Construction Diary: How an Austin Architect Rebuilt Her Brick House for Three Generations of Family
When a mid-project pivot suddenly added her parents to the household, Bhavani Singal adapted the plan for both aging in place and raising two growing boys.
When a mid-project pivot suddenly added her parents to the household, Bhavani Singal adapted the plan for both aging in place and raising two growing boys.
Like many couples with a growing family, Bhavani Singal and her husband found that with the birth of their second child, they suddenly needed more space. "It was right about that time that Covid-19 was becoming a pandemic," says Bhavani, founder of Austin-based architecture firm Workshop No. 5. "Friends of ours, five minutes from our home, were going to put their house on the market, and it was one of those things that just kept hitting me."
Bhavani and her husband went to look at the house—a modest, one-story brick residence nestled in between several large, heritage oak trees—and saw potential. "They were so generous," Bhavani says of their friends. "They could have gotten more money for the land," but they liked the idea of people they were close to stewarding the house.
In Austin, architect Bhavani Singal redesigned an existing house, with an addition, to accommodate her multigenerational family: her and her husband, their two boys, her parents, and a dog named Lollipop. The public parts of the home (and her parents’ suite) are in the original footprint, while she, her husband, and their boys have rooms in the two-story addition.
Photo by Robert Gomez
After closing on the property, Bhavani drew up plans to adapt it into a 3,500-square-foot home for her family of four, which includes two sons, ages 9 and 11, plus their pit bull mix, Lollipop. As the pandemic picked up, her parents and a sibling in India all contracted the virus. Luckily, they recovered, but the scare prompted Bhavani and her siblings in the United States to move their parents to Austin, where they announced they had chosen to live with the architect and her family. "We were like, okay, good to know," Bhavani says with a laugh. "And we quickly added another thousand square feet!"
A covered walkway connects the main house (at left) with an ADU. The smaller structure was initially offered to Bhavani’s parents, but they opted to live under the same roof as the rest of the family.
Photo by Robert Gomez
A utilitarian entryway featuring built-in birch cabinetry is softened with an earthenware vase and an ornate mirror. White oak flooring runs throughout the home.
Photo by Robert Gomez
See the full story on Dwell.com: Construction Diary: How an Austin Architect Rebuilt Her Brick House for Three Generations of Family
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