Smart Home Technology and Future House Design Ideas and Photos

The automation that genuinely improves daily life — lighting scenes, climate, shading, irrigation, security and solar, wired to last twenty years. A genuinely smart house is not the one with the most devices, it is the one you never have to think about. The systems worth automating are the ones you would otherwise adjust several times a day: lighting, heating and cooling, external shading, irrigation, pool equipment, hot water and energy. Everything else is a gadget, and gadgets age badly while good infrastructure lasts decades. Wire it properly and the rest becomes easy. Structured cabling to every screen and access point, a small ventilated comms cabinet, hardwired sensors and switches on the circuits that matter, and a spare conduit to the garden, garage and studio. Wireless is a convenience layer over a wired backbone, not a substitute for it. This costs very little during construction and is prohibitive afterwards, which is why it belongs in the earliest drawings. Then automate around the sun rather than the clock. External blinds and louvres that close on the west in the afternoon do more for comfort than any air conditioner setting. Lighting scenes tied to sunset, irrigation tied to soil moisture and weather...

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Pergola Designs

Outdoor Pergola and Patio Design with Rough-Sawn Hardwood Rafters and Lounge Setting, Firepit

Outdoor Pergola and Patio Design with Rough-Sawn Hardwood Rafters, Rope Detailing and Terracotta Paving, Bougainvillea Colour and Soft Grass Borders. this image created by www.homedesign-photos.com — Outdoor Pergola and Patio Design with Rough-Sawn Hardwood Rafters, Rope Detailing and Terracotta Paving, Bougainvillea Colour and Soft Grass Borders, featuring a Lounge Setting, Firepit and All-Weather Rug Zone, complemented by Durable Weatherproof Finishes and Low-Maintenance Detailing

G2 Top is part of our Pergola Designs collection — one of 90 large-format widescreen concept visuals in this section. It is presented here at full size so you can study the layout, the planting, the surfaces and the way light falls across the design before you commit to building anything on your own block.

Louvred, timber, wisteria-clad and resort pergolas, patios and shade structures. Use this concept as a starting point: note the proportions between built form and greenery, where shade and shelter sit, how paths and paved areas move people through the space, and which materials repeat to hold the whole scheme together.

Every visual on this site is a design idea created for Home Design Photos. Browse the rest of the Pergola Designs collection, or open the complete image catalogue to see every home, garden, pool, pergola, furniture, lighting and beach house concept in one place.

← Louvred Roof Patio Design with Blackbutt Decking and Adjoining Sun Deck, Bar Bench Outdoor Pergola and Patio Design with Rough-Sawn Hardwood Rafters and Lounge Setting, Firepit →

More Pergola Designs concepts

Resort Cabana and Shade Structure Design with Powder-Coated Aluminium Louvres and Long Dining Table,

Resort Cabana and Shade Structure Design with Powder-Coated Aluminium Louvres, Glass Screens and Slim Posts, Espaliered Citrus, Herb Planters and Trailing Greenery, featuring a Long Dining Table, Outdoor Kitchen and Warm Festoon Lighting, balanced by Clean Sightlines, Shaded Retreats

Vine-Clad Garden Pergola Design with Chunky Oregon Beams, Charcoal Steel Brackets and Ceiling Fans, Tropical Foliage Screening and Deep Green. this image created by www.homedesign-photos.com

Vine-Clad Garden Pergola Design with Chunky Oregon Beams and Poolside Lounge Zone and Sheltered

Vine-Clad Garden Pergola Design with Chunky Oregon Beams, Charcoal Steel Brackets and Ceiling Fans, Tropical Foliage Screening and Deep Green Understorey, featuring a Poolside Lounge Zone and Sheltered Alfresco Dining Area, framed by Generous Paved Terraces and Warm Ambient

Resort Cabana and Shade Structure Design with Powder-Coated Aluminium Louvres and Long Dining Table,

Vine-Clad Garden Pergola Design with Chunky Oregon Beams and Poolside Lounge Zone and Sheltered

Resort Cabana and Shade Structure Design with Powder-Coated Aluminium Louvres and Long Dining Table,

Louvred Roof Patio Design with Blackbutt Decking, Matte Black Framing and Woven Cane Shades, Wisteria and Ornamental Grape Trained Overhead. this image created by www.homedesign-photos.com

Louvred Roof Patio Design with Blackbutt Decking and Adjoining Sun Deck, Bar Bench

Louvred Roof Patio Design with Blackbutt Decking, Matte Black Framing and Woven Cane Shades, Wisteria and Ornamental Grape Trained Overhead, featuring an Adjoining Sun Deck, Bar Bench and Built-In Bench Seating, finished with Sculptural Feature Planting and Inviting Outdoor

Complete image catalogue

Off Grid Tiny Home and Solar Cabin Design Ideas and Photos

Solar arrays, batteries, water tanks, composting systems and the sizing calculations behind a cabin that runs without any connection at all.

Going off grid is an engineering exercise before it is a lifestyle. Every appliance in the cabin has a daily energy figure, every occupant has a daily water figure, and the system must cover both through the worst week of the year rather than the average one. Cabins that fail do so because they were sized on optimism: a small array, a small battery and a hope that winter would be sunny.

Start with the load. Lighting, fridge, pumps, laptops, cooking and hot water, listed with hours of use, gives a daily kilowatt hour total. Size the array to generate that in mid winter, not mid summer, and size the battery for two to three days of autonomy so a cloudy stretch is uneventful. Choosing gas or wood for cooking and heating, and solar or heat pump for hot water, dramatically reduces the electrical system required.

Water follows the same logic. Roof area times local rainfall gives annual harvest, and tank capacity should cover the longest dry spell rather than the average month. Add first flush diverters, a sediment and carbon filter, ultraviolet treatment for drinking, and a pressure pump with an accumulator. Greywater to a mulch pit or reed bed, and a composting or worm system for waste, means no sewer connection is needed at all.

Tiny Homes design ideas photo from the Off Grid Tiny Home and Solar Cabin Design Ideas and Photos feature. this image created by www.homedesign-photos.com

The building itself is the cheapest system available. Heavy insulation, airtight construction, double glazing, deep eaves, a light roof and cross ventilation reduce heating and cooling loads so far that everything else shrinks. Site the cabin for winter sun and summer breeze, orient the array without shading, keep the plant room accessible, and monitor everything. Done properly, an off grid cabin is quieter, cheaper to run and more comfortable than most connected houses.

House Design Photos is a HUGE Library Gallery and Directory of Home Design Photos

Smart Home Technology and Future House Design Ideas and Photos

Outdoor Pergola and Patio Design with Rough-Sawn Hardwood Rafters and Lounge Setting, Firepit

More Pergola Designs concepts

Off Grid Tiny Home and Solar Cabin Design Ideas and Photos