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So, you build homes eh? Will they be nests or prisons?

Will your home join the millions of characterless shells that contain fragile families with drama-filled lives? Or will your home nourish and protect the individuals within the family so that they are fully optimised to conquer the day’s battles outside the home?

Don’t say “It’s beyond my control what happens in the homes I build.” Because it’s not. You can, in fact, control to a high degree what types of experiences families undergo, living in one of your dwellings.

From they choice of site you select, through to the floor plan, the choice of building materials, and the quality of work undertaken by your subcontractors – all of these will have some bearing on your buildings’ residents.

Colours matter. Gardens matter. Chemicals matter, electricity and gas matter. Walls, windows and doors matter.

You have the power to create a potent experience of Place. Of Home. In the deepest sense that we all yearn for.

You don’t necessarily need to invest more money into your project. Considerate homes don’t need to cost more than lifeless boxes.

Just a bit more thought at the start of your project can head off any potential problems. By following some simple guidelines, you can create nourishing homes, each and every time. Identify those factors that enhance the quality of human life, and make a commitment to imbue your work with these principles. Stand apart from builders who assemble cheap and nasty homes. You’ll notice the difference in your bottom line.

Our homes are our third skin – our third layer of protection. Our first skin, is, well, our skin. The second skin is our clothing. Third skin is our dwelling.

Until very recently in our history, families and communities took charge of building homes. Building as an industry, particularly residential buildings, have only recently become specialised and removed from mainstream activities.

It used to be that homes within regions would all enjoy certain characteristics and features that were standard, predictable, comfortable and comforting. These aspects would develop over time, and take into consideration the climate and weather patterns, the lifestyle of the inhabitants, the heritage of the area, the terrain.

Many of these types of homes, built hundreds of years ago, are still standing. They were not built by tradesman, but by everyday people. They cared about their work, because they were probably the very people who would live in them, and expect to pass them down through the generations.

Now the building trades are just a job to most. New homes are given a time frame of just seven years, before shoddy work becomes evident and requires fixing. And who expects to pass their home onto their children these days? The whole ambiance of home ownership has changed from as recently as our grandparents’ days, and the building industry and even society treats home as a commodity rather than one of life’s anchors.

Sadly, despite our changing attitude towards homes, we still have a need for a nest. But it’s made all the more difficult to fulfill these days.