Full Transcript for Episode 01 - Introduction

I say, I'm really, really grateful that I can do something in my business that I enjoy working on every single day. But this poor young lass, yeah, probably didn't enjoy her job all of the year. Although she did enjoy what she did. She just didn't enjoy the work that the environment that she was doing it. And it just It goes to show that the environments that we create, our homes and our and our built environment have such a profound impact on our everyday experience. And so that's kind of what this book is about is how how can I empower you to make good informed decisions and have better outcomes. so let me go through all of these little bits and pieces in this book and sort of how it all works. So the Who did I write this book for? I wrote this book for just people like you, everyday people. there's a lot of pressure to know what you're doing when you are designing and building a new house. And look, it's it's a really complicated process. It can cause marriages to break down, test relationships. What do they say? Test your relationship, go traveling with your spouse or your partner and build a house or have a baby. so it is. It's it's a big thing. So I've written this for everyday people. It's not written for professionals, it's not an industry design guide. it is just for everyday people. So the language that's used in this book is is sort of everyday language. So there's a chapter where I write who this book is for. I also cover where to start. So everybody always asks me, when's the first step? What do I do first? And everyone has this pressure on them to get it right. So this chapter will go into where do you start? Now, before you even start talking to people, this chapter covers a little bit of psychology. And you might go, well, what the hell is she talking about with psychology? She's an architectural designer, and this is book a book about designing a new home and our new home journey. The thing is that architecture is by people for people, because of people, and we Have different ways of making decisions and we have different ways of processing information. And then we have different things that we need to support us. So this kind of goes into what kind of decision maker you are, because what I've learned about business and marketing and dealing with people and learning about myself, to be honest, is that we all have we all have different ways of making decisions and we all have different ways. That we need to be supported in making those decisions. And within a couple, because I've been asked, do you cover marriage counseling as part of architecture? Because literally I can sit down with a couple and they seem to be on the same page about some things. And on other things, I like, no, no, that's not what I meant. and I've actually had people have arguments in front of me. So this is this is a a this is a a chapter that's empowering you to support yourself. And surround yourself with people that are going to support you in all of the

decisions that you make because there will be a huge amount of decisions to make through this process. And you want to make the right ones, 100%. so then there's a chapter on understanding your site. I had an invaluable lesson taught to me by a builder in Raglan on a project that we were working on, and he said to me, Every time you I go to a site to see what it's like, I take a really long metal staff with me. And the reason why he did this is so that as he was walking around the site, he would stick it into the ground and he'd say, Well, I can tell you if this has got good ground or not. Because what is in the ground informs a lot about what you need to do to get out of the ground. also I've had people say to me, this site was really cheap. And then they've got a really tight budget. And then when you're designing on a site that's really, really cheap. Like, well, there's a reason why it's cheap, right? There is a reason because people have been before you and actually said, well, no, this is too hard. So there's signals that are going to impact on your budget when it comes to choosing a site. So if you haven't, it's not just wear north is. so if you are in the process of choosing to buy a site or you're talking to a group home builder about selecting a site, and you just want to know what's the right one and what would be a smart one to buy. There's this whole chapter deals with it and there is a checklist too, which you can walk around. Cause sometimes we have lots of questions, but we don't know what the questions are that we need to ask. So that checklist is there just to help you give you some structure and some guidance. Because I I don't know if if you're like me, but sometimes I'm like, I'm gonna go in really informed and ask all of these questions. And then sometimes my mind just goes blank. So having something as a as a checklist is helpful. Chapter four is about choosing the right team. So I wrote this chapter because there's lots of different people and lots of different ways that you can design and build a new house. You can go to a group home builder, you can go to a small time builder, you can engage an architect or architectural designer. there are also new ways of doing it. I have my own architectural design range for which I work collaboratively with builders to offer a design and build option called Small Smart Spaces. So choosing the right team, they're not Everyone's not for everybody, right? So, what you want to know is this this whole chapter I wrote because a lot of people I've spoken to have said that they've gone down a certain route and then been really disappointed because their expectations and what that route actually unlocks for them are different. So, this chapter I wrote to explain to people what the differences are. So when you're choosing to start this whole journey, you'll you'll have an idea of Perhaps where to start making inquiries instead of just being overwhelmed with trying to talk to everybody. Because

everyone is different and everyone has a different way of working. and again, there's a nice little summary at the back of that chapter. This is a really practical little book. So the stuff that that I'm covering in the podcast is really practical stuff. Now, chapter five, I talk about how to prepare for the first meeting because meetings I've had with my clients, some people are over prepared and some people just have no idea and they're a little bit lost. And if I'm gonna have a really good meeting with a client and have a really productive process with them, because you're working with a professional, particularly particularly if you're paying for a consultation, you really want to get the most out of that meeting. Not every meeting is free. So this is like what to bring and what questions to ask and how to sort of make yourself prepared. Some people naturally bold and quite comfortable and confident, but not everybody and not most people. So this This gives you a little bit of a behind the scenes homework to go in there with your eyes a little wide open and also have the information at hand that's going to unlock deeper conversations with the person that you're talking to because you're giving them more information about where you are at. So this is really support for you to go into the first meeting because I really get great projects that start on the right foot with clients that come in with the right information. And that means that they've done their homework a little bit in the background, but doing your homework's great, you just need to know what the homework is. So that's the whole purpose of that chapter. And we'll talk about that in one of the podcast episodes and go into that into a little bit more depth. because it it is it's about understanding what it is that you want and some people don't always understand what they want, but also what are the constraints around it. Like how much do you have to spend? What's the avenue? What are the pitfalls? what are the challenges? What are the opportunities, right? So you you want to be You want to be armed to have the best conversation that you possibly can have with the people that you're talking to. So then chapter six is about consultation. So it will be podcast six will be about consultation to completion. So covering the process. Now, architects and architectural designers have their own different processes. So I just run through what a lot of those industry practices are. So rather than you discovering it as you go through the process with an architect or an architectural designer, you'll have some idea of the process going through. Not everyone's very good at explaining their processes in in everyday terms. I often say that architects and architectural designers are very good at explaining their services and selling their services to other architects and architectural designers. So this this this part we'll talk about how it all works. conventionally in the industry, what each stage

is, what the deliverables are are likely to be for that stage. Obviously I can't tell other architects and designers how to operate their practices, but just to give you some idea of what your expectations should be so you can go in with your eyes open. Now in episode seven I'm gonna talk about the process that I use because having done this for 25 years and Having listened to people and looked at the way I've done things and asked if there was a way to do better, I remember listening to a podcast by Jay Shetty, who wrote he wrote that book. What's that book called? something about becoming a monk. think like a monk. and I I I love Jay Shetty. I do pract try and practice mindfulness in my own personal life. And he said to be of service rather than to offer a service. Well, he didn't say offer a service. That's the part I put in. Because to me, being a service was always equated with a little bit of charity. But when I realized actually being of service is tailoring what you do for the people that you serve and that being an architectural designer, I'm serving you. So I have changed my process a little bit to tailor it to work on the industry guidelines, but perhaps making it a little bit more people friendly. So I will talk you through that process that I use because I'm not the only one that uses it. There's a number of people who have similar processes, but it's just not the industry standard and the industry guidelines. Yeah, and just why I do what I do. So you can have an idea of what you can be expecting from an architect or an architectural designer. In fact, any designer, because you're going to need a designer on your project, whether you're going through a group home company or not. You might just not have that much interface with them. Now Episode eight, I'm gonna deep dive into a passion of mine, which is Passive House, and I'm going to explain what Passive House is. Now, the reason why I'm doing that is because I really truly believe that Passive House has this incredible ability to unlock healthy, comfortable homes. We do not create healthy, comfortable homes by using our building code as a design guide. And we're creating really bad homes here in New Zealand. We actually have a reputation around the world as having. I think the first or the second highest rate of asthma in the world. And a lot of that is about the homes that we're living in because co-compliant homes are not healthy and comfortable and don't support, don't support our bodies and don't support our well-being. And I think with the rise of of well-being, with you know, well-being centers, we talk about ice baths and saunas and you know, eating healthily and practicing mindfulness and all of those things. just doing those in isolation without considering the environment that's supporting our health. Environment shapes positive change and passive house is an environment that can support us with the positive change in improving the health and well-being and the quality of

life that we're living. So in episode eight I will do a deep dive into what actually is passive house because it's talked about very technically. But there is there is a very real everyday experience about passive house and and I will try and make it obvious to you without keeping it as a jargony technical exercise. Which really is the challenge for me and it has been the reason for the book is that we want to keep it simple language and so it's the reason for the podcast to keep it nice and simple. There are also sort of some some things to check if you're wanting to do a passive house. Just some things to check on that journey. and how to make sure that is actually what you're going be getting. episode nine is going to cover Homestar. Now, Homestar is a rating tool by the New Zealand Green Building Council. As I mentioned, I'm a HomeStar designer and assessor. one of the things that I see with Homestar is that if it's not done smartly and not done with awareness, it can lose its full impact and its benefit. So, This is a sustainability rating. So it takes into account people, profit, and planet. so it really has the ability to s to actualize, incentivize, and reward that triple bottom line that we talk about in sustainability. Because sustainability has been talked about very philosophical or f philosophically for so long. but philosophy needs a game plan. and so passive house is one of The ways that we can game plan it and then also benchmark it and evaluate it. So that's that's what I will be doing in episode nine. and just just speaking to about it and and how it all works and why you should do it and and sort of some of the stories and some of the reasoning that I have behind why I do what I do. episode 10 is going to empower you to get more out of your design process. we're going to cover how to empower you to figure out what it is that you want in a new home, what's important to you. Because we actually tend to list out all of the things that we've experienced in the past. But if you're building a new home, you also want a new experience. Otherwise, why are you leaving the home you currently exist in? So this just sort of breaks the mold a little bit from a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, a bedroom, a bathroom, and sort of breaks it down a little bit more into how you want to live your life and and what really is important to you. So it's got a little bit of philosophy and a little bit of mindset work and a little bit of dispose life coaching into that. So that'll be episode ten. episode eleven, I'm going to do a bit deep dive into financial stuff. So this is types of fees because I get asked questions all the time and I'm like but I explained this a certain way and maybe you don't understand it or there's a preconceived notion or people really don't understand design fees. and design's a pretty hard thing to put a fee on. and it's because it's about Value that you're unlocking and the work that needs to be done and the scope that

needs to be defined. And there's different ways that you can have calculations to achieve that. So just breaking down some of the common ways that fees are set, and explaining to you a little bit about what why I use what I use and why I don't use what I use, so you can get an idea of whether somebody who uses those fee structures is the right fit for you, or if perhaps you want to consider something else, because when you understand. how it's calculated for what you're paying for, I think you have a greater appreciation about what someone's doing for you, or less anxiety that you've been ripped off. and not all designers are upfront and and honest, just like not all business people who are authentic and honest, but there's a lot of us who are. And a lot of the preconceptions comes down to understanding. episode 12, I'm going to look at designing for performance, not just looks. just because there is a perception that a home that looks good is actually going to feel good to live in. And that's not really the case. So this is this is looking at the tangible everyday experiences that you will have in a house that is a high performance, healthy, comfortable home that's a dry home, that doesn't have internal condensation, that reduces the the occurrence of mould so that it's healthy. It's also more durable. So this just goes into those everyday things, explaining to you when in the process you should be looking at these things and what these things are for health and for comfort. and linking those deliverables and what we do as a design service to the aspirations that we we're keying into for creating a home for you that's good to live in. too, not just that looks good. Because we don't experience our homes by standing and looking at them from the opposite side of the street. We experience our homes by the time we actually spend inside in the spaces that we have been created. Which is why I called my company Smart Living Spaces, because we live in the spaces. Architecture is about the spaces we create, not the objects that we can look at, really. It's all about space. And experience of that space. So episode 13, I'm going to go in elements to get right for your house for value and resale. Now, ideally we'd love to say, let's build you a house for the first time, and you know, you'll be so great that you'll you'll never want to change or move. But that's just not the reality of the situation that we live in. We can move cities, we can move countries. I've moved countries three times. we we move houses, changing needs, you know, larger family, downsizing, whatever. and because our homes are the largest financial asset that we that we purchase in our lifetime, we want to get it right for what someone else might purchase. And I have seen real estate agents talk about big houses. I've seen group housing companies talk about big houses because that's what makes them money. It's not necessarily what holds the the house in terms of market and the market is shifting. Because I can't afford all of these large, large homes that have lots of rooms. So there are certain things to get right in your home. It's not about size. it's it's about value and it's about value and it's it's about quality. So this again goes back down into the experience. What do we need in spaces? Not necessarily what is the list of the spaces that we're purchasing. So how do we use these spaces rather than what do we call them? and so this this this episode will sort of go into those elements. That you should consider because you want to future proof all of this work, effort, and money that you're spending in designing your new home to make sure that it's going to hold its value and keep its integrity. because, you know, I I see a lot of four-bedroomed homes with two bathrooms and double garage and two living rooms being sold simply to a family of two or sometimes single-parent families that only have their children 50% of the time. Not all of the homes that we create are suited for all of our requirements, right? We we have a varied culture and a varied requirement range. so it's about getting it right for you, but also making sure that those are sensible choices for the next person that will live in your house. Episode 14, we're going to go into the difference. We're talking money again. And we're going to go into the difference between build budget and project budget because what you have to spend on your new build journey and what it's actually going to cost, and then where those costs go and then what actually you can afford to do, because we have the amount that you have to spend on the entire process, but we need to benchmark what it is you're creating against a different budget. That's the build budget. We need to benchmark your aspirations against the build budget, but there'll be other costs as well. that you need to incur along the way. So just going through all of that, understanding what those costs might be so that when you're sitting down with a draft budget and you're evaluating your journey, maybe you're evaluating whether you should go down that path or if it's feasible for you to go down that path. And I think that's a really important exercise to do because if you can, if you can do this, I don't want to see you miss out because you think you can't, not because you know you can't. so that's what we'll cover. We'll be talking sort of the practicality of budgeting money and amounts and what they actually mean. So that when you're having conversations with builders and designers, you know what value and what amount they're talking about, and don't make the assumption that it's the the the figure that you have in your head and that they could they know exactly what that figure is including or excluding. Because I've seen a lot of people give their project budget to a builder or to an architect and Guys going, yeah, yeah, no, we can do that for that, not realizing all the other costs that need to come into it. And

then of course it ends up with a design that you can't afford. episode 15, we're going to go into choosing the right team. This is builders, engineers, manufacturers, if you're you wanting to use off-site products. Really important to get these people on board at the right, the right stage to get the maximum benefit, but also to make your project flow really s smoothly. So yeah, just talking about some of the stories, just talking about how it all works in the industry and when is the best time to get these people involved and what's really good questions to ask them? what matters to you? What you know, you want to vet these people. You don't want to just go on what they say, I'm I'm the greatest builder that ever existed. Well, you want to know why and why they would be the greatest builder for you. same with contractors, same with engineers, same with architects and designers, to be honest. how to choose them. maybe you've got an existing relationship, maybe it's about new partnerships. So we cover that. So that's that's practicalities, but it's also philosophy going into that, so that you can feel confident in your choice of your team. episode 16, we're going to talk about different types of contracts. and we're going to talk about How they work. So this is the contract that you sign with the builder to build your house. And there's different ones. If you've ever used tradespeople in your house, you might have got a quote, or you've got any work done. You might get a quote, you might get an estimate, you might get a contract. What's the difference? What are the implications? What do they involve? What they don't, what they don't involve. Also talking about warranties, we're talking about joint and several liability with council. So we're wanting to talk about the 10-year build warranty. difference between fixed price contracts, variable contracts, what that means for decisions that you need to make before you get a fixed price from a builder or afterwards. Because don't assume that the level of specification that you have in your head is actually what the builder's pricing or quoting for. So understanding what information that they need in order to lock that in is really important. Particularly if your budget's tight and you're borrowing the maximum, you want to go into this being organized. yeah, and just some advice for you when you're signing a contract, because it can be quite scary because it's a large amount of money. Also, you will need the bank sometimes, most times, if you're going for a mortgage to agree with it. Okay. So yeah, there's a checklist there, just helping you. So we'll go through that. We'll go through understanding what product substitutions are, how they all work, what's the dangers of them, just all of that practical stuff with contracts. So it's a little bit of legal legal stuff, but just talking about it in a in a really Easy informal way. episode 17. I'm going to cover insurances and warranties and what to choose and why and how they all work because you know, I think it's very easy to get disappointed by something and think you're covered by insurance and actually find out you're not. and what's the difference between insurances and guarantees? Because we do have a liability in this, and this this is something that you need to be aware as a buyer. under the Consumer Guarantees Act, you have to be buyer beware and you need to do your due diligence in your homework. Yes, professionals, we have to explain things and we have to be open and honest and and act with integrity and act within our ethics and our morals and principles. But sometimes going into something and not knowing and then having an issue just is a really stressful, awful process. So going into it just with your eyes open and just understanding how it all works, particularly as our homes are our largest financial asset in our lifetime, the most expensive thing we ever purchase. So yeah, just finding out how to be really smart about that. episode 18, I'm going to talk about financing your build. Now I'm not a mortgage broker and but I do have a mortgage myself so to know how it all goes. and just explaining the different ways that you can go about securing finance. Because there are conventional ways but there are also new ways. And if you're going into this Maybe you want to investigate what's the best way for you. So did we just we will just sort of discuss the different ways and what the implications are so that you can then invest your time wisely into which one you want to to go and and investigate. you know, what's the difference with design and build, bespoke architecture projects, how that impacts on finances. So yeah, what you need to be speaking to your bank about, what questions you need to ask, what avenues might be available to you because A lot of people seem to think that they've only got one option when actually there's a possibility they might have more. And it just takes a conversation to unlock that opportunity for them. yeah, and it helps you with early conversations. So just talking all about that. then episode 19, I'm gonna talk about realizing the three-dimensional. So this is this is getting on site, right? So this is the nitty-gritty about being on site, what the challenges are, what the opportunities are, what you might face. and how to navigate that. because I've seen some clients and I will tell you those stories about where they've sunk their entire contingency into the ground just to be able to make their house stand up. And that's quite heartbreaking for me as a designer. So I I don't want that to be your your experience. And also just dealing with things like lead times on products and specifications that you've had and how to how to navigate that so that you haven't got unnecessarily d delays and disappointments and arguments, we don't want that. We want this to be really good. How to deal with variations. Just things to think about in terms of weather delays, increased costs, we have market volatility, all of that kind of stuff. Just touching based so that empowering you to have a better experience when your project's on site. Because we when you're starting a project, you're not thinking about that. But it is something that you're going to have to deal with. I mean you want to deal with it because that's how you get your new house. episode 20, I'm going to talk about the final sign-offs, closing the deal, certification, all of the sign-offs that you need to get from council, if you're doing Homestyle and Passive House, what that process looks like. so that you can understand what professionals are doing for you and why you need them, or if you are heavily involved in it. Some clients like to be pretty involved in it and understand it, what it all means, the thing about defects, talking about defects liability periods, and just Some of my advice to navigating this final closing out stage because it's a stage that's often overlooked, but getting these sign-offs is actually your responsibility as a homeowner and as the client. So it's but knowing who to ask, who to help you to do it, and actually getting it. Don't ever leave your house without a CCC. you'll you'll have issues with it down the line. and then episode 21, I'm going to say what to expect after you've moved in because. Just because you've walked into that front door doesn't suddenly mean that the experience is complete. In fact, for you it actually means the experience is only beginning. So, you know, talking about maintenance, servicing, all of that kind of stuff to keep on top of it so that all of this money, time and effort that you've spent into creating this asset and creating this environment that's going to support your lifestyle and your health and your well being and your family and your quality of life. just how to navigate the next steps because by this stage all of us professionals have moved on to our next project. So that's it in a nutshell. That is what we're going to do 21 episodes on the basis of the book but kind of more of an in-depth behind the scenes look at it. So it's it's not an audiobook. It's not the book, but it it's it's more than the book. So I look forward to deep diving into all of this. I look forward to helping you along your journey. I look forward to maybe entertaining you if you've got nothing better to do with your time. so that's all for me today. and I will see you in the next one, which will drop next week.