Gen Y Housing

David Barr Architects

The Gen Y Demonstration Housing project, located in Western Australia’s suburban White Gum Valley, is a practical demonstration of sustainable, flexible and affordable housing that suits 21st century lifestyles. With a design strategy of ‘small and raw’ units that are well located and well-priced, the project attempts to reconceptualise what is achievable when community, sustainability and cost are prioritised equally.

The project features three, single bedroom apartments within a compact two-storey footprint on a small 250 square metre suburban block. Increased density is not at the expense of liveability for inhabitants and neighbours – each apartment has private and communal external areas, clever storage, generous ceiling heights and high sustainability credentials. While small, the apartments reflect changing Australian demographics and a future in which single person households make up the fastest growing household type.