The COVID-19 pandemic has had widespread economic impacts, one of the largest of which is the interruption of the supply chain. Talking to us today about Australia’s manufacturing capabilities and why interruption of the supply chain is such a big deal here, is Black Lab Design CEO, Daen Simmat.

Join us as we unpack how speed and customer-focused agility are the key levers for growing success with onshore design and manufacturing capabilities. We dive into the Australian “underdog” psyche, and how this affects attitudes towards capital and manufacturing. Hear why Daen is so focused on creating a good working culture at Black Lab Design, and why he never refuses leave requests or queries sick days.

We discuss how to get a client on your side by having their best interests at heart, and why providing helpful advice and guidance when you can’t meet the client’s needs is beneficial to your brand. We also look at the future of manufacturing in Australia, and where Daen thinks Black Lab Designs will be. When looking at the future, it's impossible not to address the impact of climate change, and we hear Daen's thoughts on using closed-loop design-manufacturing chains and how these should have a positive impact on both the environment and local communities.

Black Lab Design has stayed steady throughout the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Daen tells us why: from competing in speed rather than price to addressing his employees needs first. We also learn about the three scenarios when convincing a client to move towards being more environmentally friendly (win-win, win-neutral, and win-lose), and what you can do to convince them of the necessity of change in each scenario. Tune in to hear all this, and more, in today's exciting episode!

Key Points From This Episode:

• How Daen entered the world of manufacturing.
• The problem with the Australian attitude: why the underdog culture is not a good one.
• Why Daen moved Black Lab Design out of sheet metal, and into other materials.
• The importance of culture within the organisation, taking care of the employees and understanding why we work.
• How to get your client to trust you by having their best interests at heart.
• Why it’s difficult to grow a capital-intensive business in Australia.
• How COVID affected Black Lab Design: using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to help customers throughout the pandemic and how they adjusted their business model.
• Competing on time instead of competing on price and how this set up Black Lab Design for success throughout the pandemic.
• Australia's shortcomings in the manufacturing world, and why we need to start manufacturing locally.
• How Black Lab Design thinks about the closed-loop and the environmental impact of not using the closed-loop.
• Motivating organisations to be environmentally responsible in win-win, win-neutral, and win-lose situations.
• How Black Lab Design can serve as a blueprint for other companies, and what Daen feels is the most important part of his company (the people).
• Why you should choose Black Lab Design: rising to the challenge.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Daen Simmat on LinkedIn

Black Lab Design on LinkedIn

Black Lab Design

Circulist

Host Nick Gonios
Producer Jim Lounsbury

Anyone who is involved in the fight against the climate crisis knows the familiar frustration at how there aren't system-changing requirements in place already. But there are companies that are consistently driving the push for this kind of foundational structure change, and BVN Architecture is one of these inspiring groups in Australia.

Today we are speaking to Ninotschka Titchkosky, co-CEO of this leading architecture firm, who is here to share their vision of the future: smarter, more creative, and better for the planet! BVN's core purpose is to design a better future through re-imagining the built-world using sustainable, innovative and regenerative experiences. We dive into the four pillars on which this future trajectory is based, which are regenerative practice, to eliminate waste, accelerating advanced technologies, and inspire and influence.

In this episode, you'll hear all the incredible ways in which they are already well on their journey of personifying these practices. The listener will hear about some examples of the firm's use of new and advanced technologies and how they've changed the way that BVN operates, as well as some innovative thoughts on the evolution of fees and pay structure in the architectural space. We also touch on how they recently became Climate Active certified, and Ninotschka shares the details of the systematic approach that moved them beyond carbon neutral into being carbon positive.

She also shares her take on the importance of incentivization, leadership when it comes to contracts, the living architecture model, and finally reiterates that keeping things simple is the best way to get lots of people behind the fight to save the planet. Join us now for this inspiring conversation!

Key Points Points from this Episode:

• Get to know today's guest, Ninotschka Titchkosky.
• What is the BVN journey? Ninotschka unpacks their past, present, and future.
• Experimenting and implementing new technology in-house before showing clients.
• BVN's new vision, and the four pillars on which it's based.
• The definition of a living architecture model, according to Ninotschka.
• Evolving how the fee structure works for architecture.
• Some exciting VBN projects that optimize materials, eliminate waste, and create collaborative spaces.
• About the 3 step process of getting the company carbon positive.
• Addressing the huge waste problems in the construction sector.
• How government needs to show leadership around contracts.
• Ninotschka's take on the global approach to tackling the climate crisis.
• How we don't have enough incentives for designers and contractors.
• A walk-through of the goals and design for the Atlassian headquarters.
• How it's important to not overwhelm everyone with the complexity of the problem.
• How keeping things simplified will make it easier for more people to get involved!

Quotes:

“It's about being able to experiment, and the best place to experiment is on yourself.” — Ninotschka Titchkosky [0:02:55]

“We get enamored by all the shiny new stuff but actually we've got a huge sleeping problem which is the existing building stock, and we can't have a knock-down mentality, we need to have a reinventing and adapting approach.” — Ninotschka Titchkosky [0:16:46]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Ninotschka Titchkosky on LinkedIn

BVN Architecture

University of Sydney

Atlassian

Circulist

Host Nick Gonios
P

Episode 9: Show Notes

Steven Liaros and Nilmini De Silva are co-creators of a circular economy village concept. Together they run Polisplan, a strategic engineering and town planning consultancy, as well as their organization, Beautility Developments, where they are developing the Circular Economy Project. Listeners will hear the story of how Steven and Nilmini met, were introduced to the circular economy, and began to traveling around Australia, researching how to implement circular villages to revitalise rural areas. They also share how they realised that the idea of a network of connected villages was not so far-fetched after all, because people were already starting to seek out these connections.

You’ll learn about all about the different kinds of communities they discovered and why they have opted to replace the house as the unit of design with the village. As they work towards developing zero waste systems. with deep roots in Australia’s indigenous heritage, you’ll also find out what they envision for the project and how it has been achieved. Steven and Nilmini think of circularity as the next revolution rather than trying to recreate the past and, in today’s episode, they share what this looks like, from philosophy to logistics.

Quotable Quotes:

“We feel that a lot of people that are in this space, really thinking about ‘what’s the meaning of life?’ and ‘how can we make things better given all the crises we are facing?’, it’s usually people who have experienced some sort of crisis in their life.” — @steven_liaros [0:05:25]

“I started to think: isn’t the internet similar to the printing press in making information widely available? Isn’t there a possibility for another renaissance?” — @steven_liaros [0:08:51]

“We began to see that the idea of having a network of villages that were connected was not so far fetched because people were already beginning to look for these connections.” — @DeSilva_Nilmini [0:15:28]

“We can see this yin yang thing happening again. We think of cities as planning for people’s housing and work and you’re anchored to a place. We don’t think of it as a balance between the settled life and the nomadic life.” — @steven_liaros [0:17:58]

“So far, the unit of design has been the individual house, but it’s hard to really get proper sustainability in that environment, be it economic or social, using that means. When you think of a unit as a village, it is much easier to have these decentralised systems.” — @DeSilva_Nilmini [0:20:55]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Steven Liaros on Twitter

Steven Liaros on LinkedIn

Rethinking the City

Nilmini De Silva on LinkedIn

Nilmini De Silva on Twitter

Nilmini De Silva

Fate or Destiny

Beautility Developments

Narratives4Change

Circulist

Host Nick Gonios
Producer Jim Lounsbury