This week's special episode is a live recording in front of an audience in the newly revamped main gallery at the Building Centre in London.

My guest is Baroness Hilary Armstrong of Hill Top, Chair of the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods and life-long advocate for communities and regeneration and the conversation explores one of the most important – yet often overlooked – questions in public policy: “how do we reestablish the concept of decent neighbourhoods as a means to renew the country from the ground up?”

Some background: Baroness Armstrong has spent her career at the intersection of politics, policy and community life and today – from her work as a social worker in Sunderland ..to her time as a Cabinet Minister in the last Labour Government shaping the New Deal for Communities. A great platform to talk about what’s gone wrong in the past decade, what can be done now to bring new hope across Britain’s neighbourhoods.

The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods - ICON - is a cross-party initiative dedicated to understanding how neighbourhoods can drive national renewal and in the Spring is set to publish Think Neighbourhoods, its new report in why and how investment and focus on neighbourhoods can revitalise lives across the UK.

And it certainly is a really interesting moment for housing. The government is pressing forward with its target to building 1.5 million new homes and – as we heard on the podcast last week - has just given the thumbs up to the New Towns Taskforce’s plans for 12 communities across the UK. Meanwhile, the post Grenfell fire challenge to build and retrofit homes to be safer, warmer and more carbon efficient, continues to grow.

A tough brief for sure and ICON’s interim report - published last March - makes a compelling case for investment in and focus on neighbourhoods as part of this journey.

It identifies over 600 ‘mission-critical neighbourhoods’ across the country – places where disadvantage, disconnection and declining social infrastructure are holding people back and calls for a radical shift in how government works, arguing that “thinking big means thinking neighbourhoods.”

“if Britain wants to deliver the government’s missions and rebuild trust in politics,” it says, “it must start by investing in its neighbourhoods.”

Resources

• The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods - ICON
• Baroness Hilary Armstrong of Hill Top
• Interim Report – Think Neighbourhoods
• ICON’s summer progress report
• ICON's lates research on what is happening in England’s neighbourhoods
• The Building Centre, Store Street, London

In this week's episode we focus on New Towns and specifically the government’s on-going ambitions to tackle the UK’s housing crisis through the creation of a new generation of communities across England.

Now Britain’s housing crisis is not new — but the scale of the Government’s ambition to tackle it is. With a target to deliver 1.5 million homes over the next Parliament, the focus is turning to how this can be achieved in a way that creates thriving, sustainable communities rather than disconnected housing estates.

In September the government accepted the findings of the New Towns Taskforce and committed to working on ideas for up to 12 New Towns through the work of the New Towns Unit – with a consultation planned for the Spring. So some progress but lots to do.

And to discuss the challenge, I am joined today by Lord Ben Gascoigne, chair of the House of Lords Built Environment Committee who will talk us through the findings of the committee’s s latest report, New Towns: Laying the Foundations

This argues that the UK cannot achieve its new town and housing ambitions without decisive national leadership and long-term commitment from central government. It calls for a dedicated cabinet-level minister and a new national delivery agency to oversee a programme of development corporations that are capable of building this new generation of well-planned, infrastructure-led towns.

At the heart of the report lies a message that echoes across decades of British planning history — that success demands vision, coordination, and patience.

But in today’s fiscal climate and fragmented planning landscape, those qualities are harder than ever to muster.

Resources

• New Towns: Laying the Foundations
• House of Lords Built Environment Committee
• Lord Ben Gascoigne
• New Towns Taskforce report Sept 25
• Government response Sept 25

In this week's episode we’re taking a closer look at infrastructure’s use of data – how emerging digital technologies and AI tools are shaping and transforming the way we manage our built and natural environment.

To help me I am joined by James Lee, the new Chief Operating Officer at global infrastructure giant Bentley Systems in a quiet corner of the annual Year in Infrastructure tech gathering and celebration in Amsterdam.

It is clearly a moment when global infrastructure delivery faces unprecedented pressures — from net zero targets and climate resilience; to skills shortages and digital transformation.

And as we have been hearing at the event, Bentley stands at the intersection of engineering and innovation with a mission “to close the gap between what the world demands and what we are able to deliver – as chief executive Nicolas Cumins puts it.

So a lot to chat through with James today. He joins Bentley after a two-decade career spanning Google Cloud and SAP and so, I think, brings a unique perspective on operational challenges, AI integration, and the power of partnerships to drive transformation at scale.

Let’s explore how James plans to align these innovations with the realities of infrastructure delivery.

Resources

• Bentley Systems Year in Infrastructure
• Bentley Systems website
• Infrastructure Policy Advancement - TIPLive summits
• Google Cloud

In today’s episode we turn our attention to architecture and its role in shaping not just our buildings and infrastructure, but the society, environment and communities that are created by our built environment.

To tackle this challenging brief, I am joined this week in a quiet corner of the Building Centre in London by Chris Williamson, internationally renowned architect, founder of Weston Williamson + Partners – the practice that he set up in 1985 - and the freshly installed new President of the Royal Institute of British Architects – RIBA.

Chris is a man with a bold vision to reshape the profession and reshape RIBA, an organisation which has been a cornerstone for architecture for nearly two centuries.

But today, the institution faces serious questions about its relevance, its purpose, and how it can adapt to meet the needs of a fast-changing world.

And as issues like climate resilience, community engagement, and professional diversity take centre stage, there is growing pressure for RIBA to evolve — to become more accessible, more influential, and more impactful.

But to honest, it’s a challenge that Chris has been immersed in for his whole career, having worked on a huge portfolio of infrastructure projects, including notably the Jubilee Line extension station at London Bridge, Elizabeth Line stations at Paddington and Woolwich, the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project plus many urban regeneration projects, such as the Arden Cross masterplan in the West Midlands.

All of this work has emphasised Chris’s focus on the design of spaces that are not only functional but are sustainable and, crucially, enjoyable for people.

In his presidential nomination bid, Chris promised big change – in his first 100 days he vowed to review the 2021 RIBA Masterplan to create a more purposeful institution that leads on sustainability, champions diverse routes into the profession, delivers lifelong learning, and rebuilds public trust in architecture as a force for societal progress.

So what does that future look like? What will it take to deliver meaningful reform? And how can architects once again be seen — not just as designers of buildings — but as stewards of a better, fairer, more sustainable world?

Resources

• Weston Williamson + Partners website
• Royal Institute of British Architects – RIBA website
• Chris Williams elected RIBA President
• Chris Williamson's presidential bid
• The Stirling Prize
• Chris on “Your Architect” by Derek Senior
• RIBA amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill

In today's episode we take a close look at the investor’s perspective on the UK’s infrastructure market — and, in particular, what the landmark Final Investment Decision on the new Sizewell C nuclear power station tells us about the appetite, the risks, and the rewards for long-term private capital.

Because, following completion of the deal last month, for the first time, the British public will be co-owners of a nuclear power station, sitting alongside a powerful mix of investors including EDF, Centrica, La Caisse, and Amber Infrastructure.

And as such I am pleased to be joined today by Jamie Hossain, Senior Investment Director at Amber Infrastructure and lead portfolio manager at International Public Partnerships (INPP), who has been leading their latest 7.6% investment in Sizewell C.

Amber is the the specialist international investment manager and investment adviser to infrastructure investment company International Public Partnerships Limited (INPP). As such he gives us his first hand perspective on the deal, what it means for UK infrastructure – and perhaps what is in his future pipeline.

Sizewell C is one of the most significant new energy projects in a generation — a £38 billion nuclear power station in Suffolk that will be a twin of the Hinkley Point C station now under construction in Somerset and provide reliable, low-carbon electricity for six million homes. It’s also a project that signals a new era for infrastructure investment in the UK.

Final Investment Decision is significant. Some 70 per cent of construction spend is expected to flow to British businesses, with tens of thousands of jobs created, and £2 billion a year in savings to the electricity system.

So it’s a project that demonstrates how public and private capital can work hand-in-hand to deliver national benefit.

But what does this mean from the investor’s perspective? How are infrastructure investor's like Amber assessing opportunity and risk and what models offer the right balance of stability, flexibility, and return for future projects?

Resources

• Amber Infrastructure Group
• INPP’s Sizewell C investor presentation
• INPP’s most recent investor factsheet
• INPP's annual report
• All about the RAB model
• Some INPP case studies
• An overview of INPP’s portfolio
• The Australian Cobberdog

In today's episode we tackle one of the construction sector’s most persistent and costly challenges: productivity.

The UK construction industry is under huge pressure as it copes with economic pressures, a shrinking workforce and a pipeline of increasingly complex projects.

Creating major infrastructure schemes to transform our energy water and transport systems, tackling a 1.5 million house construction target and the constant battle to renew the aging assets that glue our society together — and it is clear that delivering more with less is no longer optional, it’s critical.

And yet, while technology, manufacturing, and logistics have all seen huge productivity gains in recent decades, construction has stubbornly lagged behind.

That’s why the Construction Productivity Taskforce was established: to bring clients, contractors, consultants, and supply chain partners together to find practical ways to change the game.

Its latest report is called Improving Construction Productivity: Practical insights from Pilot Site Studies. And it doesn’t just set out ideas - it actually draws on three live, complex projects to demonstrate what really works on site – and of course what doesn’t.

The findings are compelling. Whether it’s reducing unproductive variability, leveraging digital technologies, rethinking crane scheduling, or embedding early supply chain collaboration, the evidence shows that measurable, repeatable improvements are possible. More importantly, they’re available now.

To explore the report’s findings — and what they mean for the industry at large — I’m joined by Peter Jones, Operations Director at Skanska and Visiting Professor at Loughborough University. As a member of the Taskforce, Peter is uniquely placed to explain not just the research, but how to embed its recommendations across the sector.

Resources

• Improving Construction Productivity paper
• Construction Productivity Taskforce
• Loughborough University School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
• 1 Broadgate
• Timber Square
• Vehicle Storage Support Programme
• Egan Report 1998
• Latham report 1994

In today's podcast we are talking about bioenergy and specifically looking at how carbon capture and storage is set to transform the technology.

The UK’s net zero energy transition is firmly underway and one of the most promising new technologies is Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage, or BECCS. By combining the generation of renewable power with the permanent removal of CO₂, BECCS has been described as a “double win” for climate action.

At the heart of this opportunity is Evero, the low-carbon energy-from-wastewood company. Evero has been selected by the UK government to transform its Ince Biomass Plant into the nation’s first large-scale BECCS facility. Branded InBECCS, the project aims to capture 217,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually, generate clean electricity for more than 100,000 homes, and create skilled green jobs — all while diverting waste wood from landfill.

To explore this opportunity, I’m joined today by Alex Young, Head of Development at Evero — an engineer-turned-developer with more than two decades in renewables. Together, we’ll dive into the promise, the pitfalls, and the future of BECCS in the UK.

A bit of background. InBECCS is situated in Cheshire’s Protos energy hub, and will integrate into the HyNet carbon capture, transport and storage cluster, connecting bioenergy directly with the UK’s growing hydrogen economy.

As such it represents not just an industrial retrofit, but a potential template for scaling BECCS across multiple sites nationwide.

So how will it be delivered and what does INBECCS mean for Britain’s leadership in carbon removal and industrial decarbonisation?

Well let’s find out…

Resources

• Evero Energy website
• Ince BECCS project
• Ince plant
• The Hynet cluster
• Government policy on carbon capture and storage

In today's episode we’re talking about steel — but not in the usual way.

My guest, Ben Holmes, is Head of Sustainability at Elliott Wood, the structural and civil engineers behind, amongst many other things, 30 Duke Street, the UK’s largest steel reuse project in which some 78% of steel from the original structure is being repurposed.

Ben believes that the current public sector rescue of British Steel presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity — not just to save an industry, but to reimagine our fabrication and use of steel entirely - and at the same time give a huge boost to the communities that the industry supports.

Steel is foundational to our modern world — from the bridges we cross to the trains we ride, the buildings we work in to the wind turbines driving the energy transition.

But steel is also one of the most carbon-intensive materials we produce. If the UK is serious about hitting its net zero goals, the way we make, use, and think about steel must change.

Ben has developed five provocative “what if” scenarios that challenge us to look beyond short-term fixes and instead think about system-wide changes that could genuinely transform the steel industry and the communities that it supports.

In today’s podcast we are going to examine these and find out whether they go beyond simply being fanciful — and instead, by drawing on proven global examples from around the world to create the necessary vision and political will - they could actually prompt change.

Let’s here more

Resources

Ben' five "What ifs":

1. What if... we thought generationally, not electorally?
2. What if... we created centres of excellence beyond production?
3. What if... we made green steel the standard, not the exception?
4. What if... we connected steel to communities in new ways?
5. What if… former steelworks became mixed-use districts combining light manufacturing, creative industries, and cultural spaces?

• Elliot Wood website
• Great Portland Estates - 30 Duke Street
• Government policy on British Steel