Episode 05 — How to Prepare for the First Meeting

Episode 04 — Choosing the Right Team | Chapter 4, Babe Let's Build a House

Riverside description for Episode 03, plain text, 1,796 characters (limit 4,000): Before you buy a building site, there is a lot more to check than where north is.

Building a home means making a huge number of decisions, and the way you make them shapes the whole journey. Over my 26 year career I've sat opposite couples who discovered in the design consultation that they weren't on the same page, and worked with clients whose decision making styles pulled in opposite directions. In this episode of Babe, Let's Build a House, I share the four decision making types I've come to recognise, so you can understand what you need and ask for it from your team. In this episode: Why understanding how you make decisions matters before you start The quick, decisive decision maker, who keeps the project moving but needs time built in and a professional who will push back The analytical thinker, who researches every detail and needs a clear process and checklists to decide and move on The harmonising decision maker, the glue that holds everything together, who needs someone to draw out what they actually want The visionary, who pushes the limits for an amazing outcome and needs structure to stay focused What to look for in a builder, architect or architectural designer to suit your style Most of us are a combination, with one dominant trait. Knowing yours helps you choose a team whose systems and communication suit the way you work. Next week in Episode 03, I cover the key things to consider before you purchase a building site, so the vision you have fits the site you buy. Book: www.smartlivingspaces.nz/book Podcast: https://www.smartlivingspaces.nz/podcast

Welcome to the first episode of Babe, Let's Build a House, the podcast that walks you through the process of designing and building your new home, chapter by chapter, from the book of the same name. I'm Sharon Robinson, your host, architectural designer and founder of Smart Living Spaces. In this episode I share why I wrote the book and started this podcast, who it's for, and a bit about me and how I ended up here. I talk about the shift I made back in 2019, moving from offering a service to being of service, and how that change shaped the way I work with clients today. I share a line I told a real estate agent recently, that we don't experience our homes from looking at them from the opposite side of the street, and what that means for how we should really be designing homes, for how they feel to live in, not just how they look from outside. I also talk about why cheap, poor performing builds are a false economy, and why building better doesn't mean building bigger or more expensive, just more informed. There's a real gap between how professionals talk to each other and how we talk to clients, and this book and podcast are my attempt to close it, so you can move from asking "what should I build" to "how do I build, and who do I build it with." I share a bit of my own story too, from drawing house plans at age seven, growing up in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and the experience that shaped how I think about architecture as an agent of social change, something that still drives Smart Living Spaces today. This episode sets up the whole series. Each following episode works through the book chapter by chapter, from the client's point of view, covering everything from understanding your site and choosing the right team, through budgets, contracts, performance, and what happens after you've moved in. My hope is that understanding the process leads to better conversations with your design and build team, and ultimately a better result for you and your home. Next episode, I cover Where to Start, the first step when building a house, and the four different ways people naturally make decisions when starting their build journey. Grab a copy of the book, Babe, Let's Build a House, at www.smartlivingspaces.nz/book Find more at www.smartlivingspaces.nz/podcast