Turns out our future homes are a little less Jetson like with robot maids and neon lights – the Aussie homes of the future are likely to be a very open plan structure filled with rocks, plants, recycled building materials and second- hand furnishings.

With the advent of COVID-19, this more sustainable way of living will happen sooner rather than later.  The notion of a “family home” is also changing rapidly as Millennials think about their homes as part of the share economy.

We can expect some homes to be smaller with fewer rooms and many areas like kitchens, living rooms and bathrooms will be shared with neighbours. You might have heard of the notion of housing collective? This is taking it to the next level.

The gardens of today may be adapted to include drought resistant native plants that will help insulate the home, reduce the need for outdoor walls and provide a seamless transition from indoors to outdoors.

Some of these findings were revealed in a study called The Future of Living. Major themes that were covered include exploring the size, materials and technical innovations likely to define the way we live and the priority of sustainability and financial efficiency. The resulting outcomes for the homes of the future seem to be more natural the futuristic.

It was also found the homes would include staggered interior spaces that were neither inside or outside, giving residents options for how they want to use each space.

Material wise, we can expect more use of recycled timbers than bricks and energy efficiency to be maximised with solar panels.

COVID-19 has really put cost savings to the forefront – we’re now more frugal than ever and slowly realising bigger isn’t necessarily better. Austerity chic could be the way forward.

That’s what we can expect for the homes of the future, but there’s also some very exciting developments in how we are building homes now – that could be the way forward.

Recently an Australian made robo-bricklayer has proven to be very successful laying over 1000 bricks an hour. In just four days, it built its first display home. Now isn’t that exciting?! Unless of course you’re a bricklayer.

Created in Perth, the Fastbrick Robotics “Hadrian X” is world-first, using a robotic arm mounted on a barge, crane or truck to build homes. It’s blown the efficiency of bricklaying right out of the water with its 1000 bricks an hour speed – human bricklayers generally lay around 500 bricks a day.

Crazy.

The Hadrian X completed the structural walls of its first display home in Dayton, in Perth’s north-eastern suburbs, in early July this year. Structural brickwork for the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home was completed in just 3.5 standard shifts.

The display home build is expected to attract significant interest globally and the creators are extremely proud for it to happen on our home shores.

Who knows what other amazing innovations will develop over the next couple of years following COVID-19? But the way forward seems to have efficiency at its core. Like true innovation, it seems careful thinking before doing will have us soaring ahead.