Robert Pradolin on Constructing You

For the past 30 years Robert has lived and breathed residential development. From land subdivisions and medium density housing through to high-rise mixed use apartment complexes, his career has allowed him to work with a range of people who have created communities in all housing sectors. But it is understanding the drivers of housing affordability and the importance of housing for all – rich or poor – that has ignited his passion to drive change. Through General Management roles with one of Australia's largest property developers, to working directly with government ministers, policy makers, community housing providers and their support services, Robert has worked tenaciously to increase awareness that "housing for all" is essential economic infrastructure and underpins Australia's prospects for stable, long term economic growth. He believes that Australia needs more affordable housing and more public and social housing. He also believes that we need to unlock institutional investment in this sector. "As a society, we need to think differently and create new and innovative funding mechanisms similar in principle to those adopted in the UK and the US" Part of the solution is to also disrupt the construction sector with new ways of building. For well over a decade, Robert has worked to change the way we build low-rise apartments. He led and managed the team at Australand that designed and constructed Australia's first five storey lightweight timber residential apartment complex, The Green, in Parkville, Melbourne. The Green was designed to showcase the ability of the domestic construction sector to create more affordable housing options. It was a success, achieving construction cost savings of over 20% and reducing materials-related climate change impacts by 22% (The Fifth Estate, 4 July 2014). Constructing in timber will "disrupt" the construction sector and will provide excellent growth opportunities especially in the social and affordable housing space. In this episode you will learn about - Responses to the housing crisis - Private sector responses to intergenerational issues - People, persistence and passion - Building and managing relationships - Legacy building - Taking massive and immediate action Resources https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B009YM9VOQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-pradolin/ https://housingallaustralians.org.au Show notes If you enjoyed this episode, and you've learnt something or it inspired you in some way, I'd love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device, and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me, @elinormoshe_ or Elinor Moshe on LinkedIn. Don't forget you can also join the free facebook community to discuss your journey in the building industry; https://www.facebook.com/groups/constructingyou/