Inside Richard Rogers' most personal work

In this episode, I sit down with Ab Rogers, designer and son of Richard Rogers, to revisit the house he grew up in - Wimbledon House, a prototype of high-tech modernism designed by his father in 1968.

This conversation moves between memory and material. Ab shares what it was like to live inside a building that was also an architectural experiment - a modular steel frame dropped into a garden, with transparent walls and exposed services.

We talk about what the house meant then, and how it feels now. How it blurred the lines between home and studio, and how its spirit — open, adaptable, unpretentious - still shapes Ab’s own approach to design today.

Key Topics:

● Growing up inside Richard Rogers’ radical domestic experiment

● The house as a testing ground for flexibility and transparency

● How the logic of industry met the softness of family life

● Living with architecture that doesn’t hide its workings

● Ab’s reflections on high-tech modernism - and where it led

Guest Info: Ab Rogers is a designer, educator, and creative director. He is the founder of Ab Rogers Design and was formerly Head of Interior Design at the Royal College of Art. He grew up in Wimbledon House, which was designed by his father Richard Rogers.

Quotes from the Episode:

On the house as idea: "It was a place where architecture and family life happened at the same time — and didn’t always agree."

On openness: "You couldn’t hide anything. Emotions, furniture, structure — it was all part of the architecture."

On growing into the space: "I thought it was normal. Only later did I realise we were living inside a prototype."

Website: www.jameshamiltonarchitects.com

Instagram: @jameshamiltonarchitects

Podcast Production: OneFinePlay.com