Welcome to the Smart Living Spaces blog — a collection of thoughts, tips, and insights on how we can design and live better in Aotearoa.

Here you'll find articles on Passive House, Homestar, energy modelling, healthy homes, and the everyday realities of sustainable architecture in New Zealand. Whether you're a homeowner looking to improve your space or a fellow designer exploring better building performance, I hope these posts offer something practical, empowering, and real.

Because good design isn't just about buildings — it's about people, comfort, and creating spaces that work for the long term.

Passive House Waikato, Offsite Construction, Homestar Sharon Robinson Passive House Waikato, Offsite Construction, Homestar Sharon Robinson

How Small Smart Spaces Can Help You Build Faster and Better

"I was sitting at the annual conference wondering, in the absence of many Architects and Architectural Designers, who was creating High Performance Homes combining Passive House, Homestar, and offsite construction. I couldn't see anyone there. And then a quiet voice inside me said, perhaps that's me."

Read More
Passive House Waikato, Offsite Construction, Homestar Sharon Robinson Passive House Waikato, Offsite Construction, Homestar Sharon Robinson

Why Small Smart Spaces

Over the last few years, I’ve leaned into thinking differently about how we design and build homes in New Zealand. It’s not that the ideas are new—Passive House, Homestar, and Offsite Construction have been around for years—but they often operate in their own separate bubbles. Traditional architectural practice does its thing. Group home builders do theirs. And somewhere in the middle, everyday people end up confused about which path to take.

Read More