All Together Now

The co-working and co-living revolution

Naomi Cleaver, Amy Frearson

• Publisher: RIBA Publishing
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000375312
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Interior Design

The pandemic imposed a major shift on how we live and work. National lockdowns eradicated the lines between home, office and school, making conversations around live/work spaces more urgent than ever before. Instead of driving people apart, social distancing, remote working and the reliance on digital communication have led to a huge demand for physical togetherness. How can we design a future that enables greater collaboration, connectivity and social interaction?

The trend for shared living spaces is showing no signs of slowing down; collaborative spaces have been hailed as the solution to the 21st century's culture of overwork, a broken housing market and chronic loneliness, particularly among the elderly. When implemented carefully, considering different degrees and models of sharing, they tackle the question of independence (and its complex relationship with solidarity) and the longevity and power of intergenerational living.

A practical and inspirational design guide, this book draws on Naomi Cleaver's own experience as a designer alongside the work of other experts including Rockwell Group, Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter, Squire and Partners and DH Liberty. Featuring detailed and highly illustrated case studies across co-living and co-working typologies, it takes in new builds and conversions of various sizes that have been implemented internationally. It concludes with a best practice toolkit that provides valuable advice and lessons for designers working at any scale.

Case studies include:

• Humanitas Deventer, The Netherlands
• K9 Coliving, Sweden
• Mokrin House, Serbia
• NeueHouse Hollywood, Los Angeles
• Outpost Ubud Penestanan, Bali
• The Project at Hoxton, London.

Foreword by Professor Sadie Morgan OBE, Director of dRMM and Chair of the Quality of Life Foundation.

1.
Our new shared habitats

Fig 1.0.0 The Italian Building, London, by Stiff + Trevillion and Studio Clement for Mason & Fifth, 2019

Co-living and co-working: a lexicon

The first thing to establish when designing a shared living or working environment is what exactly it is. Or, just as importantly, what it isn’t. Co-living and co-working are both relatively new words, even though the concepts have been around for centuries, and they are often used to describe a myriad of different structures. But they aren’t all-encompassing; their interpretations differ from some other new types of shared spaces, which come under other categories and titles. It can be challenging to navigate the subtle differences in terminology; in some cases, they relate to variations in architecture in design, but they can also refer to different types of financial or organisational systems. There are also some conflicting interpretations – for instance, co-living is often used as an umbrella term to refer to all the different types of shared living, but it also describes a very specific form of serviced rental accommodation. The list of terms here is by no means exhaustive, but it offers a starting point to help you understand what you’re dealing with.

Co-living

Any form of residence where three or more biologically unrelated people live under the same roof can be defined as co-living. The term is also used more specifically to refer to rental accommodation that offers ‘living as a service’, meaning it operates more like a hotel than a residence. Here, tenants typically rent a furnished bedroom or micro-flat, but they also have access to shared living spaces and premium services.

Co-working

A more definitive term, co-working refers to any office or workspace that is either wholly or partially shared between three or more individuals or companies. Most co-working spaces are owned and managed by a landlord and operate on a rental or membership basis, but they can also be cooperatively owned.

Co-housing

Co-housing communities are created and managed by their residents. These developments include communal spaces, such as shared gardens or common houses, but residents also have their own self-contained private homes.

Cooperative

Homes or workplaces that are owned and managed collectively by occupants are known as cooperatives. Co-housing communities are typically cooperatives, but the terms are not interchangeable.

Build-to-rent

Build-to-rent (BTR) is a type of purpose-built residential designed specifically for private rental. Developments include at least 50 homes, owned and managed by a single landlord. They don’t usually fall under the category of co-living, although tenants all have access to shared amenities and premium services, in addition to self-contained homes.

Serviced apartments

A model that has been around for decades, serviced apartments are rented homes where occupants have access to premium services. Unlike build-to-rent, serviced apartments don’t necessarily come with shared amenities, which clearly sets them apart from co-living.

Purpose-built student accommodation

An upgrade to halls of residence, purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) is a type of student housing built by private developers. It matches the co-living model, giving students a furnished bedroom or studio flat, plus use of communal spaces and services.

Multigenerational home

Any private residence that allows at least two adult generations to live at the same address can be called a multigenerational home. Typically these homes are occupied by families, where grandparents live with their children and grandchildren. They often have additional entrances and living spaces, as well as the necessary extra bedrooms.

Multifamily housing

Any residential development that allows several families to live in the same building or group of buildings, but in separate units, can be called multifamily housing. It can be used to refer to co-housing or build-to-rent models, but can also apply to more traditional apartment buildings and housing estates.

Intergenerational senior living

A term still being defined, intergenerational senior living refers to retirement facilities where elderly people live among people of other generations. It could be a care home offering free housing to students, or a facility set within an existing community, so that seniors regularly interact with children and families. The primary aim is to reduce social isolation.

Agrihood

An agrihood is a form of eco-village, where farming is integrated into the environment. Residents typically live in self-contained homes, but they produce the majority of their own food as a community. Some are also self-sufficient in terms of energy use.

Sharing comes in many forms

Sharing can manifest in the home or workplace in a number of ways, which is another reason why co-living and co-working can be difficult to categorise. The things you share might be physical, in the form of spaces or objects, but you might also share organisational structures or services, which will have a different impact on the look and feel of the physical environment. In some setups almost everything is communal, but the degree of sharing could be more minimal. For example, if you lived in a private apartment but shared a garden with your neighbours, you probably wouldn’t call it co-living, although it’s certainly a step in that direction. But what about if you added on other amenities, like a communal laundry room, or a common kitchen? At what point does the definition change? The boundaries are equally blurred when it comes to workspaces. If several startups rent private offices in a building with shared meeting rooms and a kitchen, is it co-working? Or does there need to be more on offer, like a communal lounge or events space? There is no definitive answer to these questions, but the more you understand the range of options on offer, the more possibilities open up to you as an architect or designer. There are four categories that sharing systems can fall under:

Spaces

Shared physical space is of course fundamental to the design of co-living and co-working environments. Any shared living or working space must include some portion of space (large or small) which is communal without being open to the general public. This can include spaces that are bookable, such as meeting rooms or spare bedrooms.

Resources

All objects and consumables fall under the category of shared resources, so naturally most co-living and co-working spaces will include a number of them. Typical shared objects include kitchen appliances, tools and electronic devices, along with forms of transport like pool cars and bicycles. Food and drink can also be shared, in the form of communal meals or community agriculture. Sharing of resources has obvious implications for physical space requirements – the more you share, the less personal space you are likely to need.

Services

Shared services are most often included when the living or working setup is based on a hospitality model. Cleaning, laundry and maintenance services are common, but some places also offer their occupants access to events, classes or subscription services like Netflix and Spotify. Co-living venues often offer access to co-working spaces. Not all services are included; some come in the form of paid-for extras, with convenience in mind.

Contracts

Ownership and management are highly important to the way a co-living or co-working model operates. Some setups work under democratic systems, while others have a centralised approach with opportunities for feedback built in. With the introduction of sophisticated digital networks and platforms, these management systems can become incredibly complex, linking people across wider networks of spaces.

Are we ready to share?

Thanks to digital sharing platforms like Airbnb and Zipcar, we’ve all become more comfortable with the concept of sharing over the past decade, yet there is still a stigma attached. Many still see sharing as a compromise, with co-living and co-working included by association. But almost everyone is open to sharing something, as proven by One Shared House 2030, an ongoing online survey by research studios Space10 and Anton & Irene. More than 154,000 people (and counting) have so far filled out the survey, from over 150 countries, and only 3% said they wouldn’t share anything in their home.¹

In fact, the things we are and aren’t willing to share can vary significantly from person to person. According to One Shared House, 39% of us would willingly share a kitchen, 56% would share laundry facilities, 34% would share a car and a surprising 22% of us would share a toilet. This is because the choices we make in relation to the way we live our lives are as much fuelled by emotions as they are by rationality. For instance, some of us associate the car with a sense of personal freedom or achievement, while for others it is merely a means of getting from A to B. A set of tools might be something you value, particularly if they have been passed down through generations, but you could just as easily form an emotional attachment to a new vacuum cleaner.

More important than the types of things being shared is the clarity that accompanies them, or so the research suggests. People are generally open to a mix of private and shared spaces – ‘we spaces’ and ‘me spaces’ – providing that the terms of use are clearly defined and the systems within which the spaces operate function well.

Things are better when we come together

Co-living and co-working offer benefits both at a personal level, and to society and the environment at large. They fall under six categories:

Affordability

Shared space always offers cost savings in some form, thanks to economies of scale. For those on a low income, for whom home ownership has become an increasingly unattainable goal, sharing a home with others makes it possible to live in a city without spending the majority of your wages on rent. For those with a little bit more to spend, it can mean access to luxuries that you would never otherwise be able to afford, like a swimming pool, a library or a cinema screening room. The same rules apply to co-working.

Health and happiness

It has been proven that loneliness and social isolation contribute to mental health issues, dementia and premature death.² With more of us living alone and, thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, more of us now working ...