Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 09, 2015 5:00 pm I think the state of suburban home design in Australia is quite disappointing. It seems like everyone's erecting these overly modern homes that have no character and are very sterile in appearance. I'm talking about the use of very basic geometric shapes, excessive use of the colour grey and so on. Call me old fashioned, but I miss the old red brick look. Rendered homes, for whatever reason, have always looked kind of cheap, kitsch and passé to me. This is the look that I hate, for those who aren't following what I mean... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ It seems to be taking over in the suburbs! The last thing I want to do is offend anyone who likes this look, or even owns a home similar to them, but it's just sooo not appealing to me. I'd take a nice old Villa or bungalow any day. Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 2Feb 09, 2015 6:14 pm What's stopping you? 99 % of world's population would love to live in homes you featured You can have anything you like if you can afford it. There are builders specialising in period homes or custom build. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 3Feb 09, 2015 6:31 pm I personally like the contemporary modern look and If I could afford a unique architecturally designed build I'd be doing it. Todays houses will the history of my generations future. Suspect some of the older ones might be gone. There is nothing stopping you building whatever style or era of house you like. Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 4Feb 09, 2015 6:35 pm There is lots of truth in what u say, despite the homes illustrated been quite attractive, the volume boys have led the very basic cornice and skirtings look, even homes going to the million mark generally skimp here, and for sure from the volume builders its a cost cutting exercise .non standard Cornices and architraves are a must for homes with character. Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 5Feb 09, 2015 6:36 pm Every home will be dated one day…. Build what YOU want ! Like Building Expert said 99% of people would love to live in those homes…. INCLUDING ME !!!!! Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. George Carlin Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 6Feb 09, 2015 7:04 pm Good modern architecture will not go "out of fashion". A lot of "trendy" modern architecture will. I love modernist architecture, but most homes is just a mish-mash of trendy bits and pieces from Vogue magazine and "The Block". The key in my opinion is thoughtful use of materials, proportions, scale, making best use of aspect, and maximizing natural light and air flow. Unfortunately most new suburban homes (I mean most high volume homes under 20-30 years old) are sorely missing these aspects. Great design is often not easily noticed. I agree that rendered houses do lack interest. I don't mind a few rendered walls here and there, but softening with some natural materials lile wood and stone is important in my opinion. Also, rendered homes tend to require a lot more maintenance because they need regular patching and painting to look good. When you've got sharp, clean surfaces like that, they need to stay that way! Whereas natural materials age well and I actually think look better once they weather a bit. That being said, I really don't like replicas like mock-georgian McMansions etc. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 7Feb 11, 2015 8:50 pm I compeletely agree with everyone's sentiments. I think my main problem with the homes I posted is that they tend to stand out like a sore thumb, especially in Australian suburbs, where a lot of our residential architecture evolved in the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. They don't blend in well, in my opinion. My favourite thing when I was visiting America and England was the uniformity in suburban architecture. Every house matched perfectly. If we could be more like that here, it would be ideal. I am currently having a house built in an older style... nothing too extravagant, but making a lot of use of classic materials like stone and brick. You could call it bland, but I love this consistency. It's so... secure and inviting? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ surfprado Every home will be dated one day…. Build what YOU want ! Like Building Expert said 99% of people would love to live in those homes…. INCLUDING ME !!!!! I'm not so sure about that, I know a lot of people who really hate the houses I posted and have a strong aversion to the modern look like I do. I also think that a lot of homes from the 20s-50s (Federation homes, villas, bungalows, Colonial, Victorian) have not dated, rather they have just aged so well! I don't think you'd find that "The Block" style homes will look as good as they do today in thirty years. Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 8Feb 12, 2015 7:44 am The ultimate judge of success is market. Those modern homes are there because they sell. Period builders have small share because most people don't want them. Whatever tickles you fancy, in a lucky country you have a choice. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 9Feb 12, 2015 8:44 am I prefer period homes. I'm building a little bit of a Hybrid and am quite lucky that people in my street that are building or have built have not gone ultra modern. I would hate that as it detracts from the urban character...something that I believe councils enforce very loosely these days. Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 10Feb 12, 2015 9:24 am I don’t think the judge of good architecture should be how closely it matches houses around it. Sure, those old suburbs and villages where houses look much the same are charming in their own way – such was the period of time in which they were built. But I couldn’t think of anything more boring than living in a house that looks the same as everyone else’s. Each house needs to be judged on its merits. You can design a very modern house which still pays respect to the older homes around it by subtly introducing design elements that reflect them (but a lot of people don’t…). For example, if you were to build a new modernist home in an area surrounded by red brick post war double fronted bungalows, you could introduce red brick into some of the external walls, and maybe use some architectural details that reflect some of the character of the older homes. Here in Brisbane, there is and has been a very big trend of splitting larger blocks, shifting the old Queenslander home or Timber worker’s cottage across to the side and building a new modern home beside it. A lot of these new homes do a good job of reflecting characteristics of the old homes, with a modern twist. Personally I think it would be really naff if people tried to build a "mock" lookalike next door to a genuine old cottage, it would just look really tacky in my opinion. It would be akin to saying that you don’t like new cars because they don’t look like old cars. They look the way they do for a reason, and have evolved that way due to things like aerodynamics, safety and changing in style over the decades. The same thing applies to houses, the design and appearance has changed due to lifestyle factors, open planned living, our love of outdoor entertaining, and the abundance of different building materials that allow all sorts of different design combinations. The idea of progress and modernism is to retain and refine past successes, but also to learn from and improve on the past, not to match it. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 11Feb 12, 2015 1:08 pm 1960sModernistHome I don’t think the judge of good architecture should be how closely it matches houses around it. Sure, those old suburbs and villages where houses look much the same are charming in their own way – such was the period of time in which they were built. But I couldn’t think of anything more boring than living in a house that looks the same as everyone else’s. Each house needs to be judged on its merits. You can design a very modern house which still pays respect to the older homes around it by subtly introducing design elements that reflect them (but a lot of people don’t…). For example, if you were to build a new modernist home in an area surrounded by red brick post war double fronted bungalows, you could introduce red brick into some of the external walls, and maybe use some architectural details that reflect some of the character of the older homes. Here in Brisbane, there is and has been a very big trend of splitting larger blocks, shifting the old Queenslander home or Timber worker’s cottage across to the side and building a new modern home beside it. A lot of these new homes do a good job of reflecting characteristics of the old homes, with a modern twist. Personally I think it would be really naff if people tried to build a "mock" lookalike next door to a genuine old cottage, it would just look really tacky in my opinion. It would be akin to saying that you don’t like new cars because they don’t look like old cars. They look the way they do for a reason, and have evolved that way due to things like aerodynamics, safety and changing in style over the decades. The same thing applies to houses, the design and appearance has changed due to lifestyle factors, open planned living, our love of outdoor entertaining, and the abundance of different building materials that allow all sorts of different design combinations. The idea of progress and modernism is to retain and refine past successes, but also to learn from and improve on the past, not to match it. I agree with you, but in the majority of cases, owners are not doing this because they can't afford the custom builder to do it so are going for the volume builders who emphasise on a more modern look that suits new estates and not established suburbs. Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 12Feb 12, 2015 2:10 pm Yes - very true. It is a shame. Volume builders have done a good job of ruining good residential design if favour of cookie cutter mass-produced box factories. Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 14Feb 14, 2015 8:07 am When we did our KDR, I had to keep in mind the rest of the suburb. I'm in a predominantly 1950s/'60s suburb, and there was no way I was going to build an ultra modern-looking home. Apart from the fact I really don't like the look of them, it would have stood out like dog's 'you-know-whats' in amongst the double and triple fronted brick veneers. ...but I adore traditional style homes. Federation, Victorian, Georgian etc. My home and my decorating style reflect this, anyway. Interesting to note, about 70% of the KDR in my suburb are in keeping with a more traditional style home. There aren't too many modern out-of-place ones that I have come across. Most of them blend in well. Not all Volume builders have totally modern/contemporary designs, although upgrades are required if you want something a bit 'different' to their modern displays. I chose a fairly plain facade in face brick (reddish/brown - upgrade) with minimal rendering. Grey roof, Paperbark and black accents with black 'cricket bat' front doors. Upgraded all internal doors to 2 panel ones, upgraded skirts and archs to Colonial style, and have decorated it in a mix of French Prov, English Country and Hamptons styles. Far from modern/contemporary. It fits in well. Each to their own, though! Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 15Feb 14, 2015 9:44 am Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 16Feb 14, 2015 10:19 am Its funny that rendering is mentioned so much. My parents house that was built by my father almost 50 years back was fully rendered and still looks fine today. The suburb I am building in is one of three very old estates with my suburb being the newest. The two adjacent suburbs have heritage overlays which prevents KDR. My suburb has a mixed bag of nice officers war homes and then some not so nice houses that are all gradually being KDR and replaced with macmansions. The new houses are varied in style but all two story and not dissimilar to the original posted houses. When driving through the small suburb the variation in styles is quite nice and I do not think the houses will date badly because there is a very broad range of house from modern to the 100 year old homes. I had the ability to choose what ever design I liked and did so. It was one of the reasons I went with my builder because I liked their styles and designs. Time will tell if it ages well and hopefully I will still be around to see...... Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 17Feb 14, 2015 12:07 pm For style I go for 'Timeless' Difficult to describe because it is not a single style but walk round a long established suburb There will be a few houses where it would be hard to know if they were built last year or 30 years ago. For practicality I would go for a pitched roof. A roof can be Pitched, Cheap, Long Term Weather Proof . . . Pick any 2! The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 18Feb 14, 2015 4:41 pm building-expert For those loving relaxed country feel Eynesbury near Melton http://i1321.photobucket.com/albums/u559/brankom10/IMG_1748_zpszkoz5pnc.jpg Eynesbury is one of the few character filled estates Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 19Feb 22, 2015 8:04 am When I talk about modernist architecture, for those who aren't aware, these are example of what I mean. You could be forgiven for thinking these houses are new. Most of them were actually built between 1950-1970. This is what good, thoughtful modern architecture is. I own a home like this and can say they are absolutely brilliant to live in. The open space, the integration of indoors and outdoors, natural light and abundant breezes are some features that are unrivaled by most other styles of architecture. The use of natural materials like wood and stone makes them feel very warm and comfortable. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Anyone else less than impressed by modern homes these da 20Feb 22, 2015 11:12 pm Yes and no. I think there's a lot of room for character in modern homes too. The problem with older style houses is that they are... old. It's hard to get a bespoke custom build with all those extras at an affordable price these days. at most it will have a short lintel which could be moved up just below the ceiling or even above. Above means you need to patch the cornice and might need to deal with… 2 61362 8 6119 I'll be here once a week, lets make that Mondays. If you have a question, this will be the day I will log in for a look around.. If your lucky, sooner. Ask away...… 0 6349 |