Australia’s housing debate often swings between two extremes – sprawling greenfield developments on the urban fringe or high-rise towers reshaping inner suburbs. But architects and planners argue there’s a middle path.
Brisbane architect John Ellway calls it “stealth density”.
“We kind of go to the extreme in Australia – one way or the other,” Ellway told Domain. “We’ve got houses or we go all the way up to 15-storey towers next to each other.
“But there’s this middle density, and if you did that in more places, you’d probably end up with the same number of dwellings overall and also not change the character of suburbs as much.
“So that’s where the stealth is kind of increasing the density, but really not noticing it as you do it and keeping the people who live in the neighbourhoods on board and happy as well.”
Ellway was a juror for the 2025 Houses Awards, which recognised Blok Three Sisters on North Stradbroke Island – three prefab modular townhouses designed as either one large residence or three separate homes. The jury said the terrace-like design provided “a worthy and replicable model for co-living that could be readily adapted.”
Another emerging idea is “bluefield housing”, developed by University of South Australia associate professor Damian Madigan. Unlike greenfield (new land) or brownfield (demolition and rebuild) projects, bluefield focuses on adding dwellings to existing blocks while keeping the original home.
“It was really a very simple research question at the heart of my PhD studies, which was, ‘Is it possible to get medium-density housing numbers in established suburbs without wrecking the place?’” Madigan said.
“You have to keep the existing house on the block, whether it’s heritage-listed or not, so that helps maintain the neighbourhood character and the established low-rise scale.
“And you have to arrange the houses around a shared garden area rather than carving it up into small-paved courtyards.”
South Australia is the first state to introduce planning laws for co-located, or bluefield, housing. The model adapts existing homes for multiple dwellings instead of demolition, with new rules on shared gardens, parking, and access now being trialled across six councils
Co-location models are already in use. Brisbane’s Middle House, designed by Lara Nobel and Andrew Carter, sits alongside both families’ parents’ homes and another granny flat housing a relative. It earned a commendation in the 2023 Brisbane Open House awards for liveable design features such as wider doorways, seamless showers, and future-proof accessibility.
The design is described as an “inverse granny flat” – multigenerational but independent, connected yet private.
For brokers, it demonstrates how evolving planning rules and design solutions could open new lending opportunities for clients seeking co-located or modular housing.
As affordability pressures intensify, stealth density and bluefield housing highlight alternative ways to deliver supply without eroding community character.
But as HIA notes, without broader reform of council incentives, planning systems, and property taxes, even the most innovative models will struggle to achieve scale.
For investors and brokers, these concepts point to future markets that balance sustainability, liveability, and demand for flexible housing solutions.
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