My name is Clayton and I am a PhD student at the University of Wollongong’s Sustainable Buildings Research Centre. I am also the Student Leader and Project Manager for Team UOW Australia-Dubai. For many of my colleagues, this journey to build a sustainable and aged friendly home began in October of 2016. But for Emily, Tim and myself, this journey began about twelve months earlier. A question that I am frequently asked is, ‘What drove us to start this endeavor and why choose to build an aged friendly house?’ This is normally followed by, ‘Isn’t the competition hard enough already?’

For me, the drive came from undertaking my PhD research. In my research I had the pleasure to journey out and meet 200 low income elderly people from around our local community. We audited each of their homes with the goal of providing building upgrades (retrofits) that would reduce their energy consumption and maintain or improve their thermal comfort. But during these audits we started to understand their personal stories and how some things around the home can make life more difficult or not as enjoyable as it should be. Little things like the levers on windows unable to be operated by people with arthritis, or homes built with no sustainable practices resulting in some people having to choose to either heat or eat during winter. It was through these many experiences with repeated visits over two years that I was constantly asking, ‘why do we live like this, live with these problems that are not that difficult to solve?’

We all hope to grow old one day, some are excited for it and others worry about some of the challenges we may face. In my eyes growing old is something that should be celebrated rather than something to stress over, and with the Desert Rose our vision is that you can grow old comfortably in this home that is designed to change and adapt to your lifestyle as you change and adapt in age. Our vision is to create a ‘House for Life’, one that improves the quality of life for its occupants. Through building this house I hope this stands as testament that it is possible to build a ‘House For Life’. I want our project to start a conversation in our building industries so they look to the future, think of how they would like to live when they are older, or their parents or grandparents. This is what drove me to start this journey.

I hope you enjoy reading the small stories to come from my colleagues which will give you an insight into the type of people donating their time to make a difference to the lives of the elder generations and our generation in the future.