How big should a house be?

How much house do people need?

It doesn’t take much reflection to realise that there is no objective answer to this question. First, it’s personal and connected to our ambitions and values. And second, all of us are influenced by culture, social standards, and by business and the market.

Like fashion, we are encouraged to buy the house on offer and perpetuate the current norm until something “better” comes along.

But since when in housing did bigger become synonymous with better?

The latest installation at the NGV by Breathe Architecture tackles the norm of the unusually large size of the typical Australian home, which in 2020 was 236sqm. In 1960 it was 100sqm.

In the installation, a beautifully crafted and abstracted “small” house is positioned within the inefficient labyrinth of the standard Australian “big” house. Breathe Director Jeremy McLeod says, “Part of it is trying to display that there’s a lot of waste in building too much.”

He’s absolutely right. Every unnecessary square metre costs a homeowner
anywhere from $2,500 to $6,000+ to build. That adds up quickly when even a small bedroom is 9sqm.

So, in order to work out how much house you *need*, an excellent starting question is, What do you want your house to be able to *do*?

As a recent client said, “you need to think more about the problem in order to think about the solution.” I love this.

Starting with “we need four bedrooms” might be too simplistic and end up costing you money if taken too literally. Instead, what if we started with “we need a private space for everyone in the family to rest or study.” Then you can get to heart of questions like, will everyone need the rooms at the same time? Do you really need 3 bedrooms and one flexible study area? Is privacy about visual privacy, acoustics or both?

Sarah’s philosophy is that the number of “thoughts per square metre” is what really makes the difference. Whether you are building or renovating, when you think about how you use space you’ll reap rewards in efficiency, beauty and flexibility.

I’ll give Jeremy McLeod the final word - “What we’re trying to say is that a great lived experience is not necessarily linked to size.”

Read more about the exhibit here: NGV Home Truths