Episode 01 - Introduction

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