Food, water and shelter are three of our base needs and the question of shelter and homes and what they may evolve into was the topic for my chat this week with David Dowsett of radio ABC Wide Bay.

Our houses and home of tomorrow will definitely provide shelter, they will definitely be things that we have and cherish, but their structure, composition and contents are all likely to evolve.

On the back of a detailed research piece I recently concluded on the Future of Homes and a series of keynotes I’ve delivered to some of Australia’s premier building and home fit-out businesses, I explored the homes of tomorrow and what we may have and want in them.

The first major shift is our connection to our homes. Historically homes had more of a utilitarian purpose, built for shelter, warmth and food and up until the 1960’s it was predominantly the domain of the female as she prepared and tended to her family and the family used it much as a wayward stop to rest, refuel and come together.

Its other primary purpose in this period was for social status, the facade and street appeal being important and specialist reception / lounge rooms, often with plastic covered furniture, reserved for VIP guests and in which children were never  allowed.

Homes over the last few decades have become more about family usage, with large kitchens, open spaces, fewer walls, hotelesque bathrooms and en-suites and indoor / outdoor rooms high on people’s house wish list.

As we travel forward our connection to our homes will deepen and change.

For economic, social and cultural reasons many of us will be living in multi-generational homes. We will also increasingly be working from home or using our homes as a base to work from and when not physically there, we will be digitally connected to it, constantly able to reach inside and remotely turn on and off appliances, allow others temporary access to undertake repairs under CCTV conditions and engage with those that are there through a myriad of devices and on a myriad of objects.

Houses will become smaller in size as we move to a 20 homes per acre standard for many built up suburbs, as against the quintessential Australian dream of one (1) house on a 1/4 acre block. In this smaller spaces we will look for even more multi purpose rooms that can morph and change purpose as circumstance and needs change.

We will see less physical walls, more movable walls and objects that can act as barriers or dividers or provide multi usage purposes. Furniture will be more often be built specific to suit the rooms requirements and size and will do double or triple duty as they change guise and purpose to suit changing needs.

 

 

 

 

 

In this new world of home, we will also be retuning to home delivery with milk and bread more often coming to your door and services such as Uber bringing a car to your door to transport you to where you need to go and Airtasker bringing people to your door to complete your chores and tasks that you don’t want to, or can’t complete yourself.

Envisioning your future  home or picking out furniture, fixtures and accessories will also become easier as builders,  interior designers and retailers start to use digital 3D immersive walk through’s, using devices like Google Glass and Oculus Rift allowing home owners to try before they buy.

There’s lots changing on the home front including 3D printing of homes and interiors and a completely alive digitally connected house of objects, walls and furniture, so take a listen now and then let me know what you’d like to see in your Home of the Future.