Innovative Designs Required

I had a very interesting meeting a few days ago with the land development agency to talk about the house designs that will be required for Wright and Coombs in the Molonglo Valley.

Initially people may find the requirements with respect to setbacks, access to easements and the southern boundary solar access daunting. However, I think these suburbs offer an opportunity to fine tune home designs to take the next step towards solar passive and non-evasive design.

In my own mind I have not yet resolved exactly how one can capture the design rules to improve residential design, but I have a few ideas bubbling in the mind at the moment. One thing is for sure though, we will have to make a big shift in current project home design in Canberra over the coming months to meet these challenges. At the end of the day, product will be much improved, and the amenity for the occupiers of the home much improved in many subtle ways.

The one immediate change I think will happen is that homes will become smaller, with smarter use of space. This goes a long way to address the solar setbacks imposed. In other words, the homes are pulled back off the boundary. This could work well in Wright considering the blocks are between 15 and 18m wide, rather than the standard 12.5m blocks one sees in other recent developments.

But more later ...

Designs for Sloping Blocks

A great deal of available land in Canberra is on sloping lots. This is not a bad thing. Forget about the horror stories that you hear from builders about the site costs; instead embrace the opportunity to create innovative homes with real views and real street presence.

I have come up with a number of value-for-money designs that will pleasantly surprise you. For instance, the Franklin 3 plan shown here allows the home to be stepped three times to accommodate site slopes. This affords us the opportunity to minimise the earthworks component. It makes a hell of a lot more sense to spend your hard-earned money on the kitchen or in the bathrooms, rather than on excavators and rock hammers chiselling away on an excavation that is unsympathetic to the contours of your block.

Furthermore, the various levels within the home allows the creation of articulation in the ceiling. My display home in Springbank Rise shows how one can create space and a sense of style by manipulating the ceiling levels and features. When next you visit the home, stop to have a chat with me about this. You will be pleasantly surprised with what can be achieved.

Don't hesitate to post questions about this design if you need to.