The Live Work Share House was built on a vacant 606 square metre site in a small township on the outskirts of Brisbane that had two street frontages. It includes a 180 square metre, five bedroom house (one bedroom of which can be used as an overflow space for the office), 40 square metre Commercial Office Space for 7 plus people (depending if the overflow room is used), plus a 40 square metre, one and a half bedroom, self-contained flat with independent access.

The house was envisaged as a prototype for flexible and adaptable housing that also could accommodate an office space and self-contained share or rental space in addition to a standard house, all on a standard medium sized parcel of land. Such a housing typology supports sensitive densification of the suburbs and expands options for housing and work accommodation within them. By embedding flexibility of use within the design, long term relevance of the project is more likely, thereby deriving maximum long term use of its embodied energy. (ie. the design could accommodate one household or three / one work space or three – all with independent access and amenities).

The project was envisaged as a positive contributor to the community with porous activated street edges and street verge vegetable gardens. The materials and form respond to the timber and tin ‘rural’ township context but with a tropical sensibility and Asian influence. With integrated large and micro courtyard gardens and vine trellises and pergolas, the idea is that the building will be completed by the greenery.

Photography by Mindi Cooke.

Dissections:
Lighting: Caribou. Finishes: Zincalume. Fittings & Fixtures: Rogerseller.