The world’s population is increasing and every day, more people are coming to the cities. People are constantly relocating their houses for meeting their needs. As societies are growing and mobility in cities is raising, cities would face challenges like accommodating the population inexpensively and providing good quality of life and stable social and environmental infrastructure for them. However, due to the fixed regulated and unadaptable construction market, the architecture doesn’t meet the changing needs of inhabitants, therefore, every day the housing market is more unaffordable because of the high demand for housing developments, lands scarce, etc. Architecture needs to be flexible to adjust itself to the current market. Since most of the relocations and high demands for building new housing projects occur when built spaces fail to meet their occupants’ growing needs. This thesis tries to find an alternative framework for designing a flexible one whereby architecture is shaped by the user’s needs and can adjust itself in a long period. This thesis also works on designing an environment that responds to the social, economic, and environmental needs of residents as one united community. Therefore, it uses a shared living idea as an affordable alternative for making houses cheaper and creating a more stable social environment for inhabitants. The content of this thesis is categorized upon the following narrative. Firstly, this thesis is trying to deepen its understanding of the matter of shared living and its possible advantages and disadvantages for producing stable social and economical infrastructure. For this purpose, it analyses a notion of shared living and shared economy through studying successful case studies. Secondly, by studying and utilizing metabolic design criteria, the thesis will form an understanding of a more sustainable approach toward architecture and built environment to design an affordable housing system that provides high quality of life for inhabitants through responding to their needs. Thirdly, the thesis will frame its design strategy based on shared living perspective and metabolic design criteria. The thesis then will illustrate its steps and methods to achieve flexible architecture through designing its module, structure, and material. Lastly, it will discuss its findings on how the shared living approach and metabolic philosophy can aid architects to design more sustainable housing units that can meet their resident’s needs through a long period and make strong social, economic, and environmental infrastructure.

This thesis describes how music affects the group dynamic of children living in congregate homes in Texas

Coliving är en ny delad boendeform som har haft en stark utveckling internationellt de senaste åren. Det som särskiljer coliving är främst att operatören erbjuder tjänster. En av de främsta fördelarna med denna boendemodell är att den minskar den boendes kostnader, tack vara mindre privat yta, utan att begränsa levnadskvaliteten tack vare större delade utrymmen. Upplägget ger potential för högre vinster både för operatör och fastighetsägare, på grund av högre kvadratmeterhyror. Coliving har utforskats tidigare men en mer djupgående studie av denna modell på Stockholmsmarknaden saknades. Uppsatsen utforskade olika aspekter av colivingmodellen för att se hur stor affärspotential denna erbjuder, specifikt i Stockholm. Först kartlades det juridiska läget i Sverige, genom en analys av lagtexten samt byggregler, och med intervjuer av specialister. Frågor som särskilt utforskades var kontraktsformer kopplat till brandskydd, besittningsskydd och hyressättning. Enskilt traditionellt kontrakt och blockuthyrning togs fram som lösningar till de problem som coliving kan stöta på. Hyressättningen kommer sannolikt ske efter bruksvärdesprincipen men jämförelseobjekt är få; dessa kan dock vara existerande colivingbostäder, studentboenden eller äldreboenden. Förhandlingen kommer att bli väldigt individuell beroende på fastigheten och på colivingoperatörens serviceerbjudande. Höga kvadratmeterhyror konstaterades för de som granskades, nämligen ett studentboende och tre colivingboenden i Stockolm. Kostnader granskades även, och dessa uppskattades öka med colivingmodellen. Det är dock oklart med hur mycket dessa skulle öka, då dem beror främst på den valda fastigheten och servicenivån som erbjuds. För att hitta colivings nisch i Stockholm togs studenter fram som målgrupp, utifrån intervjuer och litteratur. Detta användes för att skicka ut en enkät där respondenterna, som främst var unga studenter, fick ranka olika servicealternativ samt ange hur villiga de var att betala för dessa tjänster. Det som efterfrågas i Stockholm är främst låg servicenivå, med ett paketerat erbjudande med wi-fi, gym, tvätt av lakan och städning. Det bör understrykas att låg servicegrad även underlättar sänkning av hyror. Sammanfattningsvis ses en ljus framtid för coliving i Stockholm, då målgruppen är bred och intresserad, och potentiella intäkter är höga. / Coliving is a new shared housing form that has seen strong growth internationally in recent years. What distinguishes coliving from other forms of shared housing is mainly that the operator offers services. One of the main advantages of this housing model is that it reduces the resident's costs, as a result of less private space, without limiting the quality of life, due to larger shared spaces. The arrangement offers potential for higher profits for both the operator and the property owner, due to higher rent per square meter. Coliving has been explored in previous research, but a more in-depth study of this model on the Stockholm market was lacking. Hence, this is the aim of this thesis. The thesis explored various aspects of the coliving model to study the business potential, specifically in Stockholm. First, the legal situation in Sweden was mapped out, through an analysis of the legal text and building regulations, and through interviews of specialists. Issues that were explored were contractual forms linked to: fire protection, security of tenure and rent. Individual traditional contracts and block rentals were concluded as solutions to the legal problems that coliving can encounter. Rents are likely to follow “bruksvärdesprincipen”, meaning that the rent is set given rents on comparable properties. Properties to compare are few though; however, these can be existing coliving homes, student housing or senior housing. The negotiation on this matter with “Hyresnämnden” will vary depending on the property and the coliving operator's service offers. High rents per square meter were noted for the comparable properties that were studied - one student house and three coliving houses. Operation and maintenance costs were also studied, and it was estimated that they would most likely increase in the coliving model. It is unclear by how much, aas these costs depend a lot on the chosen building and the level of service that is offered. Students were selected as the target group, based on interviews and literature. To find colivings’ niche in Stockholm, surveys were sent out to respondents, mainly young students, who were asked to rank different service options and indicate how willing they were to pay for these services. There is a demand in Stockholm mainly for low level of service, with a packaged offering with wi-fi, gym, laundry of sheets and cleaning. It should be emphasized that low service levels also facilitate lower rents. In summary, there is a bright future for coliving in Stockholm, the target group is broad and shows interest, and potential revenues are high.