Co-living developments are becoming increasingly popular across Europe with both young renters and the active retired. A concept that has grown from an acute shortage of housing in urban areas and concerns about the increase of loneliness in those who live alone, the co-living model offers high quality housing for rent or purchase together with a sense of community.
Often sited within existing communities to help retain social connections, co-living retirement developments are being designed to meet the changing needs of older people, providing facilities for active retirement through to assisted living and end of life care. Offering a combination of private living accommodation and shared facilities, layouts may include suburban detached cottages or small blocks of apartments around a central garden space and community buildings to larger urban blocks more reminiscent of hotels.
Co-living developments are also targeting a much younger generation with high quality city centre accommodation available for short or long term rent. For single Millennial professionals who prefer to minimise their possessions and the increasing number of digital nomads looking to work remotely while they travel the world, co-living developments in desirable locations combine the functionality and sociability of college halls of residence with the sophistication of boutique hotels.
A combination of private living quarters and communal facilities, such as seating areas, restaurants or shared kitchens, laundry and gardens, provides convenient accommodation together with working and socialising spaces which support residents to get to know their neighbours and feel part of a community.
Key to the success of a co-living development is a design that reflects the culture of its locality yet stands out with an individual personality. Each development can be given a unique character with an imaginative interior featuring an innovative mix of hard-wearing materials, flexible furnishings, statement lighting, planting and local art.
Compact yet comfortable private accommodation is created with space saving design featuring clean lines, fitted multi-purpose furnishings, large windows and light neutral colour schemes. Practical, easy to clean materials are key to keeping rooms looking fresh and minimising maintenance requirements. Incorporating durable flooring in stylish wood or stone designs can introduce warm natural textures that bring a welcoming feel while visually extending room boundaries.
In single level developments, our gluedown ranges offer a practical surface with exceptional versatility and durability as well as good rates of slip resistance to help meet stringent safety requirements, particularly for retirement housing. Available in a huge range of traditional or contemporary designs, an individual look can be created with a bespoke combination of planks or tiles in different laying styles, from parquet and herringbone patterns, straight lay planks with design strips for a floorboard effect or even the look of a geometric tiled floor.
In multi-level developments where noise transfer between floors is key, a loose lay or rigid core flooring is the perfect choice. With all the style of a natural wood or stone floor and a comfortable surface that brings a warm ambience to pared down spaces, our LooseLay and Korlok ranges come with all the benefits of luxury vinyl, are quick and easy to install and offer enhanced acoustic qualities to reduce noise transfer to the floor below by 13dB and 21dB respectively.
Popular with housebuilders, Designflooring combines cutting edge technology with the beauty of natural materials for a durable and easy to maintain surface that will stand up to the wear and tear of daily life including spillages, pets and wheelchairs to look great for years to come.
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