Building for modern life

The impact of our changing lifestyles has a dramatic effect on the space we want to live in and what we want developers to build. The rising number of single or childless people (about a third of all UK households) demands smaller, central units.

Affluent City workers want adventurous apartments and loft spaces near their offices. Homeworkers need "solo" home offices, and those who retire early and move abroad prefer lock-up-and-leave gated apartments near airports as British bases.

Family homes often have to accommodate two sets of stepchildren. Architecture has a social responsibility. And it is important to get it right and to raise buyer awareness, so they consider more deeply what they need.

The demise of the traditional nuclear family and the rising divorce rate is probably pushing most persistently for the flexible architecture that can keep a new extended family in a harmonious home long term. Because, with high house prices, even when the children graduate they are likely to come back home to live.

Penny Babb, editor of the Government's 2003 social trends survey, says: "We are in the midst of one of the most striking demographic shifts for generations."

According to property analyst DTZ, the size of the average detached house in the Home Counties has jumped 25 per cent during the past decade, from 1,400sq ft to 1,750sq ft. The Victorian idea of the house as a box, with rigidly-defined rooms for sleeping, eating and relaxing, is not compatible with how we live now.

Developers are having to think more creatively about how space is used and the future needs of occupiers. Rows soon erupt over one stepchild having a room smaller than another's.

Families need versatile space and privacy. A stepdaughter is not going to have the same easy relationship with her stepfather, nor a stepson with his stepmother. There need to be areas of retreat such as bonus rooms in the attic, conservatories for year-round use, open-plan interiors for informal entertaining and relaxation, multi-use basements and self-contained bedrooms and home-working suites where parents and children can chill out.

Sound-proofed rooms are ideal for noisy teenagers.

David Wilson Homes has been investigating family lifestyles and has come up with a new concept house that will be rolled out across the Home Counties next year. The developer talks about creating homes with "nests", private places where family members can retreat. Other developers are reintroducing four-storey house designs, allocating a floor to each pairing group, ie the first floor to parents with a luxurious wet room, dressing room, office and balcony space, and a top floor with equal-sized rooms divided by a shared bathroom for teenagers, with improved sound insulation and room-to-room computer cabling.

At Kew Riverside, £ 1 million- plus houses come with separate studio accommodation (324sq ft) above a detached garage at the bottom of the rear garden. The self-contained annexe is reached via a spiral staircase and is connected to all mains services. St James, the developer, offers five bespoke options for the annexe: a fully-fitted office, games room, home cinema, studio apartment or den. For further details, call Antony Roberts (020 8878 9140).