Social Hall - Cohousing Pattern #15

The Common House provides a variety of flexible spaces for a range of community social events and activities.

Although alcohol may or may not be consumed in the Common House, the Danish cohousing pattern of Beer Hall [90] may be reinterpreted as the Social Hall. The Common House will serve as a social hall for various community and private functions. Residents may participate in games (billiards, cards, board games, ping pong or foosball) or hold conversations. Whether it be a birthday celebration in the dining room or the watching of movies or televised sporting events in the TV room; the Common House should have a range of room sizes to accommodate a variety of events.

Skraplanet Cohousing in Vaerlose, DK. Designed by Jan Gudmand-Høyer

Skraplanet Cohousing in Vaerlose, DK. Designed by Jan Gudmand-Høyer

Kaephoj in Roskilde, DK. Designed by Jes Edvars

Jernstoeberiet Cohousing in Roskilde, DK. Designed by Jan Gudmand Hoyer, Jes Edwards og Helge Christiansen

Jystrup Savvaerket in Jystrup, DK. Designed by Tegnestuen Vandkunsten

Please Note:

This series of blog posts is focused on explaining common design patterns in cohousing. Grace Kim, a founding principal and owner of Schemata Workshop, has identified patterns applicable to cohousing from "Pattern Language" by Christopher Alexander and has added some of her own.

Grace's additional patterns pay particular attention to the Common House because its design requires special consideration. As the living room for the community, the Common House sets the initial impression for visitors about what cohousing is, what your community values might be, or the perceived benefits of living in community. Schemata Workshop has analyzed scores of common houses in Denmark and North America to discern what does and does not work. Following Alexander's concept of Pattern Language, Grace has thoroughly documented the necessary programmatic and design elements for a successful Common House.

To learn more about cohousing at Schemata, visit our cohousing page.

A Very Early Season's Greetings From the Workshop!

The turkey may not even be on the table, but we at the Workshop are already in a holiday state of mind. Also, with our 15th Anniversary coming up, we have been feeling especially grateful lately. Thinking back on the past decade and a half, and have been feeling thankful for all of the support, collaborations, and recognition we have received — which has helped make our job all the more joyous!

If you received our Holiday Card this year, you know it includes an adorable little holiday frogger to make for yourself. If you didn’t receive the card, don’t feel left out of the fun! You can access the template for the little guy here.

To make, simply print the file double-sided, cut, fold, and hop away!

Don’t forget to post a photo of your frogger’s adventures on social media using the hashtag #Frogger15

Our favorite photos will be reposted on our social media, and the grand prize winner will get a piece of Schemata swag!

Community Store - Cohousing Pattern #14

Many communities have a small community store for residents to purchase goods – some were solely beverages and convenience items, others had full range of cooking essentials & sundry items. This pattern takes advantage of bulk purchasing power and provides much needed storage for these goods. The intent of the store is to help residents reduce the size of their individual homes by eliminating the need for large pantries or storage rooms for bulk purchasing of items such as toilet paper, beverages, or crackers. The store can also be used by the community to provide snacks for impromptu movie nights or a last minute birthday celebration.

The room should be well ventilated to prevent items from going stale. The inventory should be documented and monitored to ensure that items don’t expire on the shelf as well as insuring that petty theft doesn’t occur.

Ibsgården in Roskilde, DK. Designed by Jes Edwards, Helge Christiansen

Kaephoj in Roskilde, DK. Designed by Jes Edvars

Stavnsbaandet Cohousing in Farum, DK. Designed by Ortving of Friis Jorgensen

Andedammen Cohoushing in Birkerød, DK. Designed by Hogsberg og Wested, Hoff og Windinge

Please Note:

This series of blog posts is focused on explaining common design patterns in cohousing. Grace Kim, a founding principal and owner of Schemata Workshop, has identified patterns applicable to cohousing from "Pattern Language" by Christopher Alexander and has added some of her own.

Grace's additional patterns pay particular attention to the Common House because its design requires special consideration. As the living room for the community, the Common House sets the initial impression for visitors about what cohousing is, what your community values might be, or the perceived benefits of living in community. Schemata Workshop has analyzed scores of common houses in Denmark and North America to discern what does and does not work. Following Alexander's concept of Pattern Language, Grace has thoroughly documented the necessary programmatic and design elements for a successful Common House.

To learn more about cohousing at Schemata, visit our cohousing page.

Central Bulletin Board - Cohousing Pattern #13

An easy way to encourage informal interaction in a cohousing community is to provide a central location for mail delivery and the dissemination of information.

Rather than each resident having a mail box in front of their home, the postal carrier would deliver the mail to the Common House, according to US Postal Service standards. Much like in an apartment building, each resident would have a key to their own mail box. In this way, residents would have a reason to visit the Common House at least once a day. In addition to the mail boxes, there could be a bulletin board for notices, meeting agendas, sign up sheets, and menus; and a shelf to put out leaflets or flyers. This central information hub should be located inside the Common House, but close to the entry.

Ideally, this area would be an alcove off the dining room so that residents in the kitchen preparing a meal could have the opportunity to informally interact with those checking their mail on the way home from work.

Ibsgården in Roskilde, DK. Designed by Jes Edwards, Helge Christiansen

Kilen Cohousing in Birkerød, DK. Designed by Jan Gudmand Hoyer

Drivhuset Cohousing in Randers, DK. Designed by Niels Madsen

Kaephoj in Roskilde, DK. Designed by Jes Edvars.

Trudeslund Cohousing in Birkerød, DK. Designed by Tegnestuen Vandkunsten

Please Note:

This series of blog posts is focused on explaining common design patterns in cohousing. Grace Kim, a founding principal and owner of Schemata Workshop, has identified patterns applicable to cohousing from "Pattern Language" by Christopher Alexander and has added some of her own.

Grace's additional patterns pay particular attention to the Common House because its design requires special consideration. As the living room for the community, the Common House sets the initial impression for visitors about what cohousing is, what your community values might be, or the perceived benefits of living in community. Schemata Workshop has analyzed scores of common houses in Denmark and North America to discern what does and does not work. Following Alexander's concept of Pattern Language, Grace has thoroughly documented the necessary programmatic and design elements for a successful Common House.

To learn more about cohousing at Schemata, visit our cohousing page.

Design that Moves You: Hip Hop Architecture Camp

“Representation matters”

— Joann Ware

In partnership with the University of Washington, NOMA NW (National Organization of Minority Architects), and NAIOP (the Commercial Real Estate Development Association), AIA Seattle’s Diversity Roundtable Committee helped execute the first ever Seattle-based Hip Hop Architecture Camp. The camp uses curriculum developed by Detroit-based designer Michael Ford to introduce minority youth to architecture through the lens of hip hop culture.

Seattle’s camp was hosted at UW’s campus, and had 43 students enrolled from over 20 different schools around the area. Students spent five days learning about architecture, urban planning and design from UW students and practitioners of color so that they could directly realize the power of representation in each of these fields. They created physical models of cityscapes based on rap lyrics, learned how to adapt and 3D print their designs with digital modeling software, and created their own rap lyrics about their hopes, dreams, and observations of Seattle’s built environment. The camp ended with the production of a music video, showcasing the students, their lyrics, and buildings in the area. - MK

Margaret Knight, Architect

Through volunteering with the Diversity Roundtable over the past four years, I have been involved in several youth outreach events focused on diversifying Seattle’s pipeline of design professionals. Each engagement opportunity is an exciting chance to connect with students and hopefully spark an interest in the field. My own interest in architecture started because of a fourth-grade field trip to a school of Architecture, Art and Planning, so I strongly believe that exposure is a key first step to opening the door for so many.

Being a part of the Hip Hop Architecture Camp was a particularly rewarding process because of the months of planning that preceded it. To finally have all the kids there and see them shine was incredible. They were all so talented and seeing their skills and confidence grow throughout the week was amazing. The camp also created such a sense of camaraderie between them, with students coming from so many different places, it was great to witness new friendships form in the span of days. The support they showed for each other’s work was also unbelievable to see, and made me even more excited to be a part of the camp next summer. - MK

Joann Ware, Architect

As a youth, I was interested in architecture but only knew of 5 architects: Frank Lloyd Wright, Michael Graves, the Brady Bunch’s dad, Maya Lin, and Filippo Brunelleschi. One of the five looked like me, and even that minimal presence reassured me that I could become an architect. Representation matters. This is why I volunteer with the AIA Diversity Roundtable’s Architects in Schools program and the recent Hip Hop Architecture Camp in Seattle.

Before the camp, I wondered how hip hop music and architecture could be combined into one curriculum. They have both been significant influences in my life, but very separate. Through the volunteer training and participation in leading the camp, I developed a new perspective of both art forms. Listen closely -- beyond infectious dance beats, hip hop lyrics reference significant places, the built environment’s use by urban youth, and social injustices perpetuated by failures in city planning. Like a 3D model or sketch, rap lyrics can also create a future vision for the built environment.

Michael Ford’s Hip Hop Architecture Camp is intentional about empowering youth of color to shape their communities. It provides tangible tools for communicating about the built environment – physical models, digital models, music. The camp participants inspired me with their creativity, confidence and innovative approaches to design challenges. The youth shone when sharing their cityscape models and song at the end-of-camp ceremony, and I can’t wait to see the final music video. I am hopeful they will become the architect, planner, designer, musician, and policy-maker role models for the next generation. - JW