We’re often asked to prepare schemes to facilitate members of the family to come and live alongside the clients. This request isn’t all that unusual, the so-called “Granny Annex” is quite common. Where a change has occurred is in who comes to stay, rather than the Granny coming to stay, it could be a son/daughter or another relative. Of course, this had been driven by the realisation that some youngsters can’t afford to buy their own house (or even rent in some cases), and sadly, the realisation that they’ll never be able to afford their own house has triggered an amalgamation of resources.
For this to work successfully, the layout, splitting of accommodation and access has to be carefully planned so that each part of the house gets the accommodation needed to facilitate true independence, this all has to be done to some sort of budget. Some of the “granny annexes” that we’ve worked on are truly grand affairs, and others are very small, it depends on the resources available.
I must say, it’s touching to see the sacrifice some parents make to see an economic roof over the heads of their sons and daughters, or even grandchildren. In some cases, a disabled parent or relative is involved and part of their game plan is to be their carer too. As a designer of spaces, if we know that the accommodation is for a disabled person then clearly we have to take that into account, especially in bathrooms and kitchens where space is needed for manoeuvring.
If you have such a project in mind, please get in touch.
Written by Tony Keller – Building Tectonics.