Cospaces, The future of urban living
As we witness the global influence of Covid-19, it’s becoming clear that the world after the pandemic will be radically different from the one we knew before. This disease, without a vaccine, may never completely go away. and industries like hospitality, entertainment, education and transportation will have to rethink their models in order to survive. So where do cospaces come in? Though these spaces solve some of our larger affordable housing concerns and are combatting the loneliness epidemic, is there a larger need to rethink urban development after Covid-19? We believe so.
Cospaces are a new form of shared living and working space
If you don’t know what a cospace is, it’s a combination of communal living with communal working. A simple model allocates a portion of a building to residents, and a portion to either companies or remote workers. In our model, we aim to host digital nomads, or travelers that earn their income online and search for new places to live and work while joining a community of others who live the same way.
But that’s not to say that you have to be a nomad to live in cospaces. Anybody who’s ever had roommates has already experienced coliving. Now remove the cleaning responsibilities, deciding who pays what bills, and include fully furnished rooms, amenities, and a lively community event calendar. Boom! You have an all inclusive coliving space.
In the shared office space, you’ll find hot desks, or open seating, available to anyone, and private office space for teams of 2-5. Some coworking spaces like Wework take it to the next level and can host companies of hundreds of employees. Inside you’ll find conference rooms and phone booths for that extra privacy. And much like coliving, coworking spaces offer a team of community managers to curate events, programs, and courses for its members.
Achieving perfect work life balance
Imagine your commute only being the time it takes to walk from your apartment to your office in the same building. You instantly save potentially hours of your day, and the money it costs to get to and from work. Most people would report that shorter commute times are more valuable than a raise. We agree.
Now that Covid-19 has left millions unemployed, and sent millions more to work from home, it seems apparent that cospaces may be the next major shift in urban living. Anyone with kids will tell you that there are some downsides to working from home. A shared office space still allows a sense of professionalism and comradery for employees, while saving business owners the overhead it costs to have their own office space.
Shared living doesn’t necessarily imply shared bedrooms, but rather shared utilities and common spaces. Some models build in private, fully furnished apartments with kitchens and all. What’s different is that a community team dedicates its time to building a sense of belonging amongst all the residents. Not to mention all the curated professional development and personal development programs offered on site.
Bring it all together, and you’ll find well designed cospaces offer the ideal work and life balance we all are seeking. And the sky’s the limit! Amenities on site could include private bars and restaurants, child care, professional services like legal or accounting, concierge, gyms, spas, movie theaters, anything! Imagine a place that has everything in one location. In a world of social distancing and isolation, it would be much nicer to ride out a quarantine in a cospace. We like spaces that host no more than 100 guests, as sometimes too many people to keep up with will lose the sense of community we’re trying to build. What do you think? Would you live in a cospace?
