House of Meaning Podcast

House of Meaning
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In each episode, we’ll share practical advice, design insights, and real stories to help you plan and build your dream sustainable home with confidence.

  1. 19h ago

    Why the Best Homes Aren't Designed For You: Lessons From 10 Years With SHM's In-House Architect

    There's a myth about architects. You hand them your dream, they disappear for a few weeks, and back comes a finished vision you either love or learn to live with. David Nicholson has spent his career proving that isn't how a good home gets made. In this episode, Simon Clark, founder of Sustainable Homes Melbourne, sits down with David Nicholson, the in-house architect behind SHM for the past ten years. It's a conversation about what a decade of designing homes together has taught them, and why the best homes are never designed for you. They're designed with you. David has no specific architectural style, and says so plainly. He doesn't arrive with an aesthetic to impose. His job, as he describes it, is to interpret what a family actually wants, often the things they can't quite put into words yet, and shape it into something they'll love. He talks about asking the dumb questions, getting the brief right before a single line is drawn, and treating the design like a story written together, one that evolves with every meeting rather than landing fully formed. From there the conversation moves into the ideas we come back to on almost every project. Start with a master plan, even if you build it in stages. Double up the use of your rooms and you might need fewer of them. And the courtyard, the room you don't pay for that gives the rooms around it light, privacy and ventilation for a fraction of the cost of building over it. Underneath it all is a simple idea: a home shaped with the people who'll live in it beats one imposed on them by an architect out of ego.  As David puts it, building a home isn't meant to be easy. But done well, it's one of the most rewarding things you'll do. You'll learn: Why the best homes are designed with the people who'll live in them, not handed over as a finished visionHow a good architect interprets what you want, including the things you can't yet put into wordsWhat the "room you don't pay for" is, and why a courtyard can be worth more than the room it replacesWhy you should start with a master plan even when you build in stagesWhat to do before you renovate: live in the house, learn its quirks, and start earlyWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners weighing up an architect, a designer or a design-and-build team for a renovation or new home, and anyone who wants to understand what good residential design really involves. David Nicholson is co-director of Melbourne architecture practice Robert Nichol & Sons and has worked as the in-house architect behind Sustainable Homes Melbourne's designs for the past decade. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697.

  2. Sep 15

    Design & Build: Is It Right For You?

    A couple of years ago we ordered a beautiful stone benchtop for one of our custom home projects. It arrived, it was installed, and at the next site meeting the owners said the words every builder dreads. That is not what we wanted. The stone was right. The finish was wrong, gloss instead of matte, and the error was ours. Putting it right cost fifteen thousand dollars, and we wore every cent. In this episode, Melbourne builder Simon Clark uses that expensive lesson to answer the question every homeowner planning a custom home eventually asks. Is design and build right for you? After more than a decade of custom homes, renovations and extensions, he gives the honest answer, not the sales pitch. Simon lays out the real pros: one point of accountability when something goes wrong, design informed by construction knowledge from day one, fewer gaps between the drawing and the build, and the one he rates highest, cost clarity along the journey, from a feasibility within 10 to 15 percent to a contract estimate that holds scope for scope. Then he faces the hard questions head on. Are you locked in? Is it a conflict of interest for the builder to mark their own homework, and why does SHM push for third party building inspections? Do you lose independent design? And how do you know the price is fair without going to tender? He closes with a second story, the mirror of the first. On an externally designed project, a wrong door frame colour buried in the contract documentation left the client to carry a variation of just over seven thousand dollars. Same mistake, opposite outcome, and the only thing that changed was who was accountable. You'll learn: Why design and build gives you one point of accountability, and what that means the day something goes wrongHow SHM's staged cost clarity works, from a feasibility within 10 to 15 percent to a contract estimate that holds scope for scopeWhat you actually give up with design and build, and what you keep, including every design decision and budget sign offWhy the conflict of interest question is fair, and how third party building inspections answer itWho design and build is not for, from years-long design refiners to live design and lowest price shoppersWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners deciding whether design and build is the right way to deliver their custom home, renovation or extension, and anyone weighing it against working with an architect at arm's length. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697.

  3. Sep 1

    Falling in Love With Heritage Homes: Alison Carlill and the Case for Restoration

    The heritage homes that still stand in 2026 are not a random sample of what was built. They are the best of the best. The ones built with enough craft, enough care, and enough quality to outlast all others built at that time. That's what you're looking at when you scroll through The Home of Heritage. Alison Carlill is the founder of The Home of Heritage, Australia's only dedicated platform for heritage properties for sale and historic stays. She joins Simon on House of Meaning to talk about what makes these homes so extraordinary, why our connection to them runs so much deeper than aesthetics, and what Australia stands to lose every time one disappears. The conversation covers what draws people to heritage homes and what they're chasing that a new build simply cannot offer. They explore the concept of place attachment, the craftsmanship of a century-old home and why it sits in a different category from almost anything built today, and what Alison is building next on the platform. Simon draws a direct line between the quality standard of the homes Alison celebrates and the standard SHM holds itself to in every renovation and new home it takes on. Alison also answers the question Simon asks every guest: the home she carries with her. Her answer involves a 1920s bungalow, a fireplace that was once a kitchen, and a man in his eighties who came back to tell them what life had been like inside those walls. You'll learn: Why the heritage homes that have survived are the finest examples of what was built, and what that quality meansWhat Alison looks for when curating The Home of Heritage, and what gets rejectedWhy our connection to old homes is emotional, not just aestheticWhat Australia stands to lose as heritage continues to disappear from our citiesWhat "home" really means to someone who has immersed herself in hundreds of Australia's finest historic propertiesWho it's for: Anyone who has ever felt the pull of an old house, buyers considering a heritage property, and anyone who believes the homes we build today should be worth keeping for the next hundred and fifty years. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697.

  4. Aug 18

    Why You Should NOT Build A Barely Legal Home

    Walk into most Melbourne homes on a two-degree July morning and you will feel the problem immediately. A bit of plasterboard. A timber stud. Maybe some weatherboards on the outside. That's what separates an Australian family from the cold. As Simon puts it in this episode: a glorified tent. Simon Clark, founder of Sustainable Homes Melbourne, has spent over a decade walking into homes across Melbourne. In this solo episode, he makes the case that Australia's "don't overcapitalise" culture was designed for property investors, not for families building a home they intend to live in for 30 years. We have borrowed investor logic and applied it to the most important decision of our lives. The result is homes that make us uncomfortable, cost a fortune to run, and slowly compromise our health. Simon traces where the overcapitalise framing comes from, why it has no useful application to owner occupied family homes on a long time horizon, and why building fabric is the non negotiable place to spend well. He also addresses the NCC 7 star minimum energy-efficiency requirement and why building to the legal floor today means building below tomorrow's standard, with the code expected to rise to eight stars by 2031 and 2032. The episode closes with a reframe that lands the whole argument. Resale value is not the goal. It is the consequence of a home built well. You'll learn: Why the "don't overcapitalise" rule was built for investors and why it fails families on a 30 year time horizonWhat Simon means when he calls most Melbourne homes glorified tentsWhy a home is a consumption product and what that changes about how you buildHow a weather resistant barrier actually works and why cladding alone is not enoughWhy 7 stars is the legal minimum, not a standard worth building toWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners planning to build or renovate a family home they intend to keep for decades, and anyone who has been told not to overcapitalise and quietly wondered if that advice actually makes sense. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697.

  5. Aug 4

    Interior Design Mistakes That Stop Your House Feeling Like A Home, with Petrina Turner

    They listed the house six months after renovating it, and of all the rooms the photographer chose to lead with, it was the one everybody had warned them was too bold. A tealy green vanity, marble Ming green fan tiles, wall to wall. It sold the house, because people could feel the quality.  In this episode of House of Meaning, Simon Clark sits down with Petrina Turner of Petrina Turner Design, an accredited interior designer and educator with thirty years behind her. Petrina names the mistake she sees again and again: people design their homes for a stranger, the future buyer who may or may not turn up in five years, instead of for the people actually living there. That single habit is what stops a house ever feeling like home. Petrina started not as a decorator but as a draftsperson, and that technical brain still underpins everything she does, but her real subject is why colour is an emotional tool, not decoration. Petrina explains why even neutral isn't neutral, how every white paint shifts with the light and the direction a room faces, and why she starts a project with your favourite holiday and your core memories instead of a spec sheet of sinks and ovens. We hear how she found the "DNA" of a heritage home in its raw stud walls and soot-stained chimney bricks, why a bold tealy green bathroom was the room that sold a house, and how her volunteer work with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre showed her that colour and design are really about dignity. You'll learn: The one mistake that stops a house ever feeling like home, and what to do insteadHow to start a renovation from your own story and memories rather than paint charts and tick boxesWhy even neutral paint carries an undertone, and how light and orientation change it hour to hourHow texture and material can do the heavy lifting when you're not ready to commit to colourWhy biophilic design, bringing nature indoors, measurably supports wellbeing and how to apply it at homeWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners planning a renovation, extension or forever home who want a space that feels like them rather than a safe resale box, plus anyone curious about the psychology and craft behind great interior design. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697. Explore Petrina's work at https://www.petrinaturnerdesign.com.au/

  6. Jul 21

    Renovation Optimism Is Costing Melbourne Homeowners Years of Their Lives

    Seven years from first sketch to building contract. Two builder quotes on the same design, one at $900,000 and one at $1.8 million. A home designed, approved through council, and quietly shelved because it came back three times over budget. These are not rare stories. They are the renovation industry's default setting. In this episode, Simon Clark, founder of Sustainable Homes Melbourne, names the thing that derails more renovation projects than bad builders or bad luck: renovation optimism. The belief that the lower quote is probably right. That the design will come in on budget. That things will work out. Simon opens with three real client stories: a Brunswick terrace that took seven years to reach a building contract, multiple enquiries returning after years working with designers and architects, and a homeowner who proceeded through town planning on the strength of the cheaper of two wildly different quotes. He unpacks why the building industry's fragmented structure makes optimism not just understandable but almost inevitable: designers working in silos, builders pricing in isolation, and nobody accountable for the gap between the two. He then leaves listeners with three questions to ask any professional before engaging them:  When will you get a real price from a builder who does this type of work?Who is accountable if the design comes back over budget (including what the Architects Institute of Australia's standard agreement actually says about cost overruns)?What past clients have to say about the process (you're about to embark on) rather than the finished product?You'll learn: Why getting a real builder's price at concept design rather than after town planning can save hundreds of thousands of dollarsHow the standard Architects Institute of Australia client agreement handles cost overruns, and why most homeowners sign it without reading itWhy the lowest building quote is almost never the right oneWhat early contractor involvement means and why it changes the renovation experienceHow to speak with past clients in a way that surfaces genuinely useful information about a builder or architect's processWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners, inner-city property buyers, anyone who has saved a heritage terrace on realestate.com.au and wondered about its story, and anyone who has ever stood outside an old Melbourne home and felt something they could not quite explain. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697.

  7. Jul 7

    Melbourne Heritage Homes: The Mysteries They Hold with Elio Sarpi

    Most Melburnians have a saved search on realestate.com.au they will never act on. A terrace in Fitzroy. A cottage in West Melbourne. A Victorian on a street they drove down once and have not forgotten since. We do not just look at houses in this city. We fall in love with them. In this episode of House of Meaning, Simon sits down with Elio Sarpi, the North Melbourne resident behind one of Melbourne's most quietly remarkable Instagram accounts: Houses of North and West Melbourne. With over 30,000 followers, Elio has spent five years uncovering what is actually inside those houses Melburnians dream about. Not the floorplans. Not the facades. The lives of ordinary people from the 1800-1900’s. Simon and Elio explore what Melbourne's Victorian terraces tell us about the identity of the city we live in today. They move through how domestic life actually worked inside these homes, when front rooms doubled as grocers and boarding houses, when Italian and Greek families reshaped the way spaces were used, and when a single North Melbourne cottage held far more lives than most of us could imagine. The conversation turns to what Melbourne risks losing as the city grows and builds over its own history, and what it means to feel a personal responsibility to the people whose stories may otherwise disappear entirely. You'll learn: Why Melbourne's heritage homes carry stories the official heritage register never capturesHow Elio traces a family's full history from a single photograph of a front doorWhat immigration and commerce did to the way North and West Melbourne terraces were actually lived inWhat Melbourne stands to lose when heritage homes are demolished or altered beyond recognitionWhy the houses Melburnians romanticise hold meaning that goes far deeper than architectureWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners, inner-city property buyers, anyone who has saved a heritage terrace on realestate.com.au and wondered about its story, and anyone who has ever stood outside an old Melbourne home and felt something they could not quite explain. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697. Follow Elio's work on Instagram: @housesofnorthandwestmelbourne

  8. Jun 23

    Why Australian Homes Are So Cold in Winter (And What to Do About It in 2026)

    Walk into an unrenovated Melbourne home on a winter's morning and the heating's running flat out while you're still wearing two jumpers. The problem isn't the weather. It's the building. And it's the same story right across Australia. In this episode, Simon Clark, founder of Sustainable Homes Melbourne, breaks down why Australian homes are so cold in winter and exactly what to do about it. From the big stuff to the small stuff people overlook. Australia's housing stock is old, leaky, and built for cross-ventilation in summer. Most homes have single brick or weatherboard walls with no insulation, suspended timber floors over an uninsulated subfloor, and gaps around every skirting, cornice, and architrave you've ever walked past. You're not just losing heat. You're losing money every single minute the heater is on. Simon walks through the full hierarchy of fixes: air sealing first (the single biggest bang for your buck in an existing home), ceiling and underfloor insulation, window coverings and glazing upgrades, and how to use north-facing glass to capture free solar gain through winter. He covers zoning — heating where you actually live, not the whole house — and explains why a reverse cycle split system is almost always more efficient than ducted gas for a leaky older home. You'll learn: Why air sealing is the first thing to fix in an existing home, and where the biggest draughts actually hideHow ceiling and underfloor insulation change the thermal performance of a suspended floor homeWhy zoning matters more than heater size in an older homeHow passive solar gain through north-facing windows can do a lot of the heavy lifting in winterThe small wins — door snakes, lined curtains, rugs, ceiling fans on reverse — that genuinely move the needleWho it's for: Homeowners across Australia in older or unrenovated homes who want to be warmer this winter without running the heater all day, and anyone planning a Melbourne renovation who wants to understand the building fabric fundamentals before they start. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697.

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About

In each episode, we’ll share practical advice, design insights, and real stories to help you plan and build your dream sustainable home with confidence.

Information

  • Creator
    House of Meaning
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    28
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 House of Meaning Podcast
  • Show Website
    House of Meaning Podcast

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