DISSERTATION

CO -HOUSING

-R.G.KAMATCHI NIVASHINI
17RBAR015
 WHAT IS CO-HOUSING?
• Cohousing communities are usually structured – in principle and often in architecture – to encourage frequent interactions and the
formation of close relationships between their members.

• Cohousing is essentially a community of fully functional private homes that also benefit from a range of shared facilities in separate,
communal spaces. There are varying levels of interaction with other residents depending on the particular development and management
approach agreed.

WHY IS CO-HOUSING NEEDED ?

• The social networks fostered by cohousing have many associated social benefits,
including alleviating loneliness, creating a sense of empowerment and providing
an opportunity to share tasks such as cooking and childcare. There are also a
number of environmental and functional gains.
• They tend to keep cars to the periphery which promotes walking through the
community and interacting with neighbors as well as increasing safety for
children at play within the community. Shared green space is another
characteristic, whether for gardening, play, or places to gather. When more land
is available than is needed for the physical structures, the structures are usually
clustered closely together, leaving as much of the land as possible "open" for
shared use. This aspect of cohousing directly addresses the growing problem
of suburban sprawl.
 DESIGN OPPERTUNITIES OF CO-HOUSING :
• Cohousing offers architects a series of unique design opportunities. They create the potential for interesting arrangements of homes with
various degrees of public and private space.

• A cohousing development can be tailored to the needs of a particular group and sustainability is frequently a key component of the brief.

• cohousing communities are built around a shared desire for a sense of belonging, neighbourliness and mutual support that many
people feel is missing from modern life and contemporary housing developments.

BENEFITS OF CO-HOUSING :

AFFORDABLE
SOCIAL
SUSTAINABLE
SAFE,WELCOMING NEIGHBOURHOOD CHILDREN TO PLAY IN
WORKING TOGETHER CAN ACHIEVE BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE
INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT
SECURITY
 ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS IN TERMS OF SUSTAINABILITY:

Sharing resources is an inherently eco-friendly idea. For instance, when people in cohousing share a laundry room, they eliminate the
need for each of them to have a separate washer and dryer. In turn, this cuts down on the natural resources and energy that it would take
to build all those machines. The same goes for all the other resources that cohousing communities share, from garden space to power
tools.

Cohousing can also benefit the environment in more specific ways, such as:

PRESERVING OPEN SPACE : SAVING ENERGY :

Clustering houses tightly together leaves more
green space open, which protects water quality and
provides habitat for wildlife. Building in this way is
a typical feature of smart growth.
GROWING FOOD LOCALLY:
The additional open space in a cohousing
community can also provide be used for vegetable
gardens that provide a significant portion of the
members’ food. Growing food at home reduces the
need for store-bought produce, which is often
imported and has a high carbon footprint.
Many cohousing developments include condos or townhouses, which have shared
walls. This type of dwelling requires less energy to heat and cool than a single-
family home that’s exposed to the outside air on all sides. But even when
cohousing communities contain single-family homes, they are usually built with
energy-saving features such as good insulation and energy-efficient heating
systems.
REDUCING CAR DEPENDENCE:
In urban areas, cohousing communities tend to be built within walking distance
of schools, shops, and mass transit lines. This makes it easier for residents to drive
less, which helps them cut back on fossil fuel use and air pollution. Members of
the community can also cut back on car trips by running errands together.
 TYPES OF CO-HOUSING :
cohousing communities can have anywhere from 7 to 67 individual units, but most have between 20 and 40. A single community can house
a wide range of households, including single people, childless couples, parents with young children, and retirees.

SPECIFIC TYPES OF CO-HOUSING INCLUDE :

URBAN COMMUNITIES:
Within a city, cohousing can take the form of a condominium complex or a row of
townhouses. Some urban communities put their parking areas underground to leave more
open space on the surface for residents to share. When starting a new cohousing community
in a city, the designers often make a point of building close to mass transit lines so that
residents can get around without driving. New cohousing developments can also be a good
way for redeveloping abandoned industrial sites, or “brownfields.” For instance, Doyle Street
Cohousing in Emeryville, California, houses 12 condominiums and a common area in an old
cement-mixing factory, plus three townhouse units in a separate building off to the side.

MIXED USE COMMUNITIES:

Some cohousing communities share their land with with businesses and public
spaces. Swan’ Market Cohousing in Oakland, California, located in a former indoor market
building, combines cohousing units with affordable rental apartments, shops, restaurants,
offices, and a public courtyard.
 TYPES OF CO-HOUSING :

SUBURBAN AND RURAL COMMUNITIES:

Cohousing communities in the country have a bit more room to spread
out. Individual units may be single-family houses or duplexes. For
example, Winslow Cohousing Group in Bainbridge Island, Washington,
spreads 30 homes, ranging in size from studio apartments to four-
bedroom houses, across nearly six acres of property. Rural communities
often choose to cluster homes tightly together to leave more land
available for farming, recreation, or wilderness. Ecovillage at Ithaca, New
York, has 175 acres of land, and 90% of it is green space devoted to
organic farming and wildlife habitat.

SENIOR COMMUNITIES:
Although most cohousing communities are home to people of all ages,
some communities focus specifically on providing a home for seniors
after retirement. Senior cohousing offers retirees a chance to live
independently as they age, while still having a close-knit group of friends
and neighbors to support them physically, emotionally, and socially. It
offers older adults a chance to live with others who share their experience
and interests, and to plan and manage both their neighborhood and their
own care.
 RESOURCES :

https://architectureforlondon.com/news/cohousing-architect-london/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohousing

http://www.gmhousingaction.com/five-reasons-need-cohousing/

https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Cohousing

https://www.moneycrashers.com/communal-living-cohousing-types-benefits-
intentional-communities/

https://wyreforestcohousing.co.uk/index.php/what-is-cohousing/