Fair enough! Would enjoy discussing sometime.

Better without Ando.

@themonthly.com.au @thesaturdaypaper.com.au

Beautiful writing! My parents knew him, met him once or twice.

Five Good Swiss Plans

Roy Grounds: Experiments in Minimum Living

Therefore: D House

(hi!)

Thank you! I think the best outcome would be that these patterns can be built more efficiently than traditional volume housing, and there’s a big positive response to simple architecturally-designed houses. If those things come together we might influence the big volume housing providers too!

Your other concern is valid! We’ve tried to make our pattern economical and replicable, and MMC companies are currently working to deliver it quickly and cheaply. But financing and land costs still constrain affordability. My hope is that these designs will offer an alternative to volume housing.

Regarding the first concern, I don’t believe it’s devaluing architecture when much of the target market would not have engaged an architect under other circumstances, and when there is much architectural work to be done to adjust and implement these templates to suit sites and occupants.

Agreed. That’s why our pattern stipulates carports but not garages, with doors optional provided they achieve 50% transparency, and encourages occupation of street-facing front buildings as habitable rooms and workshops rather than parking spaces.

All terraces have been designed to minimum LHA silver level accessibility and can achieve gold when desired. This means that all ground floor spaces can be level, and that single-run stairs can be fitted with a chair lift. Rear or front pavilions can also function as self-contained ‘granny’ flats.

Thank you Philip! Exciting to be realising a demonstration project with Landcom at present, and some other projects starting up for multigenerational families and small scale builders, developers and investors.

Pacemakers!