As Coco Chanel once famously said, “Fashion fades, only style remains the same”.

Many design trends of the moment come and go in a matter of months, but there are those which have stood the test of time to define the last decade. They can be fleeting memories or moments that get stuck forever in a beautiful time-lapse. The 2010s have been a bag of licorice allsorts for Western Australia in a number of ways. There was the mining boom and a mining bust, soaring housing prices and plummeting house prices, a change of government and new policy reforms.

Western Australia’s residential building industry has been influenced by many of these changes and has gone through its own transformation. The way people live in their homes is constantly evolving and builders continue to push the envelope in design and construction methods.

Historically, most of the Western Australian residences have been built with double bricklayers, but locals are now more open to using new construction methods, according to Summit New Homes Design Manager Peter Wilkinson. Humphrey Homes Interior Designer Joie Stevenson said Western Australians were more conscious of their environmental footprint and efficiency had become a priority.

“The acceptance for steel-framed housing has grown in WA, with people realizing the design features and cost-effective advantages steel offers when building or renovating,” he said.

“Using steel framing has allowed the business to push the envelope in home design, with innovative and non-conventional roof lines, architectural features and long spans.”

“We have clients who want to use raw, organic materials over mass-produced materials and recycling is a huge influence,” she said.

“A Mosman Park home completed recently had around 6000 bricks cleaned by hand and then used to build a series of 3.5m high walls, as well as around an above-ground pool and entrance pathway. Solar panels and a Tesla car charging station were also installed.”

As Perth land sizes keep shrinking into the new decade, builders and homeowners have put more consideration into how they can maximize space and plan for the future in order to raise families. Mr. Wilkinson said we could expect to see technology and building methods evolve in the next decade, with pre-fabricated homes built off-site possibly becoming the new norm in everyday society. In a transitional world, prices will rise and fall as will demand, this is a constant reminder that you are never safe in one place forever.