MVRDV has just released a new design study exploring how co-living can help shape the future of housing. Created in collaboration with developer HUB and sustainable investor Bridges Fund Management, the study introduces a comprehensive study exploring diverse typologies, aiming to revolutionize communal living and vibrant neighborhoods. It addresses modern housing needs, including flexibility, sustainability, and community, while tackling climate crisis and affordability issues. The endeavor offers tailored solutions for various co-living projects, catering to many demographics and lifestyles.
According to the study, the current global housing crisis underscores the urgency of innovative approaches. In the United Kingdom, where housing shortages affect both social and environmental challenges, conventional solutions have failed. In fact, MVRDV states that the old model “neither corrects the shortfall nor creates sufficient affordable homes, nor addresses the need for community or ameliorates loneliness.” The study seeks to tackle these challenges, addressing how " we work, play, and travel.” Furthermore, it provides a comprehensive catalog of ideas for answering these issues.
MVRDV's study pays homage to the rich history of communal living and hopes to propel housing into the modern era. Communal areas that encourage communication, provide services outside private homes, and strengthen links within the community are essential to this concept. The study demonstrates how co-living buildings may serve various communities by including guest rooms, gathering places, and coworking spaces to improve the neighborhood as a whole.
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Revitalizing London's Urban Fabric: AHMM Transforms Office Space into Vibrant Co-Living CommunityIn addressing the needs of the housing sector, we looked closely at how society is changing – topics such as the increase in single households and loneliness, and a lack of community. The ideas we present in this book put co-living schemes on the agenda as vibrant points for their neighborhoods and cities by inviting the public in, not shutting it out. -- Winy Maas, MVRDV founding partner
Based on the concept of 'social spaciousness,' the study promotes accidental encounters that develop neighborly relationships. It offers a wide variety of typologies, from creatively designed new constructions to adaptively repurposing existing structures, all with the goal of encouraging inclusivity and community engagement. MVRDV believes these solutions can effectively address the housing and climatic challenges, which embrace sustainability and repurpose underutilized places.
As an additional illustration of the adaptability of community living, the study evaluates the viability of transforming existing structures, such as abandoned, subpar office buildings and stranded assets, while maintaining the original building's character. This strategy is essential for solving both the housing and climate crises simultaneously, as renovating buildings emit significantly less carbon dioxide than tearing down and rebuilding an existing structure. Due to the shortage of space in urban areas for new home constructions, rooftop villages can be created more easily on flat rooftops. Plots that are unused or have irregular shapes are revitalized by creating indoor or outdoor areas, giving users the option of a new public open space or several smaller ones.
As the study concludes, the scope of the research is broadened, speculating about a future in which cities face threats from climate change, such as being uninhabitable during the summer or experiencing flooding or biodiversity loss. The challenges and potential hazards are reimagined into vertical farm cities to autarkic towers, which are completely self-sufficient, and from biodiversity towers to vertical 15-minute cities. In fact, they become a platform for progress that produces diverse structures and ways of living.
Various architects have dedicated significant time and resources to developing toolkits, hoping to guide the shaping of our built environments amidst the world's contemporary challenges. Last month, The UN-Habitat Urban Lab has published “My Neighborhood,” a publication that offers a checklist of urban design principles aimed at creating more sustainable and resilient cities. Additionally, Foster + Partners’ Applied Research + Development team has created VARID (Virtual and Augmented Reality for Inclusive Design). VARID is a design toolkit that uses virtual and augmented reality technologies to support academics, designers, and architects in better understanding how people with vision impairments perceive their environment.
