Hi MTR
Yes we are highly likely to build but we do have to wait a bit before making a firm commitment for a number of reasons so there is no rush.
Our investigations on design options have been revealing. Some project builders have drafted some plans for us and they have been frankly woeful. I only know enough about solar passive and energy efficient design to be dangerous but it would be fair to say these guys didn't have a clue about even the basics and the amount of wasted space (corridors etc) was massive. It's clear we are going to have to put some effort into the design - given we hope this will be our home base for the next 50+ years it's probably worth taking that effort.
We have seen the full spectrum of quotes from builders, building designers, architects and brokers. This has thrown up lots of good options for this - eg some excellent building designers and Solar Dwellings (as Westminster mentioned in this thread), whose knowledge of solar / energy efficiency performance issues walks all over any energy rating model out there. Deciding among them is very much a first world problem!
At this stage we are probably favouring a particular minimalist architect who provides the full range of architect / landscape / interior design (including designing / specifying the built in furniture / window treatments etc) / construction admin services, etc with a focus on passive solar and energy efficiency. He has done some stuff we really like - internal face brick walls, unpolished (raw) concrete floors, steel stairs, flexible use of space, lots of day lighting, universal access, etc etc.
The way he has brought it together at a reasonable construction cost in the past has been pretty impressive - this way we would get something that is durable, looks different to a project home and should have more of an enduring attraction, is thermally comfortable all year around without a/c (we are on the coast) and wouldn't cost much more apart from the things we want to add to it - like the right glazing upgrades.
We started this process thinking that architects weren't for us and some of them have certainly confirmed our initial bias. However, others have been very attractive. When you think project home salespeople typically get around 4% commission on every home they sell, then a keen up and coming architect who does customised initial and detailed designs, construction drawings, approvals, tendering across multiple builders and construction admin for a 6-7% lump sum fixed price starts to look pretty attractive. Of course there are the bigger established names who want 12-15% for the same service so it's a case of buyer beware, just like everything else.
