Jack & Alana - Progress Report
From drafty weatherboard to comfy dream home
Location: Victoria, Australia
Project: New build
Booken Blend Resource: BUILD It Design Pack
Size: 4 bedrooms, 2 living, 2 bathrooms
Battling the elements in a weatherboard cottage
Despite its charm and enviable location, Jack and Alana’s original quaint family home was plagued by drafts, poor insulation, and cramped quarters, especially as their family grew.
Imagine this: small acreage close to town with towering gums and peaceful vistas, all nestled a stone’s throw from the mighty Murray River.
Sounds like a dream, right?!
Well, this perfectly describes the property where Jack grew up and where he and Alana began their journey together.
However, there was one teeny tiny (*not so tiny) problem with this idyllic picture. The existing weatherboard home on Jack’s childhood property may have been full of wonderful childhood memories, but it was also bluddy uncomfortable to live in!
With its paper-thin walls, non-existent insulation, poor orientation and bowed timber windows that might as well have been left open, Jack and Alana’s humble home was facing an uphill battle against the elements. From an energy efficiency perspective, its power bills were skyrocketing each year, all whilst they continued to swelter in summer and freeze in winter.
Add in a growing family, and suddenly, their quaint family home felt… well… not so quaint!
It was time to start fresh.
Jack and Alana found themselves stuck in a cycle of indecision and never-ending debates over floor plans.
Once Jack and Alana had made the difficult decision to knock down and rebuild, they threw themselves into the design process and quickly found themselves going in circles, scribbling design after design on notepads and engaging in spirited (!!) debates over floor plans.
Sound familiar?
It's a scenario many of us can relate to, especially in the age of Pinterest and Instagram, where endless inspiration can lead to decision paralysis.
So when it came time for Alana to meet with a building designer, she did her due diligence and prepared a comprehensive design brief, expressing their wishes for a comfortable, energy-efficient home that would accommodate their large extended family and friends and provide a warm, inviting space to entertain. [We cover how to prepare a design brief in our Sustainable Build Workshops].
Incorporating simple passive design principles, such as good orientation, thermal mass, cross ventilation, zoning and insulation, were also high on the list.
However, Alana quickly realised she may have hit a snag when she mentioned North eaves to the building designer, “The look on his face said it all; he clearly had no idea about the basic sustainable design principles we wanted to include.”
“My gut was telling me we weren’t in the right place; so it was back to the drawing board,” Alana said.
-
The building designer quoted us $16,000 for a basic design pack and $26,000 for the luxury design pack, PLUS changes at an hourly rate.
We were both really scared to spend so much money and not be happy with the end result. If they could’ve guaranteed we were going to spend 26k to get a design we loved, it would’ve been fine. That was one of the benefits of going with the BUILD It Design Pack, we could see what Booken House looked like and how it would perform before jumping in boots and all.
— Alana, Victoria, Australia
Alana recalled, “One of the things we were struggling with most was trying to figure out how to combine everything on our wishlist into one floor plan.”
Oh, I hear you!!
Then, one day during a COVID lockdown, Alana and Jack discovered Booken House, and both agreed they loved the look. They also liked that it fitted their budget—although, according to Alana, they could’ve done with more supervision on the budget ;)
“It was such a relief the day we found the Booken House floor plan and went, yep, this works for us! It gave us our confidence back.” Alana said.
We asked ourselves, “If we were to drive in our driveway today and Booken House was standing there on our block, would we be happy?”
The answer was a big YES.
So they purchased the BUILD It Design pack (available here), containing the concept plans to Booken House and copyright approval to use the design on their land.
“All up, this saved us a significant amount of money, especially when you consider the original design quote of $26,000. We invested $4,999 on the BUILD It Design Pack and spent a further $5,000 getting a building designer to draw up site plans and tweak the design to suit our lifestyle and site.” Alana said. “And we couldn’t be happier with the result.”
[Btw, it was not the same building designer ;)]
Highlights
Highlights
-
Passive Solar Design
Incorporates natural heating and cooling, reducing energy use.
-
Excellent Orientation
Oriented to the North to capture the warm winter sun and exclude the harsh summer sun.
-
Cross Ventilation
Strategically placed doors and windows capture prevailing breezes to help cool in summer.
-
Thermal Mass Flooring
Utilizes a concrete slab to store and radiate heat, enhancing comfort.
-
Low Maintenance
Features like a composite deck ensure both functionality and ease of maintenance.
-
Indoor Outdoor Living
The home is designed to bring the outdoors in.
“We always felt like the hard work was already done, so the design process was more like a sprint than a marathon.”
— Alana, Victoria, Australia
It was such a joy to visit Alana and Jack’s Booken House recently and see the changes they’ve made to make it perfect for them and their site.
They have added an extra bedroom, a two-car garage, a laundry slash mudroom connected to the garage, put the two pods on one level, changed the bathroom configurations for privacy reasons, and reduced glazing a smidge to comply with energy ratings in their region.
The roof line was also changed a little to make the south-facing facade more visually pleasing from the access to their property.
“We enjoyed the process of making it our own and incorporating low-maintenance ideas, such as a composite deck and removing the box gutter (as both pods are on the same level). We also added reverse-cycle heating and cooling, and are connected to the grid.”
Alana said, “I was a bit nervous about reducing the amount of glass on the southern side of the living area as I was concerned it would change the look of the room (Lisa recommends this change due to the negative impact of south glazing on thermal performance), but now I love it!”
“We didn’t have the luxury of building three homes before we got it right; we had to nail it the first time!”
Like the design process, the build process had its ups and downs for Jack and Alana.
Jack said, “It was super exciting at the beginning when we cleared the site, but building can be stressful at times—especially when you throw a newborn into the mix, move in with your parents, and take on some of the building work yourself!”
“The constant decisions, budget blowouts where you go, ‘Oh bugger it, just get it done’—it’s a lot! The whole process is a weird mix of excitement and stress.”
Jack and Alana acknowledge it would’ve been easier to do a turn-key build; however, they would’ve had to relinquish all control.
“With a turn-key build you don’t even get to visit the site unless there are agreed times and stages, which would be very disappointing as being involved in the build was the most exciting bit. Being able to be involved every step of the way meant we were able to recover quickly from issues or problems,” Jack said.
It was a very difficult decision for this young family to knock down their original family home, so it’s not surprising that they put lots of pressure on themselves to absolutely nail this build (pardon the pun).
But nail it they did!
Congrats, Alana and Jack; you have created a beautiful, efficient home that will be enjoyed by your family and friends for many generations to come. I can’t wait to come and feature the finished product!
Build Your Own Booken House
Love the look of Booken House and want to dive under the hood?
Our Design Packs give you access to the exact documentation and floor plan we used to build Booken House — all of which can be adjusted to wherever you live in the world. We’re thrilled to share this straight-talking knowledge with you to help fast-track your way to a beautiful, efficient, light-filled home.