Reimagining the path to an architecturally designed home

For many Australians, the idea of building a healthy, architecturally designed home stays permanently on the bucket list. High-performance homes are often associated with bespoke design, lengthy processes and premium budgets, placing them beyond the reach of many families.

But Roger Borland believes that doesn't have to be the case. The founder of Borland Architecture has spent years designing homes that prioritise longevity, energy performance and wellbeing, but he increasingly found himself having the same conversation with prospective clients.

"I was speaking to a lot of people who understood the value of a better home, but found the traditional path too uncertain, too slow or too difficult to navigate," he says. "It made me start asking how we could make that type of building available to a much wider audience."

The result is Stllhaus, a precision-designed home system developed by Borland Architecture. Rather than replacing bespoke architecture, it reimagines how architect-designed homes can be created, manufactured and delivered, improving cost certainty and simplifying the building process while preserving architectural intent and performance.

At the centre of Stllhaus is a simple idea Borland describes as the three 100s: built in 100 days, built to last 100 years, and built to support healthy living beyond 100. The ambition is to create homes that are faster to deliver, more enduring in their construction, and better aligned with the long-term health and wellbeing of the people who live in them.

The project has been more than three years in development and reflects many of the principles that underpin Borland Architecture's work, from healthy indoor environments to long-term performance and flexibility. Rather than creating a single home, Borland has developed a system that simplifies everything from briefing and site suitability through to construction.

Over time, Borland sees the system becoming increasingly intelligent, with digital tools helping assess planning controls, orientation and site constraints before guiding clients toward the most suitable home. Clients can then select from carefully resolved home designs, with finishes, facade treatments and selected options tailored within a defined architectural framework.

"The idea is that people can choose a home that is right for them without having to rebuild the brief from first principles every time," Borland explains. "Behind the scenes, the system is ensuring every decision still aligns with the architectural and performance principles we've built into it."

Today, that process remains more traditional, with Borland Architecture assessing each site before recommending one of eight base models. But the thinking behind the homes has already been completely reimagined.

The design process started by analysing where time, money and complexity typically accumulate during construction.

"We reverse-engineered the whole process," Borland says.

Structure became the first focus. Every home was designed to use material as efficiently as possible, stacking structural elements to eliminate unnecessary cost. Services were consolidated into central spines that simplify plumbing, electrical and ventilation systems.

Finally, off-site manufacture removes much of the uncertainty associated with building on site. Constructed inside a factory under controlled conditions, each home benefits from a higher level of control and precision than conventional site construction before being transported to site for rapid assembly.

"The entire external structure can be erected in around four days," Borland says. "By the end of week two, the building is weather-tight and airtight."

Speed, however, is only one part of the equation.

Each Stllhaus is designed to feel stable, healthy and comfortable through the seasons. Heat recovery ventilation helps maintain fresh filtered air, airtight construction reduces uncontrolled leakage, and continuous insulation and high-performance windows support steadier internal temperatures, while careful moisture management helps protect both the home and the people living in it.

Together, those systems create homes that are healthier, quieter and significantly more energy efficient than conventional construction.

For Borland, it’s about more than reducing power bills.

"We're trying to create homes that support people's health over the long term," he says. "Consistent temperatures, clean filtered air and well-managed moisture all have a huge impact on how people live every day."

The first Stllhaus project emerged unexpectedly. Originally, the client approached Borland Architecture hoping to renovate an existing home to high-performance standards. After extensive investigation, it became clear that achieving the brief would be prohibitively expensive. Instead, Borland introduced an early Stllhaus concept already under development.

"The client saw the two-storey prototype and asked if they could become our first project," he recalls.

That home is now under construction, with a healthy pipeline of new projects on the horizon.

Looking further ahead, Borland sees Stllhaus as only one part of a much larger ambition. His custom architectural projects will continue to deliver highly tailored homes, while the Stllhaus system has the potential to produce hundreds each year. Alongside that sits his educational work, including his book Beyond the Floor Plan, which encourages homeowners and designers alike to think differently about healthy, future-focused housing.

"I'd love to help a million people live in a better home," he says. "Architecture shouldn't only improve the lives of a handful of clients. It should have the ability to improve the way lots of people live."

For Borland, Stllhaus is an attempt to distil decades of architectural thinking into a smarter, simpler system, reducing stress, shortening construction time and giving more people access to homes designed to perform for generations.

It’s a sentiment shared by ArchiPro, which brings together the country's best projects, products and professionals in one place so more homeowners can move from dreaming of an architecturally designed home to building it. Whether you're an architect specifying materials, a homeowner planning a renovation, ArchiPro connects you with trusted suppliers and professionals to bring your dream home to life.