Queensland architect Gabriel Poole designs home to house three generations of one family Queensland architect Gabriel Poole's design for the Generational House. IN a 19th century solution to a 21st century problem, Queensland architect Gabriel Poole has designed a house that puts three generations back under the one roof. The award-winning architect want the rising ranks of Australia's elderly at home with the grandkids. The plan is to make Australian families better off - both financially and emotionally - as they avoid the crippling costs of aged care and keep the family home for the next generation. Three generations living under the one roof - April Farragher, 19, Helen Farragher, Jesse Farragher 17, Cath Millard and Anthony Farragher, from Taigum. Pic: Brad Cooper) Mr Poole's vision, to be unveiled at an architectural exhibition at Tamborine Mountain next month, is a low-cost, modular design incorporating facilities found in aged care facilities including rails, non-slip floors and wheelchair access across the home. But each generation - parents, kids and grandkids - have their own designated entrances and retreats in keeping with their interests, from loud media rooms to quiet meditating nooks open to the sky. Australia is an ageing population - so just how will Gen Y cope in the future? Watch mX's Vents come to life. A bed sit is incorporated for a care giver while open balcony baths for seniors and a plunge pool for the family provide a touch of luxury in a home which may costs as little as $1800 a square metre. KPMG demographer Bernard Salt says the idea is long overdue, and one creative solution to a challenge the nation needs to face - that one in four Australians will be over 65 by the middle the century. "This way of living still occurs in the upper levels of society - you only have to look at the (former US President John F. Kennedy) Compound at Hyannis Port to realise that," he said. But it can work in ordinary households if people have their own space, their own entrances and exists and are able to manage their own time - privacy is the most important thing. The house would allow ageing baby boomers to sell off the suburban family home and form financial partnerships with children in securing the new multi-generational abode, Mr Salt said. A new report proposes lifting the pension age to 70 to help services cope with an ageing population. Helen Farragher with husband Anthony and children April, 19, and Jesse, 17, along with grandma Catherine Millard all live in their Taigum home, the three generations embracing the big family lifestyle. Ms Farragher said the family decided to move in together 10 years ago. "The kids have loved growing up with grandma and grandad," she said. The family initially struggled to find a home big enough to fit them all in but after slight moderations to their home with its two granny flats, they settled in happily. Her father Roy Millard lived with the family until he died in 2007. "It just lengthened his life though - it was wonderful," she said. He enjoyed being around the kids and being able to potter around the garden. She said the situation would not work for everyone but her husband and children appreciated having a strong family unit. You do need to be able to get away from the other part of the family, sometimes the children got a bit noisy and their grandparents could close off their section but it worked out perfectly. With Ms Millard now suffering Alzheimer's disease, Ms Farragher said the family was looking at moving her to an aged care facility but had loved being together. Some people might not have been able to do it but we found it fine - there was no problem at all. Mr Poole, the winner of the 1998 Gold Medal - the highest honour bestowed by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects - has devoted much of the past decade to dealing with Australia's ageing population. He says money tied up in family homes is better rolled over into a home for the entire family which can be kept when the oldest generation dies. "Families today are selling off the family home to pay for aged care and nobody gets anything," he said. More than 15 years ago Mr Poole urged Australian architects to challenge the old brick and tile mentality and move towards simple spaces which can "raise the spirits of inhabitants." We should be able to accommodate the different generations of a family within a house, providing them with their own privacy and dignity," he said.