The Importance of Pre-Design when building a house on a vacant block

Building a house is one of the most precious of the Australian Dreams. Doing well enough to afford to start from scratch on a vacant block is something many aspire to and when you get there the real fun starts!

Most people jump right into either hiring a builder to get a stock standard house put on the middle of the block or hire an architect to design a beautiful and unique home. Either of these choices will start down a particular direction of choices based on the opinions of these companies.

The problem with both of these approaches is there are some major decisions to be made prior to engaging either of these services that require an independent view.

After building a few thousand houses at companies such as Porter Davis and Carter Grange, plus a few of my own, I have three key areas to consider before making any major decisions. I call this the pre-design phase of building on a new block.

The three most important considerations of pre-design are:

• Orientation: Everyone loves natural sunlight in their home. It provides free heating plus a warm and comfortable feeling. However, you don’t want too much and in the wrong areas. So the first decision is how to orient the house to take advantage of the natural sunlight available. Getting northern light into the home is paramount for solar efficiency, especially with electricity prices going up on average 8% per annum. Consider the alfresco outdoor spaces if you like to entertain. Do you need shade from your garden or a structure? Is there a pool or kids play area required and how will the garden spaces react to the sun. There is a lot to consider before plonking a standard house in the middle of the block and creating unwanted shade areas which nothing grows or creates unusable land. It’s tough to move a house after it’s built, so best to talk about this first!
• Contours: The slope of land is the next consideration in the pre-design. Working the house into the slope without digging holes or burying the house is the best result as it saves money and other complications. Consider a contour survey to understand how to take advantage of the slope with a potential underground garage, split level home or other creative designs that also consider the sun orientation from the first step. An architect will assist in this process, but it is far more cost effective to get this pre-design worked out before you get fancy designs completed. If you don’t know what you want and the options, you could be taken down a design road that seems great, but isn’t feasible to build within your budget. Always maintain your control on the design and building process.
• Trees: Dealing with the existing trees in many established suburbs is a big deal. Some councils, especially in the Melbourne bayside and leafy suburbs, are highly protective about trees and buying a block pre-demolition with trees can be a real sticky point if you don’t fully understand the regulations. It is essential to create your plans with the existing trees in mind as they can also be a great asset for your new home.

At the end of the day, a new home should be designed for a family to use. Great design takes into account your budget, who makes up your family, a couple perhaps with pets, a young family, a mature family, perhaps elderly relatives are part of the family group. Whatever, your situation, a great home isn’t about size or fancy designs for design sake - it’s about functionality and making use of the space now and in the future.

Bigger means more expensive, but not necessarily better. So the first step is a pre-design to figure out who makes up your family and how your family lives. What’s most important in your lifestyle. Then we look at the block for sun, slope and trees to give a draft design so you can visualise how you will organise your life in your new home.

Most people miss essential items like minimising hallways, having efficient work areas (particularly important with COVET-19), pet care areas and kids play areas especially for younger families. Consider the use of devices which are so relevant in today’s life so it’s important to have open areas for kids to interact with them but to monitor their screen time such as a study off the kitchen for instance rather than the back of the house out of sight.

Once you have completed your pre-design, it’s time to think about a builder or architect armed with the knowledge of what you want from your house and how best to build on your block. Saving you money and giving you control over your most important investment.

If you live in bayside Melbourne we are taking on a limited number of new clients at LB Living, or if you send us an email we can recommend some quality people to help you in your particular area.

Cheers Danny