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S2 Ep 4 - House for Birds

February 24, 2026 · 54 min

Show notes

Tim and Kev head to the Sydney inner-city suburb of Marrickville to visit artist Leila Jeffreys and musician James Roden, who have spent a decade transforming a modest weatherboard cottage into a small but carefully considered home.

Their dream? A small sustainable home that works for them and connects them to nature by creating
habitat for birds and native species while rethinking what a suburban block can become.

The result is a house which nods to Australian modernism that Kevin wants to move into and a
conversation that will definitely be good for your soul.

Leila is an award-winning photographic artist whose images of birds have been exhibited all over the
world and have featured in a number of best-selling publications. You can visit her website here:
leilajeffreys.com

James Roden is a musician who has also worked for record labels and as a band manager. He’s now the studio manager of Leila’s practice.

You can check out his latest musical project here: snakeheads.com.au

The house was designed by Will Fung at CO-AP Architects. co-ap.com

Will has a great Instagram page (@will.fung)

To view images from this episode, head to 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) in Australia, Royal Institute of British Architects (@RIBA) in the UK and New Zealand Institute of Architects (@nziarchitects) in New Zealand. 

 

Hosts: Tim Ross and Kevin McCloud
Guests: Leila Jeffreys and James Roden
Big Design Adventure is produced by Modernister Films on Wallumedegal land, Australia.
Executive Producer: Shelley Kemp
Audio Production: Madeline Joannou – Mylk Media
Music: Kit Warhurst (@kitwarhurst)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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