Get It Right with Undercover Architect

Hello! This is Episode 405. This is the first episode of Section Two of the 44 Ways to Create a Sustainable Home series. Section One, which we completed in the last episode, covered the foundational climate and site strategies: orientation, breezes, passive heating and cooling, and climate zones. We are beginning Section Two with Way #5: Design a Smaller, Smarter Home. [For all resources mentioned...

Hello! This is Episode 404. This is Way #4 in the ‘44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home’ series. It’s also the last episode of Section One, which takes you through Designing for Climate and Site. Over the past three episodes in this ‘44 Ways’ series, we have covered orientation, natural ventilation from breezes and protection from harsher winds, and how to design a...

Hello! This is Episode 403. This is Way #3 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series. Over the last two episodes, we have discussed designing for your site’s orientation, and considering how your home is positioned to work with the movement of the sun and prevailing breezes, and how your home is designed to maximise natural ventilation, whilst protecting you from harsher wind eve...

Hello! This is Episode 402. This is Way #2 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series. In Episode 401 we covered orientation, and understanding how the sun moves across your site and how positioning your home to work with that movement can transform its comfort, help it feel amazing to live in day-to-day, and reduce its energy use and requirements for artificial heating and cooling. In...

Hello! This is Episode 401. And we are beginning something on the podcast that I’m really looking forward to sharing with you, especially if you’re wanting to build or renovate in a more sustainable way, but feeling curious, confused or even overwhelmed about what that might mean. This is the first episode of a podcast series called ‘44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home’...

Hello! This is Episode 400 - can you believe it? How exciting! And so I want to take the opportunity to celebrate a little, and share something a little different in this episode. Whilst we’ve done more than 400 actual episodes on the podcast, I do believe that hitting Episode 400 officially is a big milestone. That’s over four hundred conversations. Me talking directly to you. Me talk...

Hello! This is Episode 399, and in it, I’m continuing my conversation with HOME Method members Jan and Landon, who are building a new home and granny flat as a Passive House in Sydney’s north. As a reminder: Jan and Landon are building on a site that has been in Landon’s family for over 70 years.  Their new build project has been driven by clear goals around ageing in place,...

Hello! This is Episode 398, and in it, I’m speaking with HOME Method members Jan and Landon, who are back to share an incredibly exciting construction update on their passive house new build in Sydney’s north. This is the fifth instalment of Jan and Landon’s journey on the podcast. They’ve been sharing their story with us across Episodes 338, 339, 367 and 368, and if you ha...

Hello! This is Episode 397, and in it, I’m going to talk about staging your project. Whether you’re building new or renovating, for a range of reasons, you may be thinking you don’t want to do everything all at once.  And so, in this episode I’m going to share the things you need to consider, how to avoid mistakes, and what’s involved in getting it right when sta...

Hello! This is Episode 396, and I want to talk about something that comes up at the very beginning of almost every project I hear about. It usually sounds like one of these questions. "Should I add a second storey, or extend out the back?" Or… "Is it worth renovating what we have, or should we just knock it down and build new?" Or… "We've got a blank block - do we go with a volume bu...

Hello! This is Episode 395, and this is Part 2 of my conversation with HOME Method member, Tanya, about the renovation of their Melbourne home that they’ve now been enjoying living in for a year, and experiencing the results of their efforts in how it functions and performs. [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloadable PDF transcript, head to www.undercoverarchitect....

Hello! This is Episode 394, and in it, I’m talking with HOME Method member, Tanya. Tanya lives with her husband and daughter in Melbourne. They worked within the existing footprint of the home of the 100-year-old double brick home, undertaking a renovation that dramatically improves how it feels, functions and performs.  [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloada...

Hello! This is Episode 393, and in this episode, I want to talk about one of the most common and most misleading phrases I hear homeowners use when they’re planning work on their home. And it’s this: “We’re just doing a small renovation.” [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloadable PDF transcript, head to www.undercoverarchitect.com/393 ] Now...

Hello, this is Episode 392, and this is Part 2 of my conversation with HOME Method member, Michael, about his recently completed new build in regional Western Australia. [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloadable PDF transcript, head to www.undercoverarchitect.com/392 ] In the last episode, we spoke about the journey from lock up through to handover, the detailing decisi...

Hello, this is Episode 391, and in this episode, I’m welcoming back HOME Method member, Michael, to share an update on his new build journey. Now the home is complete, and they’ve been enjoying it for a few months, he has lots to share about the build experience, completion and landscaping, and enjoying the finished home. [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloa...

Hello! This is Episode 390, and I want to give you a framework that will help you understand why you can feel so unsure as you navigate the world of renovating and building. And frankly, it applies any time you tackle something new. If you’ve got 47 browser tabs open, a Notes app full of screenshots, and a partner who is sick of hearing “I don’t know, I just need to think about i...

Hello! And welcome to Episode 389. Once a project starts to feel real, money often becomes the loudest voice in the room. This episode is about pausing before you spend, and understanding how early financial decisions shape not just what you can build, but how stressful, efficient and satisfying your project experience actually is. [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloada...

Hello! And welcome to Episode 388. Once you’ve decided that you really are going to renovate or build, something shifts. The dreaming phase starts to give way to planning, and the stakes begin to feel real. It’s often at this moment that research ramps up. Podcasts, articles, social media, saved folders, screenshots, notes. It can feel like the most responsible thing to do. To educate...

Hello! This is Episode 387. At some point early in a project, many homeowners often reach the same conclusion: “If I can just find the right designer or the right builder, everything will fall into place.” This episode is about gently unpacking that belief, and understanding why choosing the right people matters far less than how and when you engage them. [For all resources mentioned i...

Hello! And welcome to Episode 386.  So often I see homeowners, excited about their project, instinctively moving straight into design.  This episode is about slowing that moment down, and understanding why the work you do before you design has such a big influence on what is created - whoever you’re working with and even if you’re DIYing your design. [For all resources mentio...

Hello! And welcome to Episode 385. Most people think projects start with design or budgeting. They don’t. This episode introduces the four real phases of every project, and explains why confusion, rework, and cost blowouts usually come from skipping or rushing the early ones. So if you’re starting out and feeling overwhelmed or confused, you’re not behind. And in tuning into this...

Hello! This is Episode 384, and this is Part 2 of my conversation with HOME Method members, Louise and Zane. We’re catching up with them about their Melbourne renovation, and hearing more about their construction process. [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloadable PDF transcript, head to www.undercoverarchitect.com/384 ] If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet,...

Hello! This is Episode 383, and in it, we’re getting an update from HOME Method members, Louise and Zane, about their renovation project. They’re currently under construction in their renovation and extension of a Californian Bungalow in Melbourne. [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloadable PDF transcript, head to www.undercoverarchitect.com/383 ] If you have...

Hello! This is Episode 382, and I am back with HOME Method member, Ben, as we continue following his renovation and extension journey, which is under construction right now.  If you are in construction now, or heading towards it, this conversation will give you a In this episode, we step deeper into Ben’s experience of construction.  You’ll hear Ben talk about what it felt li...

Hello! This is Episode 381, and I am joined once again by HOME Method member, Ben, to talk about what happens when your project finally moves from drawings into real walls, a real roof and regular site meetings on your building site. If you are in construction now, or heading towards it, this conversation will give you a really practical look at how to stay informed, keep your communication organi...