Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Unit Size [was Private home dishwasher: 18 vs 24 inch

[Diana Carroll (dianaecarroll]

Oh, I should also mention that our architect (hi Laura!) also made sure
that (with the exception of the dining niche), each space can be accessed
from the hallway and/or the outside...there's other place that to get to
you have to walk *through* someone else's activity.

I didn't realize during programming how important this would become later,
but it's awesome!  And I would highly recommend this approach, especially
with the small unit/large CH design where people will HAVE to make lots of
use of the CH.


On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 10:23 AM, Diana Carroll <dianaecarroll [at] 
gmail.com>wrote:

>
> On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 9:54 AM, Sharon Villines <
> sharon [at] sharonvillines.com> wrote:
>
>> I find it uncomfortable to have one or a few of the same people in the CH
>> all the time.
>
>
> Sharon, last time we discussed common house usage, you mentioned that your
> CH had no spaces that could be closed off.  If this is true, I think it's
> worth pointing this out when comparing your CH usage with others'.  I think
> that has a huge impact on how the CH would be used; and for a group still
> working on their design, it's an important design factor to consider.
>
> Here at Mosaic Commons, our CH is about 4000 sq ft, and all spaces can be
> closed from other spaces.  (All the doors have windows with the exception
> of the guest rooms.)  We have a large dining room (where all our meals, big
> meetings and community-wide social events are held), a small "niche" off
> the dining room that is open during big events but at other times can be
> closed off for smaller gatherings, a living room/movie/library room with
> couches, a kids' room, and a "multi-purpose" room that can be rearranged
> for everything from ping-pong to a knitting circle.  (We have other spaces,
> too, that are special use like the gym, music room, workshop and kitchen,
> which aren't generally used for social purposes or other purposes.)
>
> So we can potentially have 5 groups together simultaneously without
> affecting one another, plus one or two individuals in the guest rooms
> (which double as "hobby rooms"), gym, etc.
>
> Given that architecture, I think you might feel less discomfort with "the
> same people in the CH all the time".
>
> The CH being designed in Vancouver is 50% larger than ours (WOW!) so I
> imagine with some thoughtful architectural choices they could accommodate a
> very wide range of usage without people often stepping on each others' toes.
>