FAQs

All you need to know about Coliving

What is Co-living?

Co-living is a concept of community living where residents have their own private bedroom
and bathroom while sharing common utilities, amenities and spaces allowing for increased
social interaction.
For residents it offers a turn-key experience. As anyone who has endured finding an
apartment in Dublin knows, the process can be daunting. Co-living seeks to eliminate some of
the common hurdles.
Through shared spaces and utilities, Co-living gives a sense of community for residents which
is both environmentally and socially sustainable.
Co-living is just one of the solutions to the increased demand for accommodation in urban
locations as Ireland’s housing market adopts a variety of new forms of accommodation.

Who are the target audience for Co-living?

Co-living is designed for young, like minded, single residents aged between 20-35 who are
seeking short to medium term accommodation and enjoy a high degree of social interaction.
This type of living creates a bespoke accommodation for single people which in turn frees up other accommodation types that are more suitable for couples or families.
Co-living is an alternative for single people who do not want to live alone in apartments, in
hotel bedrooms or aparthotels with no amenities.
It is also for those who perhaps cannot afford or do not wish to pay the cost of a 1 bed apartment.

Who is Co-living not suitable for?

Co-living is not suitable for couples, families, or long stay residents. It is also not suitable for
singles who do not enjoy socialising with others.

What are the social benefits of Co-living?

Co-living offers residents privacy and companionship in equal measure depending on the
wishes of the individual.
Co-living provides access to events, communal spaces and an in-built community that you can
avail of as much or as little as you desire.
Co-living apartments offer residents a range of facilities including:
- Kitchen / Living / Dining Areas
- Gym / Fitness Studio
- Cinema Room
- Library Spaces
- Private Dining Room
- Roof Terrace spaces
The arrangement also allows for economic advantages of sharing expenses and a reduction in
environmental impact.

Is Co-living a more sustainable form of living?

Bartra’s Niche Living buildings are designed to NZEB standards which stands for Nearly Zero
Energy Building. This means a building that has a very high energy performance – it uses nearly
zero or a very low amount of energy and all of the energy used is sourced from renewable
sources on-site.
Buildings are designed to be car free environments with bespoke Mobility Management Plans
created to encourage and facilitate the use of public transport, walking and cycling.
For people who are interested in reducing their carbon footprint, Co-living is a fantastic option.
Currently, residential and commercial buildings in Dublin account for 55% of total CO2
emissions. Co-living developments are a key solution to reducing a cities’ carbon footprint.

What is included in a typical Niche Living scheme?

The bedrooms typically account for only 50% of the gross floor area of the entire building with
the amenity spaces, facilities and back of house spaces accounting for the remainder.
The Niche Living developments shared amenity spaces typically include:
- Kitchen / Living / Dining Areas
- Gym / Fitness Studio
- Cinema Room
- Library Spaces
- Private Dining Room
- Roof Terrace spaces
There are laundry facilities, secure bike storage, facilities to rent a club share car and rent
bleeper bikes.
All communal areas are cleaned every day.
Niche Living will curate events within these shared amenity spaces, featuring supper clubs,
workshops, resident speakers, performances, art exhibitions, pop-ups, fitness classes and
community inspired projects.

What size are the private rooms in Niche Living's Co-living buildings?

Niche Living schemes including the bedroom is 16m2, which is 33% larger than the
minimum standards of 12m2.
Government guidelines for bedrooms in standard apartments are;
- Single bedrooms 7.0 – 11.4m2
- Double bedrooms 11.4 – 13m2 (double occupancy)
Niche Living schemes are designed to be fully compliant with the design and space
standards contained within the Design Standards for New Apartments issued in March 2018
by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.

What is provided for in a Niche Living Bedroom?

Every private suite has a WC cubicle, vanity sink station, and a generous power shower with
dimensions of 1.3m x 0.8m.
Each room also contains kitchen facilities including a cooking hob, fridge, sink, toaster and kettle.
The bed is foldable (if a resident chooses) meaning the room becomes adaptable with an
increased sense of space and use-ability for daytime activities.
Every private suite has generous storage provisions that exceed the apartment guideline
standards.

How will the communal MasterChef kitchens work?

The typical “on-floor” kitchen/dining space is in fact a semi-private kitchen/living/dining space
with multiple cooking stations.
The space is purposefully designed to accommodate the number of residents on a given floor and to ensure there are enough people using the space to create a social atmosphere.
There are multiple sinks and prep areas also that will allow for residents to prepare larger
meals in a communal and social atmosphere.
Residents have the option of preparing meals and dining privately within their rooms,
however the emphasis will always be on residents to partake in the communal spaces in the
schemes.
In terms of food storage, there are fridges located within each room, however residents will
also have the benefit of larger fridge storage within the communal kitchens for preparing or
storing larger meals.

How much does it cost to become a resident?

Nice Living will be priced at a level between a bedroom in a house share and a 1 bedroom apartment in the area surrounding a Niche Living development.
Niche Living occupants will pay an all-in monthly fee, which will include:
- Occupancy of a room within the Niche Living residence
- Use of the communal facilities including the gym
- High speed Internet access
- Electricity and utility charges
- Waste removal
- Suite cleaning (fortnightly basis)
- Common area cleaning
- Events manager
- Concierge and parcel collection
- Security
- Access to social events
- Access to the Niche Living Community App that will support everything from access control,
  logging and tracking facilities issues, to clubs, events and building community
  engagement.

How will staff and community engagement work?

Niche Living will deliver staff and community engagement through:
- Dedicated location by location management teams with on-location availability from 7am to 10pm Monday to Sunday.
- Dedicated resident relations team members on site at various times.

High quality services for residents will be delivered through two primary sources:

The General Manager whose role will be to ensure that an appropriate inclusive communal atmosphere is created for the residents through arranging events including:
- Film Nights
- Motivational Talks
- Cooking Classes
- Lectures
- Table Quiz
- Book Club
- Gym Classes

Resident Relations Team who will:
- Welcome those entering the building and act as the public interface and information point for residents and visitors.
- Create a secure environment for all residents by ensuring the security of the property and preventing anti-social behaviour.
- Ensure the smooth running of the events arranged for residents.
- Ensuring the security of the property and preventing anti-social behaviour

What is the Niche Living interactive app?

Niche Living will have an established website that links all properties to a central platform. All
residents will be able to download an application that allows them to interact with the property, the Niche Living community, service partners and the Niche Living team.
The app will be able to control access, service orders, requests, and all tenant interaction in
real time.

How can residents interact with each other?

Our residents can actively or passively participate while living in a Niche Living property.
In active participation, the resident plays a key role in creating the event or interaction that
generates the experience. Some residents will prefer to participate passively just by showing
up.
Whether the resident prefers active or passive participation, our operations platform will
ensure that they are getting the experience they want.
High speed quality WIFI and 4G will be available throughout the property, allowing residents
to connect to their own accounts in all locations.
Niche Living will significantly enhance an occupier’s experience of our units through
technology. Niche Living will roll out an app called the Niche Living Community App.
The Niche Living Community App will be available for all residents, allowing them obtain
information about their suite, engage in events within the building and the community, and
order services. Residents can also log maintenance requests and raise queries.
The Niche Living Community App will allow residents to interact with each other, discuss services and
create their own groups in a format similar to a closed WhatsApp group. Book clubs, cooking
evenings, movie nights, swap shop, taxi share and various social activities will feature within
the Niche Living community app.

Why build Co-living units rather than simply build apartments?

It is not a case of simply one over the other. Co-living is not meant to replace traditional apartments.

Co-living is an element of government policy for the residential market that promotes greater choice of accommodation types. Sharing a room in a semi-detached home or apartment is not for everyone just as Co-living is not for everyone. It is a matter of choice.

Government policy is to create Co-living as a choice because:
- Co-living promotes a sense of community for residents and increased social interaction, with access to social events and communal activities.
- For some Co-living can be more cost-effective than renting a 1-bedroom apartment.
- Ireland’s population is increasing and is expected to reach almost 7 million people by 2050 and the percentage of 1-2 person households has almost doubled in the last 20 years. This increased population will demand greater choice. For some, Co-living will be a desirable option.

What do I sign up to when I become a resident?

This accommodation is of a short to medium term duration.
We understand that the residents will want flexibility and therefore the duration of stay can
easily be adjusted – shorter or longer depending on their needs at that time.
In terms of protections each occupant signs up to a set of house rules that benefit all the residents. Those are the basis of the social contract they will have.

What research has been conducted into Niche Living's design?

Behaviours & Attitudes, Ireland’s largest independent market research company, conducted several studies into Co-living.

Key findings of that study were:
- 7 in 10 respondents within the target market are interested in renting a room in a Co-living complex equating to a market of 130,000 people nationally.
- Affordable rent is the number one determinant on where respondents choose to rent. Niche’s Co-living product was seen as affordable by those interested in the Co-living market.
- The social interaction/ community aspect of Co-living is a particularly positive feature of Niche’s Co-living product.
- Those surveyed were very positive about the design of the bedroom, kitchen and communal areas proposed by Niche Living.