Designing a home for the future

Wellness

Design principles that support health and wellbeing are an increased priority, with more requirements around home wellness spaces. Homeowners are using their homes not just to work and live, but to disconnect and recharge. Tree and sea changes remain popular for those seeking that balance of work and personal health. This has transpired in many ways – for example the inclusion into homes of infrared saunas, gyms, ice baths and spas.

Sustainability

From houses in cities, on mountains and along the coast, from micro apartments to remote off-grid dwellings, one thing our clients have in common is a deep sense of purpose. More and more, people building homes are putting the planet and humanity first and recognising the power architects and homeowners have when it comes to contributing positively to our world.

A well-designed home can be truly nurturing. Healthy homes can nurture the body, the soul and the community. This starts with zooming out and looking at big, meaningful moves. Sighting the house so that the living spaces open up to the north, connecting the occupants to sun, views and sky, is essential. This allows the winter sun to come deep into the home while at the same time providing shade and relief from the hot summer sun. Throughout the house we seek to connect spaces to nature and landscape, grounding the home and its residents.

With the integration of green spaces we help mitigate urban heat island effects, improving air quality and promoting biodiversity, and giving the families and communities inhabiting the space connection to the natural world.

The urgency of the climate crisis has propelled a shift in the industry towards sustainable design practices. Architects and designers are prioritising energy efficiency, renewable energy integration and the use of eco-friendly materials. We are seeing building design both in Australia and globally focus on reducing carbon emissions, conserving water and optimising energy consumption. The increasing frequency of extreme weather events around the world has also led architects to incorporate resilience and adaptability into their designs to help lessen these effects.

The cost-of-living crisis has led to a growing demand for affordable housing. We’ve seen architects and designers exploring innovative solutions to create sustainable and affordable housing options, including the use of modular construction and shared living spaces.

Local materials

A desire to connect to nature influences the selection of materials used within a home. Materials such as natural timber floors, sustainable cork floors, woven sisal carpets and plant-based fabrics such as linen are all strong contenders for material selection. Other materials include Australian-made stone floors, terrazzo tiles and furniture that is lovingly crafted by local makers. Together they create a warm, natural, healthy palette that is textural, durable and of its place.

When it comes to materials, another area of focus among architects is reducing embodied energy through the use of recycled materials and materials that are locally fabricated using recycled content. Recycled options for many materials can be requested at the specifying stage, including concrete, timber, brick and metals such as brass. It is promising to see an increase in awareness across the industry about calculating and targeting reductions to embodied energy, such as construction firms that now run embodied energy calculations alongside cost estimates.

Electrification

The single biggest change that we’ve seen in the last three years has been people abandoning gas and opting for 100 per cent electric. This allows for healthier indoor air quality, greater energy efficiency and a future that is not reliant on fossil fuels. With natural gas in Australia predicted to run out as early as 2040, more and more people are seeking all-electric, future-focused homes designed to last, with nearly one out of every three Australian homes now installing solar panels.

The desire to run a more energy efficient home has also transpired in an uptick in demand for induction cooktops and high-efficiency heat pumps for hot water and heating. At the same time, many households are spending more time researching electricity companies to try to reduce their carbon footprints where possible. Some households are even going one step further, buying 100 per cent Certified Greenpower to be confident that they’re operating their home with zero carbon emissions.

A home is not just a place to rest your head and cook your meals, it’s a place to retreat, to recharge and to connect with loved ones. It’s a place with deep meaning and it’s a place we want to be proud of. A sustainable home is a cornerstone of how each of us can take personal responsibility for our shared global future – a first step in the legacy we want to leave behind.

Images supplied via Breathe Architecture