Bluefield Housing

urban infill housing research by Damian Madigan

What is Bluefield Housing?

‘Bluefield Housing’ is both a land definition and an accompanying urban infill housing model, each created by Damian Madigan as an extension to the widely-understood definitions of Greenfield, Brownfield and Greyfield Housing. It is co-located housing that integrates new additions with existing homes, looks and feels like single-family housing, but operates financially and legally like a small group of units.
An aerial view of a Bluefield Housing neighbourhood in Adelaide, South Australia.

“Bluefield” housing uses the existing fabric of widespread single-lot housing to create more resilient, sustainable and inclusive dwellings within our suburbs, where most people live.

– Guy Luscombe, Architecture Australia, Sept/Oct 2021

An addition to greenfield, brownfield, and greyfield definitions

In the greenfields and brownfields, new suburbs and housing estates are created on previously non-residential land. Meanwhile, the greyfields are existing ageing suburbs where homes are replaced with higher density housing forms with little resident push-back. This is because the existing housing is usually seen to be underperforming functionally, environmentally, and aesthetically. Together, the green-, brown-, and greyfields seek to create a mix of homes that suit a variety of occupant profiles and sit at different size and price points to suit our changing demographics.

New houses for new times

We know that across many suburbanised countries the average number of people living in each house is decreasing, . . .

Five pie charts by Damian Madigan comparing household sizes today with household sizes in nineteen-sixty to nineteen-sixty-one. The charts show that the average number of people living in each dwelling has reduced from three-point-six to two-point-five in Australia, from three-point-six to two-point-seven in New Zealand, from three-point-one to two-point-four in the United Kingdom, from three-point-three to two-point-five in the United States, and from three-point-nine to two-point-four in Canada.

. . . that the number of people living alone is on the rise, . . .

Five pie charts by Damian Madigan comparing the percentage of one-person households today to those of nineteen-sixty to nineteen-sixty-one. The charts show that the percentage of households with only one person living in them has increased from ten to twenty-six percent in Australia, from eleven to twenty-four percent in New Zealand, from eleven to twenty-eight percent in the United Kingdom, from thirteen to twenty-eight percent in the United States, and from nine to twenty-nine percent in Canada.

. . . and that we’re living longer, with many of us living healthy lives in older age and remaining in our own homes.

Ten pie charts by Damian Madigan comparing the percentages of people aged sixty-five-plus and eight-plus today to those of nineteen-sixty. The charts show that the percentage of the population aged sixty-five-plus has increased from nine to sixteen percent in Australia and New Zealand, from twelve to nineteen percent in the United Kingdom, from nine to seventeen percent in the United States, and from eight to eighteen percent in Canada. The percentage of the population aged eighty-plus has increased from one to four percent in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Canada, and from two to five percent in the United Kingdom.

Whether we live alone or with others, the single-family home still works well for many of us. But for some, it is no longer a good fit or is simply too expensive to purchase or rent. What is clear is that all of our suburbs need to offer a variety of housing, and this includes our older established suburbs: the bluefields.

Bluefield suburbs – a definition

The bluefields are defined as older suburbs where more diverse housing forms are needed, but change can be difficult to achieve. They are suburbs where heritage protections can be weaponised against change, and where character is eroded or lost through incremental knock-down-rebuild or ‘KDR’ development that changes both the architectural and landscape character of a neighbourhood as entire lots are cleared.

But significantly, the bluefields are also places filled with more subtle change that nevertheless can radically transform a neighbourhood. These can be described as commonly accepted anomalies: alterations and additions made by owners to create add-ons for cars, kitchens, bathrooms, living spaces, and extra rooms.

A diagram by Damian Madigan showing two houses. The house on the left is a common early Australian cottage. The house on the right is the same cottage but with raised fences, an extruded verandah for car parking, a side pod addition, and rear additions.

Often these changes occur with little push-back from neighbours or planning authorities, and as a society we accept the right for people to tailor their housing to their needs.

Bluefield housing harnesses this commonly accepted pattern of development to create additional and more diverse housing, rather than just larger single family homes. It is housing designed to achieve density increases in older suburbs while incentivising owners to retain and work with their existing homes and landscape. Bluefield housing is therefore both pro-development and protectionist. It builds the same amount of ‘stuff’ as single-family housing, but reconfigured to achieve smaller homes. It provides a way of looking at suburban heritage, character, landscape, and infill differently.

A co-location model using alterations and additions

The key to creating a bluefield housing development is to use alterations and additions to co-locate new homes on the same lot as an existing home and to design the development holistically around a shared garden. Although each dwelling is self-contained and independent, all homes share the lot equally, enabling the retention of trees and the creation of a high-amenity garden that helps create a sense of community. Like a unit development, Community Land Titling and tailored By-laws allow the residents to determine how their development operates, and provide the governance structure necessary to ensure the development retains its desired intent over time. And being community titled, each house can be financed, bought, sold, and rented to help add to the existing suburban housing mix.

The bluefield housing model diagrammed as an extension of the missing middle housing spectrum, sitting between missing middle housing and single-family homes.

The bluefield housing co-location model was first developed in Damian’s Alternative Infill PhD thesis and developed in follow-on design research projects. ‘Bluefield Housing’ as a definition was first described in Damian’s shortlisted design competition entry for the AA Prize for Unbuilt Work 2021.

A land definition and planning regulations for this new form of co-located housing are currently being written for South Australia, with public consultation scheduled for 2024.

This, and other aspects of the model are covered in the book Bluefield Housing as Alternative Infill for the Suburbs (Routledge, 2024), the eBook of which is available for free download.

A table of text showing the different components of the bluefield housing model as compared with other housing types such as land division, units, accessory dwelling units, junior accessory dwelling units, and second suites.
A three-dimensional diagram of a Bluefield Housing scheme, showing three single-storey houses on a rectangular lot. A shared carport is coloured blue. A common garden on the site is coloured green. Labels describe the dwelling density of the scheme, the lot dimensions, the number of rooms in each dwelling, and elements such as drying areas, sheds, rubbish bin areas, and a shared garden.
Two site plans describing a Bluefield Housing scheme. Each site plan shows the target site and its immediate neighbours to the sides and back. The site plan on the left shows the existing house, additions, and trees. The site plan on the right shows the bluefield design, with the retained elements of the existing house, the new additions, and retained and new trees. Each plan is labelled to describe the lot’s site area, the number of houses on the lot, the number of car parking spaces, the dwelling densities, and the percentage of site cover.
A floor plan describing a Bluefield Housing scheme, showing three houses on a rectangular corner lot. All existing walls are coloured grey, and all new walls are coloured blue. The landscape on the lot is coloured green. The dwellings and garden are drawn as furnished plans to demonstrate how they are configured and used. Labels describe the lot dimensions, street arrangement, the configuration of the dwellings, and the arrangement of the garden and car parking.
An aerial view of a bluefield housing development on a corner lot. On the left is the roof of the original house. In the centre is a new dwelling created as an addition at the back of the old house. On the right is a detached backyard home. In the middle of the lot is a large shared garden with trees, lawn, paving, and a timber deck.
An aerial view of a bluefield housing development. Two houses are seen from above, looking from the roof of a third house. The house in the background is an older red brick dwelling with a corrugated steel roof and brick chimneys. The house in the foreground is a new dwelling with white brick walls, a dark grey roof, and solar panels. Connecting the dwellings is a timber deck with an outdoor table and chairs. The deck is connected to a garden with paved paths, a lawn, bushes, and trees.
A view of a bluefield development seen from a side street. In the foreground on the right side of the image is an existing red brick home behind a white fence. In the background on the left side of the image is an extension creating a second dwelling.
A view of a bluefield development seen from a side street. In the foreground is a nature strip, paved footpath, and low white picket fence. Behind this is a shared garden with a large tree. Arranged around the garden are a backyard home on the left, an attached new home in the centre, and the back of the original home on the right.
A bluefield housing development with a shared garden and two houses opening onto it. A woman with a rake is reaching up to the branch of a tree, a man with a hose is watering a garden bed, and a dog is sitting on a path.
A shared garden in a bluefield housing development showing houses, a timber deck, bushes, paving, lawn, and trees. An older man is pruning the bushes while a younger man talks with him. A woman in the background pushes a small child in a stroller. In the foreground is an outdoor chair, and a table with a coffee plunger, mug, and glass.
An older woman and a black dog standing under a tree on the lawn of a bluefield development. Behind them is the rear of the original red brick house on the lot. To the left is a new dwelling with white bricks, a grey roof, and solar panels. In the foreground are a paved path, a timber deck, and bushes.