Veil + Co. House

The clients had previously engaged Kirsten Johnstone Architecture in Melbourne prior to the family’s return to Queensland. This new home needed to accommodate grandparents or even Airbnb guests while also providing adaptable long term family living with work-from-home requirements for both parents. Visual and acoustic privacy required particular attention to suit a multigenerational or shared accommodation arrangement with the clients’ young family. Significant consideration was given to the site’s Queensland context: the intense solar and wet weather conditions informed the home’s layout and thermal performance, as well as salt-laden coastal winds influencing the selection of construction materials.

The project exemplifies flexible and adaptable contemporary co-living in a form that is responsive and sensitive to its coastal and subtropical environment. Three built volumes comprising a secondary dwelling, garage and a main dwelling set within the site are connected by a central covered walkway “street” stretching from street access to the main residence. The deceptively simple-looking two storey form of the main dwelling reinterprets traditional Queenslander style housing, the offset screen offering a multitude of qualities; vertical aluminium battens veil the home with shade, alleviates overlooking concerns and maximises ventilation, while creating visually stunning shadow play throughout the day.

Veil + Co. House demonstrates an alternative housing configuration on a quintessential suburban allotment, addressing current issues in the Australian housing market including ageing-in-place and housing affordability by supporting multi-generational living; potential to accommodate tourists to the growing Currimundi area with an optional secondary revenue stream; supporting work-from-home opportunities; flexible and adaptable division of spaces to suit changing needs; visual sightlines for supervising children. The resulting residence provides a low maintenance yet aesthetically holistic architecture that responds to its context, enhancing everyday moments with beautiful shadows and thermal comfort, designed to be durable and adaptable for the long term.

The project exemplifies flexible contemporary co-living in a form that is responsive and sensitive to its coastal environment. Its architectural composition, with staggered siting, lineal sequencing and tectonics, reinterprets the traditional Queensland housing vernacular of a standalone street-facing dwelling usually detached from the ground level. The selection of weatherboard and salt-resistant aluminium claddings are uncomplicated, durable and affordable. The separation of built forms creates opportunity for interactive co-living and connection across the site’s indoor and outdoor areas. The central location of the freshwater pool supports evaporative cooling to the adjoining built spaces with an invitation to socially engage communally and ensures adult oversight of young children. Thermal, visual and experiential benefits are created with transparent screens, multiple sliding wall panels and clever siting opportunities like the east facing yard area suitable for sunny mornings while providing shady outdoor areas in the afternoon. Importantly, Veil + Co. House presents a new subtropical solution for multigenerational co-living and ageing in place, significant to the current Australian housing climate. The secondary dwelling can be used for a separate home office-based business, a second income stream via short term tourist rental or independent housing for aging parents or adult children.