The Story of domus-AU
Housing is an essential element in Australian society. Methods of production of housing have essentially remained unchanged over centuries. However, increasingly housing is less affordable and the methods often result In prolonged elapsed building time creating frustration and additional expense. Just as hand made consumer items evolved into a manufacturing model making goods such as cars and clothing affordable and readily available, so too is housing production. Fortunately new materials and technological developments in components and services have changed the possible procurement methods.
Already a significant proportion of construction components are factory produced resulting in greater efficiency and reducing cost. Such components are wall frames, roof trusses, kitchens, windows, doors and many other items.
Today new materials with superior characteristics are available, together with innovation in services provision using “plug and play” concepts.
The concepts for domus-AU have been developed over many years from being involved in design and construction of hundreds of buildings ranging from single houses to multi-storey apartments. The aim has always been to design to achieve quality at a reasonable cost and always consideration of simplicity of construction.
Importantly high on the list of design criteria has been the aspect of sustainability. The concepts of long life, loose fit and low energy play an essential role in a successful outcome. Long life is possible through loose fit, i.e. flexible planning and the ability to change layouts to meet new needs, and obviously conserve energy not just power but elimination of waste. The first prototype of the domus-AU concept was assembled in 2016 near Newcastle NSW.