Episode 292: Gabriel Solorzano Torres on why & how MMC can solve the housing crisis

Gabriel Solorzano Torres is the Executive Director of Commercial, Sustainability and Infrastructure at Melbourne Polytechnic. He brings deep strategic and operational experience in infrastructure and industry development — and is at the forefront of the new Future of Housing Construction Centre of Excellence, a national initiative aimed at scaling Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) skills and innovation across the sector.In this episode, we unpack what MMC really means for architects and designers, how education and training need to evolve, and the role design thinking has in creating the homes Australia needs now.

Ingrid Bakker is a Principal architect, a board director for Hassell and a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects.Craig Guthrie is a specialist in Landscape Architecture and Urban Design with over 25 years of experienceAs Hassell Studio Principals Ingrid Bakker and Craig Guthrie talk about the legacy for Melbourne and how the newly-built Metro Tunnel uses design to increase the city’s liveability. 

Daniel Jarosch, Chief Executive Officer of Sydney Fish Market has lead the organisation through a once-in-a-generation relocation and reopening that has attracted millions of visitors and redefined this iconic waterfront for the future.He explains how the new Sydney Fish Market is a game changer in terms of designing for place and the future of retail and hospitality design in busy and growing cities like Sydney.

Lisa Munao, Managing Director and Principal of Gensler’s Sydney office leads the strategic growth and operations of the firm across Australia and New Zealand.  With over 25 years of experience in the design industry, Lisa has guided major interior and workplace projects for global and local organisations and brings a passion for creative thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and sustainable design to everything she does. In this conversation she describes how design thinking shapes the future of work, community, and the built environment.

We talk with architects and founders of Taylor Buchtmann Architecture, Anne Taylor, and Michael Buchtmann, who are also the winners of the 2025 Sustainability Award in the Adaptive Reuse – Alteration/Addition category about their extraordinary award-winning project, The Stopover. This remarkable build transformed a dilapidated grain store into resilient, sensitive accommodation that honours both place and purpose. We dive in and hear from the two amazing minds behind this inspiring work.

With a background in architecture and interior design, emerging leader in sustainable design and the Green Star Program Lead at the Green Building Council of Australia, Gabrielle Pavicic is helping reshape how the built environment approaches sustainability — particularly at the fitout level, where waste and embodied carbon have long been overlooked. Her work bridges design thinking with technical delivery, driving measurable change across buildings and infrastructure. She’s also the winner of the Emerging Sustainable Architect/Designer category at the 2025 Sustainability Awards, hosted by Architecture & Design.In this interview, she explores her journey, insights, and what’s next for a more regenerative built environment.Brought to you in association with Autex Acoustics, Proud Carbon Neutral Partners of the 2025 Sustainability Awards.

Known for his thoughtful, context-driven approach to design, acclaimed Australian architect Ed Lippmann, owner and founder of architectural practice, Lippmann Partnership, has a design portfolio that spans decades of civic buildings, cultural spaces, religious buildings, educational projects, and private residences that have helped define parts of Australia’s, as well as his own architectural identity. Ed Lippmann is a very busy man – he is also an author and in his new book, 40 Years of Architecture, he captures this extraordinary journey with surprising warmth and candour, offering insights not only into his many projects but also into the evolution of architecture in Australia over the past four decades. 

Across more than three decades, UNSW Professor Deo Prasad has shaped the national and global conversation on low carbon living through research, education, policy leadership, and industry collaboration. From pioneering sustainability education in the southern hemisphere to leading Australia’s largest built-environment research collaboration through the CRC for Low Carbon Living, his impact spans academia, government, industry, and generations of practitioners worldwide.He talks about his life's work so far, the value of teaching, the importance of building partnerships and how improving sustainability in the built environment is for the benefit of humanity as a whole.

 In this episode of Talking Architecture & Design, host Clémence Carayol heads to Melbourne’s west to unpack one of Australia’s most ambitious health projects: the new Footscray Hospital. More than a deep dive into a major piece of infrastructure, the conversation explores how architecture can reshape the experience of healthcare itself.The $1.5 billion hospital, designed by COX Architecture in collaboration with Billard Leece Partnership, is delivered by the Plenary Health consortium with Multiplex as builder, alongside the Victorian Government and Western Health. Joining the podcast are COX Executive Chair Patrick Ness and BLP Principal Mark Mitchell, who reflect on the ideas behind what has become affectionately known as “the People’s Hospital”.Central to the discussion is the decision to conceive the hospital as a campus rather than a monolithic building. Five interconnected structures are organised around a village green, forming a civic heart that prioritises clarity, orientation and connection. This landscape-led approach reframes the hospital as a place people might visit for a coffee or a walk, not only in moments of illness, reinforcing its role as social and civic infrastructure.Ness and Mitchell also discuss how human-centred design principles shaped everything from intuitive wayfinding and daylight-filled interiors to the careful management of scale in such a vast facility. Access to nature, cultural inclusion informed by collaboration with First Nations Elders, and a strong emphasis on staff wellbeing emerge as critical drivers of the design.The episode also tackles future-facing challenges. Sustainability targets, including Green Star and WELL aspirations, influenced material choices and building performance, while lessons from COVID-19 informed flexibility and pandemic preparedness.As the Footscray Hospital opens, this episode positions it as a powerful benchmark for healthcare architecture: a place where clinical excellence, community identity and long-term resilience are designed to coexist.

To help us unpack what it really means to build not just for a few weeks of sport, but for decades of community benefit, reuse, and resilience we spoke to two experts from design firm Populous: Dr. Kavita Gonsalves, Associate Principal - Sustainability Design Lead ‑ APAC, and Brayden Goodwin, Principal, Architect — Brisbane, on how circular design and sustainability are transforming sports infrastructure in Australia.