Robin Boyd Foundation presents ‘Designing a family home’

In the ’50s and ’60s, the standard home was designed for the basics: sleeping, eating and washing, with a single communal space for relaxing after work. During the ’70s and ’80s, these communal spaces broke up into formal lounge rooms and informal family rooms, creating separate places for parents and children, board games and solo study. And this year’s Australian Institute of Architects’ awards show how, in 2015, family homes are adapting for modern life: discrete yet connected spaces allow us to work from home, project films onto entire walls, withdraw with a good book, or dine and chat with family and friends.

So what does the ever-evolving concept of ‘family’ mean for the design of the family home? How do you restore a compact Victorian weatherboard to accommodate a family of four—or more? Presented by the Robin Boyd Foundation, this after-work conversation will see Rosa Coy (of Coy Yiontis Architects) and Mel Bright (of MAKE Architecture) talk about their approaches to designing modern homes. Drawing on examples from their practices’ work—such as Coy Yiontis’s House 3 and MAKE’s Local House—the architects will explain the research and thinking that goes into irregular floor plans, flexible bungalows and adaptable places for play.