Family Affair

A multi-generation home combines the benefits of living side by side with the luxury of separate spaces family members can retreat to.

- Kylie Jackes

It’s not every day architect Glenn Bliesner gets a brief to design two houses under one roof, with an entertaining area large enough to accommodate 50 or so for regular family dinners. Yet, that’s exactly what Brisbane couple Mohammed and Fatema wanted. “In our culture, it’s traditional for a son to look after his parents, so when Fatema and I began planning to start our own family, we approached Glenn to build a dream home which was large enough for us all to live,” explains Mohammed.

Four years later the house has been built and the family has grown with the arrival of sons Yusuf, two, and little Esa, just three months old. “It just works so well!” says Fatema of the clever connection to Mohammed’s parents Farida and Ebrahim’s home. “After breakfast Yusuf might pop over to his grandparents for a little play before we go out, but he’ll knock on their door. From the beginning it’s always felt like two separate houses, but it’s comforting to know we’re so close.”