Episode 44. AJ Climate Champions with Hattie Hartman and George Morgan. Studio Weave founding director Je Ahn explains the challenges of sourcing timber from London’s streets and parks.
He describes how he translated the ambition of using local timber from London’s trees into reality at Lea Bridge Library Pavilion despite the fact that no sales channel existed for sourcing local timber and the need to prove its chain of custody because it had no FSC certification.
We also discuss how working with found materials requires a willingness and ability to improvise as a designer and creates new aesthetic opportunities. In the case of Lea Bridge Library Pavilion, this approach lends warmth and informality to the space. ‘You have to be ready to change your mind to suit the requirement,’ says Ahn.
Ahn describes sustainability as project-specific. ‘I’m very interested in where we get our materials,’ he says, explaining that timber is not always the best solution. It’s all about achieving the right balance for a given project. ‘Whatever I put out in the world has to have a purpose beyond what was initially set out,’ says Ahn.
For show notes and to catch up on all AJ Climate Champions episodes, click here.
Carmody Groarke’s Sian Ricketts on making bricks from waste
AKTII’s David Watson on how to reduce the environmental impacts of brick
‘Over-specification of concrete is an industry addiction’
Henning Larsen’s Martha Lewis on how to screen materials for both chemicals and carbon
‘I’m no longer the wood weirdo,’ says Andrew Waugh
The Public Practice associates driving retrofit and net zero in the public sector
Material passports and Architects Declare four years on
Architects must re-educate themselves on timber sourcing
Architype’s Ann-Marie Fallon: ‘Net Zero has almost lost its meaning’
‘We apologise for designing buildings that exploit the planet’
Chinese architect Xu Tiantian on revitalising rural villages
Historic England’s Morwenna Slade on why a ‘fabric first’ approach must be used with caution in heritage buildings
Adapting conservation area guidance for climate emergency
Balancing heritage and climate urgency in listed buildings
Educators Sofie Pelsmakers and Cíaran Malik on teaching climate literate design
The trade-off between ventilation and airtightness in the post-pandemic world
Why architectural education needs radical reform
Danish architect Lone Feifer on ‘absolute’ sustainability
Hawkins\Brown’s Louisa Bowles on what net zero actually means
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Dear Alice | Interior Design
99% Invisible
The John Clay Wolfe Show
Anne of Green Gables
Black Beauty
Design Better
The Professional Creative