This is Episode 1 of Season 1. This season I’m going to be taking you through what matters most.
What are the most essential choices when designing your home?
And in this first episode of the season, I’ll be diving into the very first choice – the most important thing to know – to make your home great. Whatever your dreams, your location or your budget.
Today’s episode is going to bring immediate clarity to you as you design, renovate or build your home. And I mean immediate. It’s a big promise isn’t it? It’s not one I make lightly!
This is largely because of this fact: renovating and building aren’t one big decision or choice. They’re a series of choices made one after the other.
At any point, you may have 2 options, or 20 options, or 200 options. This is the thing I hear regularly – the difficulty that homeowners have in knowing what to choose in these myriad of options.
What if, instead, you could know the most important thing to prioritise? The first choice to make in your design that will make every subsequent choice simpler and streamline your design overall?
There are lots of reasons why knowing this most important thing will help you in designing your home:
1. You can design a home that suits your specific location and site
2. You can design a home that supports your well-being
3. You can design a home that costs you less in the future
4. You can design a home that gets its Building Approval more simply
5. You can design a home that’s good for the planet
6. You can avoid wasting space that you’re paying for anyway
7. You can simplify your design choices, and make your project easier, and life less stressful
What is this one important thing to know?
To learn it, and unlock some super useful information for your project, listen to the podcast now.
With over 30 years industry experience, Amelia Lee founded Undercover Architect in 2014 as an award-winning online resource to help and teach you how to get it right when designing, building or renovating your home. You are the key to unlocking what’s possible for your home. Undercover Architect is your secret ally
I am really happy to join in your site, and this will help me in my studies as an architect, in fact I live in North Africa, and I believe that architectural design has the same way around the world that covers human needs such as physical things And psychological …
My best regards ^^
Hatem Younis
Libya
Hey Hatem,
Glad that UA can help you. Best wishes for your architectural studies,
– Amelia, UA
Thanks Amelia for your insights, this is one area I had a little idea about and I get really annoyed when I see new developments not always taking this into consideration in their planning. Recently I took interest in the building of 2 new homes in our area and neither seems to have taken orientation into account with their designs. One home in fact I shudder at hoe dark the home is in it’s living area and this is summer! Such a simple change could make a lot of difference and continued cost savings. Easy when you know I guess.
We built a home that the back faced north and it was such a joy to be in capturing so much natural light and warmth in Winter and less so in summer, saved so much on energy bills. Worthwhile knowing, Thanks again, Kathryn.
Hello Kathryn,
It’s so frustrating isn’t it? I worked for a large-scale development company for many years, and know first-hand that it starts with how we sub-divide the land. Fortunately, we did sub-divisions that focussed on creating blocks that could enable their homes to be oriented well. It makes such a difference when it starts with the developer’s lot layout. And then, we focussed strongly on creating home designs that worked for each site’s orientation. I dream of a day where EVERY homeowner knows how to assess a design for its suitability for the orientation of its site. So glad you’ve been able to create a great home for yourself – congratulations!
– Amelia, UA
Hi Amelia
I stumbled across your site and have found the two pod casts very informative. The first was one of your last about how to work with a designer. My wife and I have selected a designer living in our locality on The South Coast of WA with a lot of experience as a designer and also home building. We have a Nth facing 1ha block adjoining a River to the East to Nth East. We also have a builder we would like to work with collaboratively on the project. This builder was the only one who wanted to meet on site. When I put to him were would you orientate the house he replied nth. This was a big tick as all the points you made in episode one season one is orientation light natural heating and cooling breezes. We feel a designer will find the best layout to accomplish this and having the views as well. I agree education is crucial in the process. We plan to make an appointment with a local glazier as the right glass is imperative to retaining heat.
Of course budget is the big sticking point.
I also found a home builder in Northern Victoria who built a lovely Double pavilion home off the grid for under 400k. Very innovative and a simple but effective design. Looking forward to sharing more pod casts. Thank You
Michael
Hey Michael,
Thanks so much for your feedback and for sharing info on your site and intended project. So glad that Undercover Architect is proving to be helpful, and that you’re listening to the podcast. There is so much there to help you!
Best wishes for your project, and enjoy it! It’s a super exciting opportunity to create a home that truly suits you and your site.
– Amelia, UA
You emphasize how important orientation is to building a home and an app for figuring that out that is in a “resources” section. I can’t locate this “resources” section on this website. In future, can you please mention the specific app in the podcast so we don’t have to go searching? Thanks!
Hi Marlo,
Thank you for reaching out to us. Please check episode 6 of season 1 and scroll down below this link. It includes links to a range of online resources and tools that will be helpful for you >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/podcast-s1-ep6/
Regards,
Zandra
Team UA