Building A Sustainable Home From Scratch, With Al + Imo Roberts

Building A Sustainable Home From Scratch, With Al + Imo Roberts

Author: The Design Files October 19, 2023 Duration: 52:42

When furniture makers Al and Imogen Roberts found themselves priced out of Torquay’s real estate market, they decided to buy a block of land and build their sustainable dream home. 

Al is a former carpenter and Imo is a designer with a background in digital marketing, and it’s taken them almost three years to create their timber-lined family home from the ground up! They reveal the challenges of this ambitious project, the hidden costs that come with new builds, and why they decided to start from scratch rather than renovate. 

See their (almost) finished home in the full story here, and follow them on Instagram at @al_and_imo or @the_good_day_house for more updates. 

Follow us at @thedesignfiles and subscribe to our weekly newsletter so you don’t miss a thing. Thank you so much for listening! 


Every other week, The Design Files Talks opens up a conversation that feels like pulling up a chair in a creative studio. Lucy Feagins, founder of Australia's long-running design platform, sits down with the country's most thoughtful makers, designers, and artists. These aren't just surface-level chats; they delve into the real, often messy, process behind creating a beautiful and considered life. You'll hear architects explain the emotional weight of a renovation, gardeners discuss the philosophy behind their plots, and furniture makers unpack the journey toward sustainable practice. It’s a podcast that connects the dots between aesthetics and everyday living, exploring how intention shapes our homes, our leisure, and our environment. The discussions are grounded, practical, and rich with the kind of insights that come from over a decade of deep engagement with the design community. For anyone curious about the stories behind the spaces we inhabit and the objects we live with, this series offers a genuine and inspiring listen.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 83

The Design Files Talks
Podcast Episodes
Restoring A Historic Melbourne Mansion, With Julie + Vincent Fodera [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:32
In our final episode for 2023, we speak with lawyers-turned-renovators Julie and Vincent Fodera who are restoring one of Melbourne's oldest mansions, a historic homestead in Caulfield known as Heatherbrae. The private pr…
The Highs + Lows Of Renovating A Beach Shack, With Lucy And Gordy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:22
We're back with more renovating stories, and today's episode is all about how TDF Talks host Lucy Feagins and her husband Gordy Johnson transformed their family's Blairgowrie beach shack! Using Lucy's project management…
The Future Of Sustainable Housing, With Architect Jeremy McLeod [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:41
We kick off our new mini-series on sustainability with this episode featuring Jeremy McLeod, founder of Breathe Architecture and one of the driving forces behind Nightingale Housing! He joins Lucy to speak about Australi…
Restoring A Heritage Homestead, With Josh and Jenna Densten [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:13
In the final episode of our four-part renovating series, serial renovators and The Block favourites Josh and Jenna Densten talk about the incredible transformation of their 1800s heritage homestead in regional Victoria!…