beyondd.studio/

March 6, 2024Episode 927 min

Anthony Grieveson from Studio Grieveson / VAT Reforms and Decarbonisation

In this episode we reveal how UK Architects are spearheading a sustainable revolution, addressing rising costs, VAT issues, and material challenges in line with carbon neutrality goals, championing COP28 policy reforms and industry education to reshape the nation's architectural future. Anthony Grieveson from Studio Grieveson says "I think in terms of retrofitting housing stock, when it's solid brick walls, the obvious solution is wood fibre or cork internal insulation with a breathable plaster. When you tender that, it often comes back very expensive. Because it's different materials, it's not what your average domestic contractor is used to working with." https://studiogrieveson.com/ https://www.instagram.com/studiogrieveson/

February 28, 2024Episode 839 min

Ashvin de Vos from Variant Office / VAT Reforms and Decarbonisation

In this episode we reveal how UK Architects are spearheading a sustainable revolution, addressing rising costs, VAT issues, and material challenges in line with carbon neutrality goals, championing COP28 policy reforms and industry education to reshape the nation's architectural future. Ashvin de Vos from Variant Office says "I think architects are like naturally curious minded, hardworking people, right? Our education system encourages think outside of architecture, experiment with new ideas, and approach the design practice. And you can see as well when you pick up magazines, go onto Dezeen and various other Ezines as well, you see a lot of practices really pushing boundaries." https://variantoffice.com/ https://www.instagram.com/variantoffice/

February 14, 2024Episode 731 min

Matteo Sarno from Boito Sarno Architects / VAT Reforms and Decarbonisation

February 7, 2024Episode 738 min

Hugh McEwen from Office S&M / VAT Reforms and Decarbonisation

In this episode we reveal how UK Architects are spearheading a sustainable revolution, addressing rising costs, VAT issues, and material challenges in line with carbon neutrality goals, championing COP28 policy reforms and industry education to reshape the nation's architectural future. Hugh McEwen from Office S&M says “I think it's often having those conversations with clients early and bringing them on board. Some clients are completely dedicated and already interested in what can they do to push the sustainability of projects. Because often there is a bit of a cost premium or there's something that a particular material unusual or innovative, there are a number of questions that kind of come up.” https://officesandm.com/ https://www.instagram.com/officesandm/

January 31, 2024Episode 636 min

Gavin Hegarty Architecture / VAT Reforms and Decarbonisation

January 17, 2024Episode 531 min

Viktor Westerdahl / VAT Reforms and Decarbonisation

In this episode we reveal how UK Architects are spearheading a sustainable revolution, addressing rising costs, VAT issues, and material challenges in line with carbon neutrality goals, championing COP28 policy reforms and industry education to reshape the nation's architectural future. Viktor Westerdahl, Director of Westerdahl explains “I've tried to push [sustainability] in every project. I think the challenge really is when you come up against the cold, hard reality of budget, then people often scale back on those ambitions. It can be really small things like you might have an air-to-air heat exchange in a bathroom and it's cheaper to just put in a normal one. What I do try to bake in is putting good insulation in, because you have to put that anyway and it's not so much more expensive.” https://www.westerdahl.co.uk/

January 10, 2024Episode 424 min

John Stack from North Architects / VAT Reforms and Decarbonisation

In this episode we reveal how UK Architects are spearheading a sustainable revolution, addressing rising costs, VAT issues, and material challenges in line with carbon neutrality goals, championing COP28 policy reforms and industry education to reshape the nation's architectural future. “There's probably a wider discussion about this country's economy and the desire for house prices to continue to rise at 5-7% a year. I think the government needs to do more to counteract the negative stories in the press, particularly for heat pumps. There's lots of misinformation out there. You know, we have to get rid of gas. We have to stop using gas boilers. We have to decarbonize.” John Stack, Partner at North Architects https://www.instagram.com/northarchitectsn16/ https://www.northarchitects.co.uk/

January 8, 2024Episode 339 min

Davide di Martino from Unagru / VAT Reforms and Decarbonisation

In this episode we reveal how UK Architects are spearheading a sustainable revolution, addressing rising costs, VAT issues, and material challenges in line with carbon neutrality goals, championing COP28 policy reforms and industry education to reshape the nation's architectural future. Davide di Martino, Founder of Unagru and NoMoreGas.org explains “The grid in the UK is rapidly decarbonising so the emissions coming from electricity production is falling. This means that [electric] alternatives to gas boilers are more eco-friendly. It used to be that electric alternatives would use electricity on site, but then that electricity was produced by a very carbon-intensive grid. Therefore, the two alternatives were not that different, whereas the grid is decarbonising very quickly. The [combined emissions] of all the gas boilers in the UK (17million), are much higher than the combination of all the UK's power plants.” https://www.instagram.com/unagru_architecture_urbanism/ https://www.unagru.com/