Your brand is the spearhead of your product. By implementing strong design principles – particularly in an era of ever-changing consumer tastes and behaviours – you will be able to scale your impact, spread your message and position yourself ever closer as an industry leader in a competitive arena. However, we first must step back and evaluate all those critical elements that go into constructing an award-winning coliving model, piece by piece. Our Founding Partners at Spatial Experience explain the fundamental ins and outs of the brand development process, how an effective marketing campaign can serve to drive maximum exposure and the benefits of utilising visual imagery to communicate with your target audience. Supported by in-depth research, conversations with sector stakeholders and a wealth of experience, this trilogy of articles will guide you through your successful branding journey, step by step - with this article featuring the power of Marketing.

Brussels-based coliving investor and operator Cohabs has recently been expanding to new markets including New York, Paris and soon Madrid. With 20+ locations in the heart of Brussels and more to come in Belgium and beyond, Cohabs has established itself as one of Europe’s leading coliving brands. With a strong focus on member satisfaction and happiness, Cohabs uses technology, design, sustainability and a range of services to create an improved living experience for their cohabitants. In this interview with Youri Dauber (CEO & Head of Experience), Laure Bommart (VP Customer Experience) and Lionel Jadot (Partner & Chief Design Officer), they take us through their design identity and guidelines and how their spatial design helps them stand out from the rest.

Putting the customer first’ is an oft-said motto-turned-practice for businesses of all forms in our modern, data-driven economy. However, hardly anywhere is it as applicable or relevant as in residential living; it is up to designers, in alignment with developers, property managers and other stakeholders, to execute this philosophy and deliver a truly accommodating space for coliving. As authors Martina Pardo and Riccardo Del Bello show us through their own practical experience at A Designer at Heart, knowing your customer, getting their feedback and designing with personalised intentions is the key to creating sustainable, communal and functional spaces for your clients.

An enriching and inspiring spatial design strategy should always start and ‘end’ with one main objective in mind: the experience that will be ultimately curated and felt within that space. In this article by Aitana de Jong of Spatial Experience, we are taken through the different kinds of experiences that she aims to curate when helping shared living brands design their spaces and communities. We are explained a core principle of what any coliving brand needs to understand: that experience design needs to inform spatial design, and vice versa. Once this process is understood and embedded, coliving designers, developers and operators can get a few steps closer to curating a thriving community and (spatial) experience.

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Architectural and interior design can not only shape how we interact with our built environment but can also enhance how connected we feel with our surroundings and how well we feel in ourselves. The team at Conscious Coliving has always been fascinated in how designing for wellness, social connection and environmental sustainability can often intersect. They believe that coliving, with its emphasis on social connection and shared resources, has the potential to meet the needs of people and the planet. One of Conscious Coliving’s core partner architects, Wellstudio, specialises in designing for coliving and places wellbeing at the centre of its approach. In this article, they interview Tom Manwell, the Founder and Director of Wellstudio, to learn about their projects, guiding principles, and practical advice for designing for well-being in coliving.

There is a lot of theorising about what it takes to generate a blended coliving community; in this piece, OZ makes it all very concrete. By sharing their first-hand experiences with designing OurDomain in Amsterdam, they show us how they transformed a convoluted, unappealing office area into an integrated, complementary and community- oriented residential coliving space. By tapping into the core of communal living, OZ illustrates how placemaking and quality living go hand-in-hand.

While the link between access control and property design may not always be directly intuitive, it certainly should not be overlooked. As our contributors from SALTO Systems show us, there are a variety of unique benefits that having the right solution can bring from an architectural perspective to the usage, safety and sustainability of a coliving space. In speaking with Björg Halldórsdóttir, architect at PK Arkitektar in Iceland, SALTO Systems gives us insights into the interplay between design and access control solutions and what this means for enhancing the coliving experience.

The concept of Wifirst’s Room Area Network (RAN) is to offer a secure WPA2 or WPA3 encrypted connection ‘bubble’ for each room in your building. This means that guests can securely connect and enable their devices to communicate with one another within their room, safe in the knowledge that everything is totally secure anywhere. RAN is Wifirst’s response to the strong expectation of coliving residents, especially in regards to making the streaming experience easier (i.e. listening to music with connected speakers, playing on a gaming network with their console or simply using a wireless printer) and opening the possibility for IoT in the shared living model. In this interview with Wifirst’s Product Manager, Alexis Girerd, we dive into the specifics of RAN and how it can be integrated into the core of your coliving design approach.

With an aspiration to build a new coliving product or open a new location, architects, designers and other stakeholders face a challenging task – to create a functional space that will be relevant in two, three and hopefully ten years from now on; ideally, a space that can surpass an anticipated lifetime. Building something sustainable requires diligence and the right approach to set up the spaces in order to turn them into purpose-driven and meaningful places that will thrive and serve ever-growing users’ needs. This approach should not be bound to physical parameters only: in this article Digital Estate and Sowebuild explore the possibilities of turning a space into a social and spatial fabric that can adapt and scale while capitalising on the most flexible coliving technology solutions, starting at the very beginning of its development stage.

Do not underestimate the power of giving space an identity - particularly when it mirrors that of both the individual student and community residing in it. Within all the challenges that operators face in providing an optimal student coliving experience lies a human- centric solution. In this piece, Kelly-anne Watson, Head of Programmes at The Class Foundation, shows us that thinking outside the box, and not just simply ticking boxes, is the formula for designing sensational coliving experiences for students.

Understanding community means understanding its intricacies; and it is these nuances of community where the difference between operational excellence and averageness in coliving lies. In relating to the experiences of a new member, operators can better comprehend the winding process of individual growth that takes place, and accordingly facilitate this growth into a thriving community. Jay Standish – Co-Founder at OpenDoor – takes us through this very journey with a sense of clarity that can only come from years of experience, while offering his approach to manifesting the most essential elements of human interaction.

It’s one thing to speak of community experience; actualising it is a whole different ball game. It is not enough to simply lump residents together in a space and expect genuine human interactions to emerge. In this piece, Alex Chakrabarti of Together Co-Living shares the ways in which coliving operators can create an atmosphere capable of manifesting new relationships, unforgettable memories and experiences suitable for the demands of modern coliving residents.

Launched in 2019, Episode is a Korea-based residential brand that positions itself as a ‘Life Experience Producer’ providing solutions for better city life. Episode creates a variety of experienceable spaces where individuals can improve their quality of life and grow their values beyond their basic needs. As the winner of ‘Best Coliving Operator of the Year’ for The Coliving Awards 2021, we wanted to sit down with them to learn more about their ‘Living Cultural Platform’, and how they facilitate the constructive co-existence of individuals and communities. In this interview piece with Si-hyun Lim and Joo-hyun Lee of the Content Team at Episode, we explore their integrated model for the development, planning and operations of successful long-term coliving communities.

There has never been a time when technology has had so much to offer with regards to operational excellence. In coliving, it is critical to take advantage of the myriad of tools available to create the most human- centered experiences possible within and around the community. From humanising your brand to connecting individuals with their local neighbourhood, Digital Estate’s team provides unique insights and offers concrete, real-world examples of the best technology has to offer. By reminding us that technology is not the end goal, but the ultimate means to creating a thriving community, industry stakeholders can open up a world of possibilities – and a world of meaningful human experiences.

Coliving is all about community; but first, we ought to take a step back. Community cannot be experienced without first being accessible to those who wish to participate in it. From curation to onboarding all the way through to the full in-house experience itself, access control plays a vital role in providing a sense of ease to residents, while granting operators the right tools to facilitate such a journey. In this piece, Anya Doshi, Christian Schmitz and Caterina Maoilini of SALTO Systems walk us through how the right access control system can be a gamechanger for your coliving space.

Great WiFi service in coliving spaces is not simply just about a fast connection; it’s about giving operators the free reign to maximise connectivity, in the other sense of the word -- that is, authentic connections between individuals within a community. This is what makes Wifirst a leader in providing sustainable, durable and effective WiFi networks and infrastructure to residential, commercial and office space operators. By providing a couple of real world cases of these impacts, author Vincent Jouan demonstrates how communities and operators can thrive when their connectivity and other digital touchpoints are taken care of.

Environmental issues and social connectivity are two of some of the biggest topics in our world today, in light of both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, Naima von Ritter Figueres and Penny Clark of Conscious Coliving address a vital point; how can a coliving community be fostered through sustainable practices? The authors show us that this focus can bring about a great win-win for people and the planet. Whether it’s through community gardening, developing an impact strategy or ‘community asset mapping’, this article demonstrates the importance of linking community to its surrounding environment.

Achieving scale is certainly an exciting prospect; however, reaching that scale does not come without its unintended compromises. It is crucial to stay locked in on those elements that not only keep a community intact, but perpetually improve upon the community-building process as you include more and more members to it. In this piece, Gui Perdrix, Founder of Art of Co & Director at Co-Liv, offers 10 best practices for integrating new residents into the coliving communal experience.

Building a community requires a holistic design thinking approach. This includes getting all the stakeholders around the table and developing both B2B and B2C strategies for your coliving concept. In this article, Aitana de Jong, Managing Partner at Spatial Experience, breaks down their hassle-free 360 degree approach to supporting the emergence and flourishing of shared living communities. They take us through their 5-step method of building specialist real estate concepts and brands, and the importance of a thorough stakeholder -driven approach along the way.

Building a genuine coliving community is by no means a straightforward process; it requires attention to detail and a constantly evolving process that puts the needs of the consumer at the center. In this piece, Stuart Scott of Co-Living Spaces & The Co-Living Revolution tells us about an effective, human-centered approach to community building called service design thinking. With deep research to gain insights into your consumer, continual ideation, prototyping and a perpetual fine-tuning of the customer journey, he explains how service design truly serves as a blueprint for optimising your community coliving experience.

Frame is dedicated to exploring what’s next in spatial design and is always on the lookout for what’s happening on the cusp of innovation and creativity in the design sector. They believe that better spaces lead to better lives, and if interiors help us to work, shop, relax and live better, they will make us happier and healthier. We could not agree more and this is why we have established a Think Tank Partnership with Frame, in order to merge the best of the design world with the best of the coliving world. Our aim is to showcase Frame and their curated community of design experts to our coliving audience and get some insights into the latest and greatest of design innovation along the way. In this interview we speak with Frame’s Head of Brand, Leah Heaton-Jones, to learn more about their design community and hear their thoughts on the latest design innovations when it comes to shared living and housing.

Loneliness comes in different forms and has persisted throughout history; however, it hasn’t been quite as strong as the last few decades and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This global challenge has presented real estate with a distinguished issue – how do you help tenants overcome feelings of alienation and loneliness as a collective effort to combat the crisis? The answer, according to MyTown, is community. In this piece, Jelmer Ikink, Group Director of MyTown, educates us on the importance of shared living in addressing loneliness and showcases how they have been doing so since before the pandemic and onwards.

SPACE10 is a research and design lab on a mission to create a better everyday life for people and the planet. They are supported by and entirely dedicated to IKEA – working as an independent research and design lab to bring new perspectives and design new solutions that enable IKEA to develop innovative products and strategies. Ultimately, SPACE10 researches and designs innovative solutions to solve some of the major societal changes expected to affect people and our planet in the years to come. In this interview with the SPACE10 team, they share how they are working with a community of B2B industry leaders to bring innovative solutions to urbanism, shared living and the way we generally experience our lives on planet earth.

Gui Perdrix, Founder of Art of Co and Director of Co-Liv, emphasises that technology should serve as a means to foster human connection. In this article, he shares compelling stories and insights into how innovative tech solutions can transform coliving spaces. From enhancing resident experiences to reimagining how we interact with shared environments, Gui demonstrates how coliving is poised for a radical evolution in the way we use and experience our spaces.

Coliving is not just a real estate revolution but a societal (r)evolution in its own right. Technology is a key cog in this process, allowing coliving to bring people together in ways other sectors simply cannot. In this article, Aitana de Jong of Spatial Experience explains how, by applying methodologies like Design Thinking and Growth-Driven Design, technology can take on a human-centric nature - a perfect compliment to the human-centric essence of coliving - and forever change real estate itself.

It is often said that the pandemic has turned the way we live our lives on its head; however, other societal trends have already been accelerating these changes, and coliving has proven to offer the kind of living solution most suitable for the current moment in time. As such, greater connectivity and sustainability must be continually pursued with the help of smart technologies, such as IoT, robotics, AI, contech, digitisation and more. In this article, Fanyu Lin and Alec Wang of Fluxus showcase how they are meeting the challenges of today by constructing prefabricated, energy efficient, connected and beautiful homes that enhance personal and community wellbeing.

Discover how managed WiFi solutions like Wifirst are transforming coliving and alternative real estate sectors. WaaS ensures reliable, secure connectivity, supports IoT integration, and optimizes energy use while reducing operational costs. With turnkey solutions tailored to high-density environments, WaaS enhances resident satisfaction and streamlines IT management, enabling operators to focus on their core services.

Digitalisation is transforming everything, and with real estate being the largest asset class in the world, it is inevitably at the heart of the revolution. But technology implemented without due diligence will not get your business where it wants to go. In this piece, Bart Sasim describe a variety of elements that a successful coliving business must take into account when selecting and implementing a truly experience-changing technology for all stakeholders involved.

Creating authentic community experiences is vital yet challenging for coliving operators. Naima Ritter, Head of Community & Wellbeing at Conscious Coliving, explores the business case for strong communities, common challenges, and how app solutions can address these. Drawing on research, software demos, and surveys of 30+ operators worldwide, the article highlights how technology can foster connection, streamline operations, and support vibrant coliving spaces.

Coliving consists of a wide and complex array of key actors and processes. As a result, a truly great coliving experience - at all stages of the member journey - must be facilitated by great services that can account for all these aspects - and in the 21st century, many of these services can be facilitated by technology. In this article, Christian Schmitz, Michael Steinmann and Connor Moore of Co-Liv explain how Co-Liv is working to further facilitate a stronger synergy within the Co-Liv Tech Community in order to propel the industry to greater heights than ever before, all while strengthening the interdependent community of service providers within it and helping them gain visibility throughout the sector.

Coliving continues to undergo a constant evolution as COVID-19 has shifted the sector to adapt buildings in newly functional ways - and software is here to help. Spaceflow’s Head of Marketing, Petr Boruta, explains how such technology is capable of integrating and digitising all aspects of the tenant experience; thus, transforming space itself into a connected and living sphere that can serve all of the tenant’s needs, all in one place.

Coliving and tech are a ‘match made in heaven’, according to Giles Horwitch-Smith, the founder and CEO of leading short-stay and long-stay residential software platform, res:harmonics. With 25 years’ experience in the property and tech worlds, Giles tells Coliving Insights how innovative technology can streamline coliving’s operations, enhance resident experience, boost operators’ profits and help them scale.

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Technology has allowed humans to accomplish extraordinary feats; however, technology on its own is not enough. By understanding all the steps along a coliving member’s journey, you can apply technology in ways that effectively facilitate an optimal community atmosphere for that member. Rick Schols, co-founder at Sowebuild, shows us how by stimulating practical engagement, providing seamless accessibility and driving connectivity, technology can help shape a flourishing community for all its members, from start to end of their journey.

If there is one thing managers and operators of coliving spaces absolutely cannot ignore, it is the customer experience. According to Vann Vogstad, Founder of COHO, this needs to be at the heart of proptech; however, it doesn’t stop there. The right solution for providing residents with a seamless and integrated experience requires having all of your functionalities together, in one place, and thus providing tenants the ultimate hassle-free experience. In this piece, Vann shows us that property management systems have a long way to go to meet the demands of the modern coliver, and COHO is dedicated to breaking the chain to do just that.

Property management and community building, particularly in coliving, can be a complex process. However, as Group Director of MyTown Jelmer Ikink demonstrates in this piece, having the right turn-key property management system can provide an all-inclusive operations platform to give your tenants’ the ultimate coliving experience. From rental payments to property maintenance to management of key business metrics, MyTown shows how they have developed in-house technology that can simplify, integrate and organise all of your management functions, all in one place.

In this interview, our Editor-in-Chief, Matt Lesniak, speaks with The Collective’s Group Technology Director Andy Caddy and Customer Experience Director Ed Thomas to share their unique insights on how technology can be used to go above and beyond in meeting the essential needs of coliving members and fostering a strong community atmosphere. Through the power of data and continual engagement, Ed and Andy elaborate on the challenges, opportunities and benefits of exploring and implementing proptech solutions in a coliving space. From transparent reporting on operational sustainability to forming social groups with shared interests, The Collective demonstrates why they are an illustrative example of the role technology can play in optimising the coliving experience.

Technology in today’s real estate market is the difference between a standard coliving experience, and an exceptional one. But what exactly is that difference? For Hélène Maria, Product Manager at Urban Campus, it’s about a more engaged community, environmental sustainability and managerial ease. In this piece, she explains how tech serves to enable coliving operators to provide a wide variety of benefits for all stakeholders involved.

We live in a truly exceptional time period, in which technology is allowing us to turn what we imagine real estate should be into what it can and will be. Particularly for coliving operators, a whole new set of possibilities unravels by implementing technology, particularly when it comes to revolutionising what is the core of coliving - the community experience. In this piece, Carlos de la Lama-Noriega - founder of Startup Embassy - educates and inspires us to use our imagination in order to realise the many ways in which tech can push the limits of what it means to operate a coliving space in the era of digitalisation.

In this article, founders of Miele Operations & Payment Solutions provide insights into their idea of a state-of-the-art solution for laundry technology and why they believe their appWash service is a fitting contribution to the range of amenities offered by coliving operators. They take us through their European study trip and how they gathered user data to create the customer-centric laundry technology they provide to shared living spaces across Europe.

While subscription based services have been around for quite some time now, the high demand for flexible living by younger generations means it’s time for coliving and real estate to join the movement. Whether its providing consumers with a greater variety of choice or offering easy access to service and amenities, subscription-based coliving has much to offer. In this article, Spatial Experience shares insights into the opportunities, challenges and benefits of implementing subscription economy solutions to the shared living sector.

Despite the increasingly widespread need for coliving, meeting this demand is not a straightforward process by any means. Restrictions such as limited convertible spaces, existing building codes and the tension between growth and efficiency are all factors that can inhibit growth. In this article, our Think Tank Partner MyTown describes how their own experiences in the Philippines serve as a model for how operators can navigate such challenges, and thus achieve a sustainable and profitable coliving growth model.

In this interview, we speak to Fredéric Verdavaine, CEO of Private Rental Sector (PRS), and Marie-Suzanne Locqueneux, New Business Development Director at Nexity. They are responsible for developing and improving their PRS concepts, including their coliving, PBSA and senior living verticals from development to operations. In this article, they share their perspectives on recent alternative real estate trends and what the coliving sector needs to do to consolidate itself.

Starcity is a California-based owner-operator that has recently expanded to Europe and acquired another large scale coliving operator. In this article they share how they have gotten to this point and give some insights into the specific development processes involved in a few of their recent purpose-built coliving schemes. They also share how their R&D and development teams partner up with industry leaders to help pave the way for shared living policies and institutionalisation.

The past decade has seen extraordinary growth and change in shared living. The Class of 2020 was founded as a think tank to solve the student housing crisis, and has seen the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) industry take off, mature as an asset class and bring prosperity and vibrancy to European cities. To celebrate The Class of 2020’s Graduation Conference, Programme Coordinator Lily Moodey and The Class of 2020 team curated an agenda of visionary thinkers and practitioners to comment on the trends shaping the next decade of living in university cities. In this article, Lily shares the most relevant findings for coliving players as they scale from providing spaces to solutions to global challenges.

One of our main objectives at Coliving Insights is to help ensure the coliving sector becomes a fully-fledged alternative residential asset class. Fortunately for us, we are not the only ones on this mission. Susan Tjarksen, Managing Director of Multifamily Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield, is another shared living ambassador who has supported the institutionalisation of the asset class through her work delivering multifamily apartments, publishing trend reports and speaking at conferences, summits and panels. As the ‘SCALE’ chapter sponsor, Susan speaks to us on behalf of Cushman & Wakefield and shares her thoughts about what it will take to bring the shared living sector to the next level. In this interview piece, Susan shares the important part that coliving plays in keeping young urban professionals housed and connected at an obtainable rental level.

Learn from Naima Ritter at Conscious Coliving on facilitating authentic community in coliving. Explore key points from The Community Facilitation Handbook, understanding the role of Community Facilitator and creating an organic, authentic coliving environment.

Discover SALTO Systems' expert advice to enhance coliving with technology integration, streamline operations, and scale your business. Learn best practices for software integration, automate billing cycles, manage applications, and strengthen your community. Choose tailored third-party integrations for your specific needs.

What does it take to achieve communal excellence in coliving? According to Art of Co founder Gui Perdrix, the answer lies in experience creation. In this piece, Gui details what he calls the Art of Coliving methodology. By working with dozens of coliving operators and community builders, Gui has developed a variety of strategies that can be implemented to build a truly state-of-the-art coliving experience.