THE EDIT

The Australian Home of the Future: Smaller, Smarter, More Human | The Edit Live (Part 2) Home Beautiful x Metricon

June 24, 2026·25 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

Should a robot ever be allowed to fold your laundry? It sounds like a throwaway question, but it cuts right to the heart of what the Australian home is becoming. In Part 2 of this bonus episode, recorded live at Metricon’s National Love of Design Summit, Home Beautiful Editor-in-Chief Elle Lovelock hands the microphone to the audience, and the panel of Ali Whelan (Breathe Architecture), Michael Leung (Balanced Earth Architects), Neil Hipwell (Futureflip) and James Treble takes on questions no one saw coming.  Together they imagine the Australian home of the future, smaller, smarter and far more adaptable, explore why builders who’ve created some of the most high-tech houses in the country are quietly stepping away from the tech, and answer the question that nearly stumped all four of them: what’s the internal compass that drives you?  Moments You’ll Hear:  Why the Australian home of the future is smaller, smarter and more adaptable The affordability and trade-shortage puzzle shaping what we can actually build Why a half-a-million-dollar smart home taught Neil an expensive lesson The case for “low-tech first”, and why a little friction is worth protecting Whether a laundry full of robots would quietly kill a building’s community The question that nearly stumped the panel: what’s your internal compass?  Thank you for listening ❤️ before you leave…  🗣️ Get in touch What did you think? We are a brand new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Home Beautiful community and DM us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/homebeautiful/  🎧 Listen to The Edit and follow on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-edit/id1852946910 Listen and follow on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1y7phZb4CeMhYzFssKZVcq?si=9c224c6461c24caf  👀 Watch and subscribe to The Edit on Home Beautiful’s YouTube 📺 for full episodes and clips https://www.youtube.com/@HomeBeautifulMag  This bonus episode of The Edit was recorded live at Metricon’s National Love of Design Summit. A huge thank you to Metricon for welcoming Home Beautiful into a room so full of ideas. https://www.metricon.com.au  Credits:   Our guests: Ali Whelan (Breathe Architecture), Michael Leung (Balanced Earth Architects), Neil Hipwell (Futureflip) and James Treble (interior designer & colour expert)   Host Elle Lovelock   Edited by Thomas Crnkovic  Head of Vodcasting Rachel Fountain  With thanks to our fabulous Home Beautiful team.  Learn More: The Edit is a production of Home Beautiful and Are Media: https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/home-beautiful-the-edit-podcast/  👀 See more: Missed Part 1? Pushing Boundaries and Building Community is waiting in the feed - why not watch it on YouTube! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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