Collaborative design of Older Women ' s CoHousing

Abstract

Purpose

CoHousing provides a new approach in the UK to older people’s housing, and meets a clear demand for similarly minded groups of individuals who would like to grow old together. The purpose of this paper is to explore how a Collaborative Design Process (CDP) can work, as applied to a soon-to-be realised project in North London.

Design/methodology/approach

Report by the architects with comment from an end user on a CDP including end users, architect, developer and housing association management.

Findings

A group of individuals that has invested in building decision-making capacity can participate meaningfully in the design of their future homes.

Research limitations/implications

This research was focused on one development, so work on a wider range of projects would help test its validity.

Social implications

Older Women’s CoHousing (OWCH), and similar projects, demonstrate an appetite for: mutually supportive, intentional communities; planned downsizing and contemporary, sociable design for the third age of life.

Originality/value

The CDP developed for OWCH was comprehensively documented. It has already been adapted for further cohousing developments, and is intended to continue to evolve with the demands made on it.

Citation

Devlin, P., Douglas, R. and Reynolds, T. (2015), "Collaborative design of Older Women ' s CoHousing", Working with Older People, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 188-194. https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-08-2015-0018