When embarking on the journey of building a new luxury home (Melbourne), it’s not just about a Custom Design that creates a comfortable and functional living space for today; it’s also about ensuring that your investment stands the test of time. Future-proofing your new home is a concept that involves anticipating the evolving needs of homeowners and the changing landscape of technology, sustainability, and lifestyle preferences. Here are five essential considerations for future-proofing your new home.
1. Energy Efficiency and Sustainability: In an era of increasing environmental consciousness and rising energy costs, integrating energy-efficient and sustainable features into your new home is paramount. This includes using eco-friendly and recyclable building materials, intelligent and efficient passive design, using insulation installing double glazed windows, energy-efficient appliances, and understanding renewable energy sources such as PV solar panels, wind and geothermal. By increasing the efficiency of your home and covering off known technologies, you not only reduce your operating costs, but you also increase the liveability and enjoyment of living in the home as well as increase the property’s value. Throughout the developed world, that show the thermal efficiency of and the actual energy usage of a home, respectively must be shown when a house is sold or rented and it is just a matter of time until Australia catches up. This would mean that the star rating of a home plus the bills with average use and costs would become part of the Section 32 in any home sale. It makes sense at many levels, a bit like the star rating on appliances and litres per 100km consumption on cars. So when it does happen higher star rated homes with lower bills will become more attractive and more valuable. Even if you are not worried by these things there is a psychological element, stars are used everywhere, from primary school for doing something good, to your mince in the supermarket, they have an impact, I mean who wants to by a 3 star home when you can buy a 6 star home?
2. Smart Home Technology: The use of proprietary “smart home” technology systems in homes has paused over the last decade as opensource smart appliances smart phone apps and smart phone integrated controls became the standard. There became no need to “Smart wire” your home if you can control your heating and blinds and security and lights wirelessly from your smart device. However, this trend and new tech, doesn’t entirely replace the need for cabling and wiring across your home and sensibly designed and located structured cabling network with hardwired data points, router and switch will create a backbone for Pay TV and other services as well as almost limitless wireless devices and connections we need now and into the future.
3. Flexibility in design and fit out: As families and people age, their requirements change, even their mobility and accessibility needs change. Future-proofing your home may require some thought into how you are going to live in 10 – 15yrs time. Maybe you give it little to no consideration with the plan to sell, once the kids are gone? But what if the kids want to go to university and want to stay at home longer as seems to be the trend? Maybe we need to think about grandkids staying overnight? And think about how happy you will be to walk up and down stairs 10 years from now. Flexibility in design and the ability to change the use of rooms is a valuable asset, multi-functional spaces that can serve as home offices, nurseries, guest rooms, or exercise areas, provide options into the future. An accomplished custom design builder in Melbourne, enables you to stay in the home longer and makes the home more attractive to a wider cohort of perspective buyers when you do decide to sell.
5. Predicable advancements and changes: There are always changes in our society, sometimes they are hard to predict others seem obvious but usually once they start, they are almost never reversed. Sometimes they are halted or paused, like water tanks in Melbourne which were a huge trend but now are seen as less important now the crisis has past, BUT with the changing climate, its very likely that long drought periods will come again and water costs will rise. So to have a masterplan that allows for tanks in the future and some minor changes to your stormwater drains locations provides a very low cost The trend away from fossil fuels is clear as is the transition to renewable electricity, so things like PV solar systems, wind power, an electric car charging station and all electric appliances is a pretty obvious one. Measurable and evidence-based efficiencies is another area where we will likely see some change, at this stage people throw phrases like sustainable and net zero around everywhere, there is no real meaning to these words and they can describe pretty much anything you want them too. Through Europe and most of the developed world, they have addressed this in housing with systems like Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Display energy certificates (DECs) in place for homes that are similar to those for cars, consumption and efficiency ratings that are measured verified and visible to buyers. No doubt at some stage Australia will catch up and implement a similar system and it will effect the value of our homes. Children are also staying at home longer, with a university education almost a minimum requirement for any form of employment now and the cost of renting and real estate so high, a shortage of housing stock and increased immigration its easy to see this trend continuing well into the future.
Timeless appeal: Trends come and go in almost any design industry and Luxury Home Design in Melbourne is no exception, architects, designers and volume home builders are always looking to create a point of difference and the “Wow” factor. Customers are also looking for something different, people seldom just want what everyone else has, they like to have something that stands apart and suits their own tastes and style. But this has led to many homes being ‘dated’ and less desirable in a relatively short period of time after they are built. There are however some basic principles that can protect you from that and all of them stem back many hundreds, even thousands of years. You could argue that it stems back even further into human evolution, as the human brain developed to recognise shapes and patterns in its environment and this semi-conscious skill has remained with us to this day. This makes classical shapes, patterns and proportions the key to timeless design, you can spin them anyway you like, highly decorate them for people that like ornate French Provincial Homes, or make them with huge expanses of glass and austere colours, materials and textures for those that like a minimalist/modern Contemporary style homes or borrow from any of all of the hundreds of architectural styles that have come before now to land somewhere in between. None of that will matter if you work with one of the best luxury home builders Melbourne who understand the principals and will work with you to create the best outcome.
Sustainable Landscaping and Outdoor Spaces: Don’t forget about the outdoor areas of your new home. Landscape design is an integral part of all good Luxury Home builders (Melbourne) process because by integrating the landscape with your home you create something greater than the sum of its parts. Selecting trees and plants that work with your home, provide shade in summer, shelter from cold southerly winds and that require less water and maintenance. Lawns and water features are visually pleasing and make areas cooler in summer through aspiration and evaporation respectively. Maybe consider a veggie patch and fruit trees to grow your own fruit and veggies and a composting / work farm area to recycle food waste. Physical structures in landscaping should also be designed to work with you home and provide outdoor living spaces, feature walls can direct “borrowed or reflected” light into South facing rooms, Pergolas look great and can allow winter sun in and protect against the hot summer sun as well as looking terrific, especially with a decorative vine or creeper. Retractable awnings and “Vergolas” also offer great solutions and combine solar efficiency with flexible outdoor use.
Future-proofing your new home means that it will remain relevant, useful, and valuable for many decades to come. Working with the right Luxury Home builder will help you make some smart choices, will ensure your home is attractive, functional, comfortable to live in and inexpensive to run for many many decades. So regardless if you sell it at some stage or it remains in the family for generations your home will be a valuable asset that will stand the test of time.
