Interior Design Program
Date of this Version
Fall 12-2018
Citation
Osborne, Rachel. 2018. Best Practices for Urban Coliving Communities. M.S. Thesis, University of Nebraska.
Abstract
Coliving, a new typology of housing design, has recently been gaining in popularity. Coliving is a form of rental housing that seeks to create community among its residents by providing features such as extensive shared spaces and community managers paired with typically small, furnished private spaces. Little architectural or interior design research is available to describe this emerging typology, and no best-practices or guiding principles exist to aid designers in making informed decisions when designing or evaluating coliving spaces.
This thesis uses a mixed-methods approach to understand the composition of existing coliving facilities as well as the motivations and preferences of coliving residents. Case-study evaluations were performed examining the physical and programmatic structure of four coliving communities located in New York and London. These case studies were cross-compared with the results of a questionnaire, which was distributed to coliving residents to determine characteristics and user preferences. Additionally, the results of the worldwide survey “One Shared House 2030” completed as a collaboration between Anton and Irene and Space10, were evaluated to further inform the cross-comparison research.
The objective of this research is to understand what coliving is in terms of its programmatic requirements and the factors that drive it and to develop a set of best-practices. These best-practices form a basis of design for coliving facilities that can be enhanced further with continued research.
Advisor: Lindsey Bahe
Comments
Presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science; Major: Architecture; Under the Supervision of Professor Lindsey Bahe; Lincoln, NE, December 2018
Copyright 2018 Rachel Osborne