We have an average-sized family, but our new home is 2/3 the average size…
According to the Australian Census, the average number of children per family went down recently, from 1.6 to 1.4.
So, with a two-year-old and a new bub only a few months old, our family is punching above the national average #overachiever.
Newborn in arms, we’re also in the midst of owner-building a new family home for ourselves in our backyard! Because we didn’t have enough on our plate trying to juggle a busy architecture and interior design business, a teething toddler, and the sleep deprivation brought on by a newborn!
Our new place will be a compact, yet light-filled 3-bedroom home. All-electric. Oriented to face the sun. In a neighbourhood we know and love. Basically, a dream come true. But, when I pull out the tape measure, I realise it’s only going to be around 150m2. Now, that’s no tiny house. But when we look at the average Australian new house size of 235m2 (a world record, for the record)? Something doesn’t add up.
We’ve got a (slightly) above-average-sized family, but our new home is 2/3 of the size of the average.
Being an architect, I’m confident I haven’t misread the plans (after all, I drew them myself), or forgotten to include a dining area (pasta alfresco, anyone?).
Rather, the average new home is actually a bit of a behemoth.
To me, when people are crying out about housing affordability, when inflation is running wild and interest rates are on the rise, not to mention a rapidly warming planet, holding the title of the largest average house size in the world seems absurd.
In these circumstances more than ever, we need to think about what we’re building and build wisely. We need to challenge the idea that to live comfortably we need more space. In fact, some of our most successful renovations have not added a millimetre of additional floor area, but rather helped the homeowner better utilise the space they already have.
There needs to be a focus on quality of space, not quantity of space. There needs to be a discussion about how we can better develop our suburbs, because we can’t stop the subdivsions and the duplexes, but we can demand they do better. And us architects need to do a better job of articulating why good design can help you live larger, even with fewer square metres.
The truth is, a smaller home designed to perfectly suit your lifestyle and needs will feel better to live in than a cavernous home with rooms you never use. And the amount you pay an architect to develop the perfect design for you will be more than repaid in the reduced need for upkeep, energy use and even furnishing those extra rooms. Not to mention the proven payoff in increased capital value when you eventually do sell!
You’re far better off building a home that is the perfect fit for you than building another super-sized cookie-cutter home.
So, are we mad building a new home that’s 2/3 of the Australian average?
Absolutely not.
While our family might be average in size, we are far from average and our home shouldn’t be either. Because our home has been well-designed (if I do say so myself), it will feel more spacious, luxurious and functional than an average house twice its size.