Jenny and Elaine* don’t know each other, but they both know me.
Jenny is an architecture-loving scientist who is an absolute guru on low-energy buildings. Her Instagram account The FixIt Chicks (@jenlishfixitchicks) is the greatest, most down-to-earth resource for improving the energy efficiency and comfort of your home. She is also a nominee for the ACT Australian of the Year Award and a judge on channel nine’s “Big Little Reno. Holy Moly.
Elaine is also a scientist, and a wonderful friend. Our kids are friends and I walk past her house on the way to school. A couple of years ago she and her husband started looking for a new home and she became a client. She doesn’t have an Instagram account and hasn’t been nominated for Australian of the Year, yet.
Here's the thing. Elaine and her husband did buy a house. They also didn’t buy many other houses. I warned them off one in particular, bluntly describing it as a “tent pretending to be a house” due to its complete lack of insulation and poor state of construction. Every window, door, wall vent and construction joint leaked a draft. The family would have lived in discomfort for years while they planned a renovation that would have stretched them. What Elaine really wanted to be spending the next 5 years on was enjoying her family.
(If you want the kind of advice my friends got - to steer you towards a house with good bones - one that is a real asset and not a liability - an Architect GP is YOUR best friend. Have a look at our Pre-Purchase Design Review)
Jenny would have told them the same thing about the house, though she might have called it a colander instead of a tent. But, as I said at the start, Elaine doesn’t know Jenny.
Elaine could have subscribed to Jenny’s Instagram, but it’s a lot of mental work to translate someone's smart content into a practical application in your own life. And when you bring the emotions of buying a home into play, it’s even more challenging to be objective. Being a translator, guide and linchpin in a knowledge network are just three of an Architect’s superpowers.
Step by step, I look forward to working alongside my friends to plan how best to:
make a better connection between the house and the garden.
create the best spot to sit and look at the chickens with a cup of tea.
reconfigure and make sense of a slightly rambling floor plan with a dog-leg passage way.
insulate the heck out of their home and make it comfortable all year round.
and many more things.
She knows where to get support, partly because she’s a friend, but also because I’m an Architect GP.
Get us on your side. We’re worth our weight in better decision making.
*name changed to protect privacy :-)
