Show Notes
Tim and Kevin take a road trip down to Anglesea, on Victoria’s Surf Coast, to visit architect John Wardle at Burnt Earth Beach House, his award-winning holiday home. Described by his peers as “the architect’s architect”, John is the recipient of the Gold Medal, Australian architecture’s highest honour. He’s also a collector of things, people and ideas, and this is on full display as he not only opens up his house but his curious mind in this revealing conversation about why craft still matters, why his house is full of op shop treasures, and why designing good houses can be so difficult. You really should be listening by now :) John Wardle is an internationally renowned architect and the founder of Wardle, which has studios in Sydney and Melbourne. The work of Wardle is tailored to place and highly experiential in nature. Diverse in scale and typology, its portfolio spans domestic dwellings, university and healthcare buildings, museums and large commercial offices. The practice has won national and international awards for education, residential and civic design. John speaks regularly at national and international conferences. He maintains strong ties to the Australian arts community and academia. He is an adjunct professor at the University of South Australia, and an honorary professorial fellow in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne. Burnt Earth Beach House combines material invention, experimentation and collaboration with accomplished placemaking. This is a multi-generational home that utilises terracotta in two primary forms – through the exterior brickwork, and internally to line walls, floors and joinery elements. The broadly cruciform plan describes view lines and daylight ingress precisely. Facing north, the views are to the Southern Ocean and the surrounding landscape. The governing lines of the plan mark the centre point of the ‘X’ as the island kitchen bench. It is both literally and figuratively the heart of this home. From here, all social activity spills out into living and dining areas on the ground floor. The colour and tonality of the cliff edges in Anglesea are expressed in the use of an invented brick. The extensive process involved extrusion and hand-tearing the brick surface prior to cutting, which exposes a raw, rough-hewn texture. A series of glazing experiments applied to raw clay before single firing are revealed in different sections of the building. Unglazed bricks blend with green and brown glazed bricks, which broadly align with the extensive planting of coastal banksias surrounding the property. Spotted gum timber is used carefully in varying formats – recycled (flooring), veneer (joinery) and sparingly as solid (windows and revealed structure in areas). The robust natural materials of the limited palette are durable and will weather to a natural tonality. To view images from this episode, head to our Instagram page - @big_design_adventure And be sure to follow Tim Ross (@modernister) and Kevin McCloud (@kevin.mccloud1) We’d love to hear from you, reach out to us on [email protected] Know someone who would love this podcast? Please help us share this exciting new adventure.
Big Design Adventure is proudly sponsored by Space Furniture (@spacefurniture), the Australian Institute of Architects (@institute_architects_aus) and is produced with the support of the Alastair Swayn Foundation (@alastairswaynfoundation) in Australia, Royal Institute of British Architects (@RIBA) in the UK and New Zealand Institute of Architects (@nziarchitects) in New Zealand.
Hosts: Tim Ross and Kevin McCloud Guest: John Wardle (@wardle.studio) Big Design Adventure is produced by Modernister Films on Wallumedegal land, Australia. Executive Producer: Shelley Kemp Audio Production: Madeline Joannou – Mylk Media Music: Kit Warhurst (@kitwarhurst) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from Big Design Adventure
Tim and Kevin pull on their hard hats for a tour of 66 Portland Place, the striking 1934 London home of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Chair of the RIBA Board of Trustees Jack Pringle guides them through the building as it’s being stripped back, restored and reimagined as a new, more welcoming public home for architecture. Along the way, they uncover the work of designer Miriam Wornum, whose colourful original interiors have been hidden or lost over the decades and Jack also reveals plans for a new home for the incredible RIBA archive. To view images from this episode, head to our Instagram page - @big_design_adventure And be sure to follow Tim Ross (@modernister) and Kevin McCloud (@kevin.mccloud1) We’d love to hear from you, reach out to us on [email protected] Know someone who would love this podcast? Please help us share this exciting new adventure. Big Design Adventure is proudly sponsored by the Australian Institute of Architects (@institute_architects_aus) and is produced with the support of the Alastair Swayn Foundation (@alastairswaynfoundation) in Australia. The Royal Institute of British Architects (@RIBA) in the UK and New Zealand Institute of Architects (@nziarchitects) in New Zealand.
It’s a bonus episode with Pippa Goldfinger, especially curated by Kevin for you. Works best if you listen to the main episode first - Series 3, Episode 9.
Tim and Kevin head to West London to borrow the keys to an apartment in Trellick Tower, the iconic Brutalist apartment block designed by Hungarian émigré architect Ernő Goldfinger — an absolute banger of an example of social housing. Joining them on the sofa is Ernő’s granddaughter, Pippa, who shares her very personal story of growing up around her incredibly progressive grandparents, particularly at 2 Willow Road, Ernő’s groundbreaking modernist development that became a very modern multigenerational home and is now a much-loved National Trust house museum. Pippa, who also leads a creative life as Head of Design at Design West, paints the most wonderful picture of the incredible life her grandfather led as we explore his significant legacy. Learn more about Design West on their website – designwest.org.uk Check out 2 Willow Road on the National Trust website – nationaltrust.org.uk To view images from this episode, head to our Instagram page - @big_design_adventure And be sure to follow Tim Ross (@modernister) and Kevin McCloud (@kevin.mccloud1) We’d love to hear from you, reach out to us on [email protected] Know someone who would love this podcast? Please help us share this exciting new adventure. Big Design Adventure is proudly sponsored by the Australian Institute of Architects (@institute_architects_aus) and is produced with the support of the Alastair Swayn Foundation (@alastairswaynfoundation) in Australia. The Royal Institute of British Architects (@RIBA) in the UK and New Zealand Institute of Architects (@nziarchitects) in New Zealand.
This week Kev drags a slightly confused Tim to Leigh, outside Manchester, to explore Leigh Spinners Mill, a vast former cotton mill. He’s less confused when he finds out it’s been given an extraordinary new life as a thriving community hub. Built in 1913 for the Horrocks family, the mill is a reminder of the textile industry that once dominated Greater Manchester, shaping its towns, communities and skylines before its decline during the 20th century. Joining the lads is planner and heritage expert Catherine Dewar to talk about Britain’s remarkable industrial heritage, why we need to find new uses for old buildings and why restoration doesn’t always need to mean making everything perfect. Today the mill is home to artists, small businesses, a cinema, theatre, gym, archery club, computer museum, hypnotist and a clairvoyant. Yes, it’s as bonkers as it sounds but you are going to find out why it works. It’s amazing what happens when you “Don’t knock the bloody thing down.” Leigh Spinners Mill gets five stars from Tim. Follow the mill on Instagram (@spinnersmillleigh). Catherine Dewar has had a 30 year career in managing change to heritage across England, and was most recently Historic England’s Regional Director in the North West of England. In March 2026, she left her director role to set up her own consultancy, providing place leadership and progressive heritage advice across the development, heritage and culture sectors. Catherine is an urban planner by training and in heart…passionate about making places that not only work but that also bring people joy. She likes nothing more than exploring new towns and cities, and all their nooks and crannies! She has a particular soft spot for industrial heritage in all its scarred, rusty glory. (More details on her website catherinedewar.com) To view images from this episode, head to our Instagram page - @big_design_adventure And be sure to follow Tim Ross (@modernister) and Kevin McCloud (@kevin.mccloud1) We’d love to hear from you, reach out to us on [email protected] Know someone who would love this podcast? Please help us share this exciting new adventure. Big Design Adventure is proudly sponsored by the Australian Institute of Architects (@institute_architects_aus) and is produced with the support of the Alastair Swayn Foundation (@alastairswaynfoundation) in Australia. The Royal Institute of British Architects (@RIBA) in the UK and New Zealand Institute of Architects (@nziarchitects) in New Zealand.
What makes a well-designed hotel? This listener question set off a chain of events that created a cavalcade of hot takes, extreme rants about the state of modern hotels, a potted history of motels, a small-scale therapy session about the lettering on bottles in hotel bathrooms, a revelation about an unexpected adult movie star, and the rest you can find out for yourself. This is another feedback episode, powered by your wonderful emails To view images from this episode, head to our Instagram page - @big_design_adventure And be sure to follow Tim Ross (@modernister) and Kevin McCloud (@kevin.mccloud1) We’d love to hear from you, reach out to us on [email protected] Know someone who would love this podcast? Please help us share this exciting new adventure.