Since coliving gave birth in the last decade, it learned to make its first steps: main developers have their projects in creation or conception, if not already construction; operators know each other personally and industry conferences offer space for them, if not being eager to have them on stage; on top of nice blogs, architecture media or the main press from Forbes to the New York Times started writing articles about the phenomenon, recently hearing more criticism around individual life quality standards and wrongly held promises of affordability; first organizations are built and running, while still establishing itself as a thought leader; and institutional investment has entered the coliving real estate sector, meanwhile more operators are waiting for redacted loans with fewer risks labeled to the activity.
Coliving is becoming established and yet needs to learn how to walk properly. While the sector is currently building up and when possible proving its legal, financial and professional capacities, it will need the support of core ecosystem players to move from operational capability to operational excellence.
A quick note about myself: I’m Gui and my personal journey into coliving started five years back, when my friend Thomas Despin hosted a one-month entrepreneurship coliving and then published the idea of a globally connected coliving space operator. After three attempts to create a coliving project, I started a pop-up coliving space concept in Barcelona called Lifestyle Engineering house, which turned into four locations from Tulum (Mexico) to Ubud (Bali/Indonesia).
At that time, coliving was not my priority: I was focussed on building out Prometheus, my marketing agency for high-end brands in the personal development sphere; and was trying to become a coach, as one of my main preoccupations is the (mental) well-being of individuals.
It was only when I realized that coliving was for many a transformational experience in itself that I started to dedicate my almost full attention to the topic. Residents and friends shared how they had the richest month of their lives, another how he found purpose in his life again, while half of the residents ended up working together or in relationships.
Since then, it has been my goal to promote intentional coliving as a long-term form of living serving two fundamental human needs: growth and connection.