With the goal of building a big home on a big block in an accessible area with amenities becoming increasingly difficult - in both Australia and New Zealand - co-living and shared spaces are being touted as the answer.
“Shared living, that’s coming,” Grand Designs Australia host Peter Maddison said.
What he means is families coming together in sustainable, low-cost housing communities where spaces such as laundries and gardens are shared.
For many, this is the only affordable option when it comes to living in or building a sustainable home.
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To ultimately save on energy and running costs, families need to create an economically sustainable house
But with building a sustainable home costing an extra 30 per cent to engage an architect, that dream may not be as realistic, or cost-effective, as you would think.
Mr Maddison said the only way for people to achieve sustainable living was to downsize.
That means building a 20sq m home instead of a 40sq m one in order to spend the difference on things like solar panels and efficient cooling systems.
“Australia is building too big today,” he said.
“The average Australian home is the biggest in the world.
“We’re locked into this cycle of big, big, big, but that’s changed with the next generation because of affordability.”
Mr Maddison said there were signs people were willing to give up on “big” in favour of sustainability, with Aussies now prepared to sacrifice a garage in order to put solar panels on the roof.
The concept he’s talking about is already happening in Australia.
The “Nightingale model” is taking off around the country after starting in inner-city Melbourne.
It’s a housing model that aims to achieve social, economic and environmental sustainability.
Funded by ethical investors whose returns are capped, the apartments are sold at below-market rates with owners only able to resell for what they paid plus any average increases in the area.
The financial structure reduces profits margins by 15 per cent but frees up architects to focus on good quality and sustainable design rather than rapid construction with maximum returns.
There is also an element of “co-housing” in the design, with residents sharing certain facilities such as a laundry.
The carbon-neutral buildings have a long list of sustainable features including rooftop gardens, a shared solar hot water system, recycled timber floors, bicycle parking and double-glazed windows.
“There’s a new dynamic shifting in the economy where land is being used differently,” Mr Maddison said.
“There’s a great change happening at the moment with these alternative solutions with multiple houses on one block and more communal spaced living.
“People are looking at more sustainable ways of being able to bring up a family and have a nest rather than what we would call the Australian dream.
“Sustainability today, everyone understands it to a degree. It’s not a dark art as it once was. Yes, you’re paying for it but there’s a general fascination.”
