Podcasts · Re:Energise from ESB

Re: Purpose (Design & Ingenuity)

16 Dec 2025 · 32 min

Repurposing and upcycling can be a great way to breathe new life into old objects, but on this episode, Meghann sits down with three people who are repurposing on a grand scale!

Patrick Bradley is an architect based in Derry whose designs have reused shipping containers in incredibly creative ways. In fact, his own multi-award-winning house used four of them, and was voted as the “Grandest Grand Design” in 20 years of the Channel 4 show.

Meanwhile, Gordon Hickey, the owner of a cafe in a shipping container in Dublin, has found his creative choice of building has led to all sorts of benefits.

And finally, at a company called BladeBridge, Angie Nagle and her team are repurposing wind turbine blades into all sorts of products. You would be surprised at how incredibly adaptable they are!

These are all incredible projects, demonstrating how we can take what would otherwise be waste materials, and apply design, engineering, and huge amounts of creativity.