Please seeking advice/reviews (and any warnings) for an architect who offers reconfiguration/renovation consult services.

Ideally, a person who understands multigenerational household needs, balanced harmony of building design, and Australian building standards.

I’m happy to work fully online, or in person with the architect.

I live in a 9yr old multigenerational double-story home (approx 300sqm) with my parents in suburban Brisbane. We need full separation of living spaces for the sake of household -sanity-.

Right now, my partner and I cannot envisage living together with my folks, due to lack of privacy and autonomous living. But a reconfigure could give us the much needed separation for two adult couples.

I’m age 40s (no kids), my parents age early 70s. We all three work fulltime, but my folks need to retire in approx 4-5yr.

The plan is that I’ll individually take on the remainder of mortgage in approximately 5yr.

My current income will support this strategy and I’m happy with this plan; here’s to ’life goals’ of an immigrant.

The Brisbane market is prohibitive with the psychotic cost of purchasing two other homes, but we want to remain in Brisbane. We all love our suburb and don’t really want to move, as we do want the benefits of close habitation with my folks aging. I also generally like family company (just not soooo enmeshed in how we live right now!!!).

The idea of selling and my parents re-purchasing is tough to envisage financially (they will never qualify for mortgage), so I’d have to choose between my individualist futures or peace of mind that my folks are secure and not renting on pension.

My folks understandably don’t want retirement village living as they’re independent. We don’t want the distance of regional Qld living (where we might maybe possibly be able to afford some kind of very modest repurchase).

Please, I’m not seeking judgement of my unusual life choices, or ”just move out because you’re clearly a dank, grotty, basement-dwelling, sponge of a woman-child”…

I pay into all expenses per my 35% ownership of property. I very much do not take advantage of my folks. I cook, clean, and collaborate as an adult should, but we need better separation so that our relationship improves and I achieve total separate living desired as a ’normal’ Australian adult.

A final justification (as I honestly do feel judged by society): We’re immigrants and made the choice to buy together for both the much-hoped benefits of multigen living, and so that we could afford the Aussie property market.

Average house prices in Brisbane were already circa $475k-$550k when we built, and we all wanted to live in reasonable access to the CBD where our jobs are.

We got very very lucky to find a house-land package in a middle-ring suburb and the 50min public transport commute to work is already an investment of physical energies. Doing a two-hour drive to work by living regional Qld would be a big downgrade to quality of life.

Finally, we all knew that my parents aging and my own chronic health challenges meant we wanted to be proximate to health services that are more available by living in Brisbane.

Thank you in advance for recommendations (and any warnings); even more so if you’ve made it to the bottom of this silly-long post!