Cohousing-L Mailing List: Designing our Common House

[SALLY COLLINGS (sallyjcollings]

Dear Fellow Cohousers,  

Bridport Cohousing, Dorset, UK

We are just now designing our common house and so  I'm writing to ask you all 
what advice you have for us.

We will be building 30 homes and a common house, probably using strawbales, 
total indoor size 200 square metres,  on a South facing field in Dorset, 
Southern England. 

Of course our 16 members all have ideas and hopes for our common house, but I 
want to ask people already living in a cohousing neighbourhood, if you were 
starting from scratch, building your common house, what would you include and 
what would you do differently?

We definitely want a kitchen and dining room for 70 people, but beyond that we 
are open-minded.  Specifically, I'm thinking about guest rooms, laundry, bike 
storage, workshops, large meeting room, small meeting room(s), lockers, pigeon 
holes for post, therapy rooms, teenage space, office space, outside party 
space...

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thank you
Sally Collings