Young people are broke, and London is expensive, so PLP Architecture and developer The Collective are building a high-rise with 223 co-living apartments. That means the 30-floor skyscraper’s residents will share kitchens, bathrooms, and living rooms, but won’t have to bunk down in the same room, dorm-style. There will also be 214 private apartments as well. Building amenities include a quiet room, drawing room, theater, library, garden, spa, “disco” laundry, restaurant, and gym, according to Dezeen. Prices aren’t available yet, but PLP wants the apartments, which will be completed in 2018, to be “genuinely affordable for young people.”
“It solves a number of problems,” design consultant Naomi Cleaver tells Dezeen of co-living. “It’s safe and well-designed accommodation at an affordable price, but for rent rather than purchase.”
In the U.S., Pure House, Krash, Common, and Stage 3 are also hoping co-living catches on, though some worry that some of the companies’ month-to-month offerings could have a negative impact on already pricey rental markets.
One startup that tried to make it work, Campus, closed down in August. It was offering renovated housing in San Francisco for between $1,000 and $2,200 a month. Members got perks like weekly cleaning services and access to the homes’ hot tubs. However, CEO Tom Currier said he couldn’t transform the company into “an economically viable business.”
