15 min

Designing for Difficult Sites - Episode 0 (Season 6 - Season Intro‪)‬ Get It Right with Undercover Architect

    • Design

This upcoming podcast season will be all about designing for difficult sites. For the non-standard, non-normal, tricky sites. A cookie cutter approach doesn’t work when your land, block size and shape is different. 

When you’re renovating or building, you have a unique opportunity to create a home that suits your block of land. That makes the most of its assets, minimizes the things you don’t like about it, or its immediate environment, and really celebrates the qualities of where you live, and the land you live on. 

Homeowners often don’t understand the challenges that are specific to their type of block. And in doing so, they miss the opportunity to maximise the site’s characteristics, and minimise the things they don’t like about it. 

Over the coming season, I’m going to be sharing specific design strategies you can use when designing a reno or new home for a trickier or difficult block.  

And whilst I’ll be sharing a specific type of block each episode, the strategies I’m sharing and questions I’ll be suggesting you ask yourself, will help you whatever type of block you’re on. 

So, let me explain how this season will go. In each episode, as I talk about the different types of tricky sites, I’ll be outlining: 


the main challenges for that type of block, and what requires careful consideration when designing your reno or new home 
the main advantages or opportunities you want to make the most of 
key questions to ask – either yourself, your designer or your builder – so you design a project that is specific to your block of land, whatever it’s shape, size or type 
and I’ll also be going through what to focus on to get it right if you’re choosing a home off the plan, building a custom-design home, or extending and renovating an existing home 

These are the different types of blocks I’ll be talking about across this coming season. 


Episode 01 Corner Blocks 
Episode 02 Narrow blocks 
Episode 03 Wide, shallow blocks 
Episode 04 Sloping blocks 
Episode 05 Acreage blocks 
Episode 06 Dual access blocks 
Episode 07 Blocks where main view is from upper floor 

So, let’s dive in! 

FOR RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST CLICK HERE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This upcoming podcast season will be all about designing for difficult sites. For the non-standard, non-normal, tricky sites. A cookie cutter approach doesn’t work when your land, block size and shape is different. 

When you’re renovating or building, you have a unique opportunity to create a home that suits your block of land. That makes the most of its assets, minimizes the things you don’t like about it, or its immediate environment, and really celebrates the qualities of where you live, and the land you live on. 

Homeowners often don’t understand the challenges that are specific to their type of block. And in doing so, they miss the opportunity to maximise the site’s characteristics, and minimise the things they don’t like about it. 

Over the coming season, I’m going to be sharing specific design strategies you can use when designing a reno or new home for a trickier or difficult block.  

And whilst I’ll be sharing a specific type of block each episode, the strategies I’m sharing and questions I’ll be suggesting you ask yourself, will help you whatever type of block you’re on. 

So, let me explain how this season will go. In each episode, as I talk about the different types of tricky sites, I’ll be outlining: 


the main challenges for that type of block, and what requires careful consideration when designing your reno or new home 
the main advantages or opportunities you want to make the most of 
key questions to ask – either yourself, your designer or your builder – so you design a project that is specific to your block of land, whatever it’s shape, size or type 
and I’ll also be going through what to focus on to get it right if you’re choosing a home off the plan, building a custom-design home, or extending and renovating an existing home 

These are the different types of blocks I’ll be talking about across this coming season. 


Episode 01 Corner Blocks 
Episode 02 Narrow blocks 
Episode 03 Wide, shallow blocks 
Episode 04 Sloping blocks 
Episode 05 Acreage blocks 
Episode 06 Dual access blocks 
Episode 07 Blocks where main view is from upper floor 

So, let’s dive in! 

FOR RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST CLICK HERE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

15 min