Big Design Adventure

In the special festive episode, can you have a room just reserved for Christmas Day? What’s our hot take on the merits of tinsel, and we present our all time favourite Christmas movies and songs. The model makers who create wooden Christmas ornaments of buildings can be found on Instagram here: Atelier Maps or their Esty store here. For suggestions of places and stories for Series 2, shoot us an email to [email protected] - we will be back on 4 th February 2026! Tickets are now on sale for Kevin McCloud and Tim Ross – Live in Interesting Places –check out the details on our website – http://bigdesignadventure.com/ You can find pictures and videos on 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). Hosts: Tim Ross and Kevin McCloud Big Design Adventure is produced by Modernister Films on Wallumedegal land, Australia. Executive Producer: Shelley Kemp Audio Production: Madeline Joannou – Mylk Media Video Production: Ned Williams Music: Kit Warhurst (@kitwarhurst) Please note this podcast is not currently available in the UK or Ireland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this mini episode we’ve got huge news about the final show for the year and we answer our most asked question. For questions and suggestions for our Christmas episode, shoot us an email to [email protected] For suggestions of places and stories for Series 2, shoot us an email to [email protected] Tickets are now on sale for Kevin McCloud and Tim Ross – Live in Interesting Places –check out the details on our website – http://bigdesignadventure.com/ You can find pictures and videos on 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). Hosts: Tim Ross and Kevin McCloud Big Design Adventure is produced by Modernister Films on Wallumedegal land, Australia. Executive Producer: Shelley Kemp Audio Production: Madeline Joannou – Mylk Media Video Production: Ned Williams Music: Kit Warhurst (@kitwarhurst) Please note this podcast is not currently available in the UK or Ireland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim and Kev head to London to visit Highgate New Town, a 1970s social housing scheme designed by Hungarian-born architect Peter Tabori. Over a cup of tea with architect and long-time resident Rachel Stevenson, they uncover the secret behind the development’s enduring success. In the 1960s and ’70s, Camden became a testing ground for a new kind of socialhousing in London — one that valued community, good design, and human scale over high-rise efficiency. Under the leadership of visionary architects like Sydney Cook, the Camden Architects Department produced some of the most influential housing in postwar Britain, including schemes by Neave Brown, Benson and Forsyth, and Peter Tabori. Highgate New Town was one of these bold experiments, driven by the belief that public housing could be both socially progressive and architecturally ambitious. To view the full film – The White Flats - https://vimeo.com/917073596?share=copy To check out the book – Cook’s Camden – The Making of Modern Housing -https://isokongallery.org/products/cooks-camden-the-making-of-modern-housing To check out the book – Modernist Estates – The Buildings and People Who Live In Them - https://www.thenile.com.au/books/stefi-orazi/modernist-estates/9780711269262?srsltid=AfmBOoq45XQqD6qTV23sNHDZh6nTK0T6JnnCqKs0laLt5J43t6E1M89N Tickets are now on sale for Kevin McCloud and Tim Ross – Live in Interesting Places –check out the details on our website – http://bigdesignadventure.com/ You can find pictures and videos on 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). Hosts: Tim Ross and Kevin McCloud Big Design Adventure is produced by Modernister Films on Wallumedegal land, Australia. Executive Producer: Shelley Kemp Audio Production: Madeline Joannou – Mylk Media Video Production: Ned Williams Music: Kit Warhurst (@kitwarhurst) Please note this podcast is not currently available in the UK or Ireland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In answering all your burning questions, Kevin reveals his one-sided feud with Jay Kay from Jamiroquai. There are a few mea culpas along the way as we tackle your criticisms and wonder if design can save us in a world without the communal joy of watching shows like Sale of the Century. Oh, and we’ve got a HUGE announcement to make! You can check out Kev on Top Gear’s You Tube channel here: https://youtu.be/vpLq6rGwzpY?si=a4FOeL6cWGhP8A3b Simon sent us some wonderful links including: The chairs of Doctor Who - https://pinkforyouractualpterodactyl.com/2021/06/20/the-chairs-of-doctor-who-1963-89/ The chairs of Blake 7 - https://watchingblakes7.wordpress.com/2019/06/18/the-chairs-of-blakes-7/ The furnishings of Space 1999 - https://catacombs.space1999.net/main/models/wrefmp.html You can find pictures and videos on 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). Hosts: Tim Ross and Kevin McCloud Big Design Adventure is produced by Modernister Films on Wallumedegal land, Australia. Executive Producer: Shelley Kemp Audio Production: Madeline Joannou – Mylk Media Video Production: Ned Williams Music: Kit Warhurst (@kitwarhurst) Please note this podcast is not currently available in the UK or Ireland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a semi-desperate attempt to find meaning in service station design, Tim and Kev head to Copenhagen to visit the famed filling station designed by Arne Jacobsen in the 1930s. A far-ranging conversation was recorded in front of the bowsers for your listening pleasure, and things may have gotten a little kooky. Also in this episode: find out how Sarah Jessica Parker has recently become a new fan. And make sure you tune in next week for a very special announcement. Arne Jacobsen’s 1937 petrol station is an icon of early modernist functionalism in Denmark. Located near Skovshoved Harbour, it’s the first part of Jacobsen’s ‘white city’ at Bellevue that motorists encounter when arriving from the south along the coastal road, Strandvejen. During the 1930s, Jacobsen realised a grand modernist vision around Bellevue Beach north of Copenhagen. His key works include Bellevue Beach Baths (1932), the Bellavista housing development (1934), Bellevue Theatre (1936), and the petrol station (1937). With white exteriors, functional layouts, and crisp, cubist forms, these buildings are among the finest early examples of Danish functionalist architecture - showing clear influence from the Bauhaus movement and Le Corbusier. You can find pictures and videos on 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). Hosts: Tim Ross and Kevin McCloud Big Design Adventure is produced by Modernister Films on Wallumedegal land, Australia. Executive Producer: Shelley Kemp Audio Production: Madeline Joannou – Mylk Media Video Production: Ned Williams Music: Kit Warhurst (@kitwarhurst) Please note this podcast is not currently available in the UK or Ireland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.