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Start with a flooded hotel room, end with a four‑metre cantilever, and in between unpack the messy, creative space where structure meets form. We sit down with structural engineer Joel Marsh of Pocket to map out how architects and engineers can move beyond transactional deliverables and into a truly design‑led process that saves money, reduces RFIs, and produces cleaner, more elegant buildings.

Joel opens the playbook: meet early, sketch by hand at 10–15%, and use those concept drawings to align intent before any modelling lock‑in. From there, general arrangement plans become a shared workspace for spatial fit, and detailed coordination happens before consent so builders aren’t left juggling “garden salad details” on site. We talk real value vs low fees, the hidden cost of conservative members, and why a readable calculation package should tell a story of load paths, stiffness, and performance that architects and builders can follow at a glance.

Materials get a clear‑eyed treatment. Timber is brilliant when it fits the constraints; steel and concrete still win in the right places. Joel walks through post‑tensioned slab logic, a prefabricated mountain hut helicoptered into place, and what it took to pull off a four‑metre cantilevered floor. We also touch on AI’s limits: it can automate parts, but it can’t replace the creative judgement that balances cost, constructability, and design intent. The through‑line is respect and shared language—because the best buildings reflect a professional consensus, not a one‑sided mandate.

If you care about better drawings, simpler details, fewer RFIs, and a smoother path from concept to construction, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with your project team, and leave a review to tell us the one collaboration habit you want to see more often.

https://pocketeng.co.nz/

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What if a building could be more than an object on a pedestal and instead feel like a living character on screen? We sit down with two architectural filmmakers, Nikolas Struger from ravens At Odds and Veeral Patel who show how to move beyond glossy hero shots and capture the heartbeat of design: process, people, and emotion. From software and cycling photography to architecture practice and brand strategy, their varied paths lead to the same conclusion—storytelling is the missing bridge between architects, clients, and the public.

We unpack the craft behind compelling architectural film, starting with strategy. Short, vertical cutdowns can spark curiosity and build trust, while longer pieces on your site deliver depth and nuance. Preproduction is everything: treatments to align on tone and references, storyboards that map scenes to sun paths and locations, and schedules that protect the moments you can’t fake. On set, preparation meets improvisation as documentary instincts catch the unplanned gestures that make a space feel alive.

This conversation goes beyond formats to focus on value. Forget chasing view counts. Strong films create social proof, clarify process, and strengthen pitches by reducing perceived risk. We discuss budget tiers, when to choose interviews over pure visuals, and how music, sound design, or even silence can carry narrative. Nik and Veeral share examples of process-driven edits, client-led arcs, and long-form projects that track a home through years of delays, decisions, and everyday life—proof that architecture resonates most when it reflects human stakes.

If you’re tired of slick reels that say little, you’ll find practical guidance on planning light, collaborating with crews, and structuring stories that audiences remember. Subscribe, share with a colleague who needs a narrative upgrade, and leave a review telling us: which project in your world deserves a film—and why?

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Follow us on @designpriciplespod on Instagram and if you wish to contact us hit our DMs or our personal pages. We love to hear from you it really encourages us to keep going and the ideas and feedback we get from the listeners is awesome!

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A city can make you breathe easier—or grind your teeth—before you’ve even named why. We follow that feeling from a flimsy townhouse hinge to the rhythm of a street that forces a ute to crawl, exploring how materials, widths, and mixed uses quietly choreograph daily life. In this episode we pull apart modernism’s big promises, tip our hats to classical street smarts, and ask what a genuinely New Zealand urban vernacular might look like—one with corrugate, brick, and crafted facades that hold up to weather, touch, and time.

The heart of the chat is human-scale design. We talk walkability you can feel, where a tight lane and rougher surface set a natural speed limit, and where a dairy under a flat means your day stacks neatly without a dashboard. Medellín’s gondolas and covered escalators show how access can reverse decline when you cut the time penalty for the very people who make a city run. Christchurch’s rebuild sits in the balance: a missed chance for bold spines of transit and tighter hubs, yet proof that even partial wins matter when applied consistently. And yes, fares and parking prices quietly steer behaviour more than slogans ever will.

Inside the front door, priorities tell on us. The “double garage with everything” inflates into a third of a house, while the rooms we actually live in shrink. We argue for smaller, better spaces—nooks, ladders, odd corners that make memories—over storage for cars. Materials matter too: brick can beat timber on cost and presence, corrugate deserves a smarter role in city scales, and layered skins can bring the street back to hand-level detail. If there’s a takeaway, it’s this: design works when it speaks plainly to how people move, meet, and make a day. Subscribe, share with a city-loving mate, and tell us—what one change would make your street slower, safer, and more alive?

Please Like and Subscribe it really helps :)

Follow us on @designpriciplespod on Instagram and if you wish to contact us hit our DMs or our personal pages. We love to hear from you it really encourages us to keep going and the ideas and feedback we get from the listeners is awesome!