Presentation to University of Toronto Architectural class

1. Cohousing 101
Presented by Kristopher Stevens
www.CohousingOptions.ca
November 16, 2023

2. 2
We acknowledge, with deep respect and gratitude, that as treaty
people we live and work on the ancestral, traditional and
unceded territories of multiple Indigenous Peoples.
Our team is committed to working on deepening our own
decolonization in support of Indigenous self-determination and
self-governance. We strive to centre inclusivity, reconciliation,
anti-racism, intersectionality, anti-poverty, and climate justice in
all our activities.
www.native-land.ca/
Image by Kristopher Stevens, Toronto, ON - 2019

3. Kristopher
Stevens

4. Community development & support
Design & development oversight
Non-profit financing and coordination
4

6. Co-operative Home Ownership Sector

7. 40 years of experience developing housing
Over 90 projects and 10,000 units built

8. Re-defining the “box” to drive the
market
Define the “needs” metrics + build momentum

9. Our approach
Images by Kristopher Stevens, Cohabitat Quebec, Quebec City, QC - 2020

10. “If it isn’t resilient, why bother?”

11. “If it isn’t high performance, why bother?”
Images by Kristopher Stevens, Boychuk Passive House, Victoria, BC - 2019

12. “If it doesn’t work socially, why bother?”
Images by Kristopher Stevens, Quimper Village, Port Townsend, WA - 2018

13. By 2030, everyone in Canada has a home they can
afford and that meets their needs.
We need 3.5 million APPROPRIATE new homes.
Images by Kristopher Stevens, Vancouver Cohousing, Vancouver, BC - 2018
“If it isn’t financially accessible, why bother?”

14. Guiding principles
• Resiliency (100 years +)
• High performance buildings
• Community centered homes &
neighbourhood design
• Financially accessible
• Participation

15. Our goals
• Normalize cohousing principles
• Increase the likelihood of success
• Accelerate the process
• Financial accessibility
• Use the surplus to create
“Community Wealth”
15

16. The strategy
Set a positive precedent…
Do good by helping First Nations and municipalities with
their workforce housing and economic development
challenges while getting financially accessible cohousing
communities formed and built.
16

17. The Nation or Municipality gets
• A housing solution that has little impact on taxpayers
• 1.5 jobs per unit built
• Potential for a local modular plant
• An incentive to attract industries to the region
• An increased percentage of owners in the community
• Greater employment stability
• Residents who can live closer to work
• A model sustainable neighbourhood development
Image by Kristopher Stevens, Portland, OR - 2019 17

18. The landowner gets
• Paid fair market value
• To live their values
• The opportunity for their
families and neighbours to
participate
18
Image by Kristopher Stevens,Eco-Quarter, Mannheim, Germany – 2022
18

19. The homeowner gets
• Affordable home ownership
for incomes as low as
$30,000
• Pride of ownership
• More flexibility than
affordable rental
• Save to own is possible
19
Image by Kristopher Stevens, Quimper Village, Bainsbridge Island, WA - 2018

20. The approach makes addressing the
community’s needs the focus
While streamlining, de-risking and
making housing more accessible

21. An affordable home ownership model
that serves incomes as low as $30,000
without grants or subsidies using a non-
profit development framework and
financing...and the land-owner gets paid
fair market value.

22. 10% of the homes can be save-to-own.
22
Image by Kristopher Stevens, Nuutsumuut Lelum, Nanaimo, BC, 2019

23. Image by Kristopher Stevens, Windsong Cohousing, Langley, BC - 2018
What is cohousing?

24. In cohousing
the people
are the
picture…
24
Image by Kristopher Stevens, Listowel, ON- 2016

25. … and the
buildings
are the
frame
Infographic by Cohousing Options created by Lianne Cote - 2019 25

26. Cohousing is a planned
residential neighbourhood
that combines private
homes with shared indoor
and outdoor spaces that are
designed to support an
active, interdependent
community life.
Image by Kristopher Stevens, Cohousing Toronto, Toronto, ON – 2018; Cohousing Conference, Portland, OR - 2019 26

27. Forming
communities
Compass in Langley, BC
Treehouse Eco-housing
Bridgewater, NS
Cohabitat Wakefield, QC
Cohabitat Sweetfern,
Greater Sudbury, ON
Kawartha Commons in
Peterborough, ON
Cohousing Toronto, ON
Convivium in Ottawa, ON
Urban Village in London, ON
Silver Birch Senior Village in
Sudbury, ON
Waterloo Cohousing in
Kitchener, ON
Glassworks in Owen Sound,
ON
Infographic by Cohousing Options created by Lianne Cote - 2019 27

28. Trends behind
Cohousing
• Smaller families
• Extended families living apart
• People are living longer
• Desire for more traditional
neighbourhood where you know your
neighbours
• Desire to live a more sustainable
lifestyle that is less car dependent
Images by Kristopher Stevens, Toronto, ON - 2019
28

29. > Private
< Commons
> Commons
< Private = Co-living
Longer-term Short-term Involuntary Longer-term
Cohousing Hotels Hospitals Family-centred living
Apartment complexes Guest houses Prisons Flat-sharing (Rental)
Commercialized
Co-living
Military House-sharing
(Co-buying)
Camping Boarding schools
Festivals Student housing
Retreats Senior housing
Summer camps Monasteries
Hostels Fraternities/ Sororities
Guardianship
Squatting
29
Images by Kristopher Stevens, Cohousing Toronto, Toronto, ON - 2019

30. The focus is on needs (Quality of life)
Images by Kristopher Stevens, Cohousing Toronto, Toronto, ON - 2019

31. • Social
• Public / Private
• Participatory
• Co-caring
• Independence
• Proximity
• Scale
• Age in place
• Commons “gateway”
• Pedestrian
• High efficiency
• Sustainable
• Safe
• Resilient
• Affordable
• Healthy
31
Images by Kristopher Stevens, Harbourside Cohousing, Sooke, BC - 2019

32. Images by Charles Durrett - 2018 &
Kristopher Stevens, Harbourside
Cohousing, Sooke, BC - 2019
32
In cohousing we share things like:
• Ideas
• The ups and downs of life
• Community meals
• Common house
• Caregiver suite(s) & services
• Cleaning & maintenance
• Tools & equipment

33. • Gardens
• Workshop & craft spaces
• Exercise facilities
• Child-minding
• Co-working space
• Utilities
• Teen & children's rooms
Image by William Right Photography, Capitol Hill Cohousing; Susie Fox, Songia - 2018 & Kristopher Stevens - 2019 33

34. PRIVACY
COMMUNITY
34
Images by Kristopher Stevens, Cranberry Commons, BC & Toronto, 2019

35. 35
Image by Cohabitat Quebec – 2017; Kristopher Stevens, Cohousing infographic postcards - 2018
What can it
look like?
• Detached houses
• Town homes
• Cottages
• Mid-rise
• High-rise

36. Cohousing can be
more than one
neighbourhood
Wild Sage & Silver Sage
Denver, CO, USA
36
Images by McCamant & Durrett, Caddis and Wonderland,
Silver Sage and Wild Sage Cohousing – 2018 - 2020 36

37. üThree intergenerational
üOne 50+ Elder
üOne <30
üVarious ownership forms
Munksøgärd EcoVillage
cohousing community in
Denmark
Images by Philip Krabbendamm and Kristopher Stevens, Munksøgård – 2018 - 2019
37

38. What makes
an ideal
site?
Images by Kristopher Stevens, Cohabitat Quebec, Quebec City, QC - 2020

39. • A housing/economic need
• A collaborative land-owner
• A ”multiplex” site
• 20 – 25 units/acre (3.5 story) in smaller
towns
• 50 – 60 units/acre (6-8 story) in larger
urban centres
• Modular/Mass timber

40. Scenario
20 meters
Cherry Hill Cohousing
32 units
4,500 sq ft commons
Vancouver
Cohousing 31 Units
6,200 sq ft commons
Quimper Village
28 Units
4,000 sq ft commons
Windsong
34 Units
5000 sq ft commons
Silver Sage (Senior)
16 Units
5000 sq ft commons
Wild Sage
34 Units
3,500 sq ft commons
Munksøgärd
100 Units (5 x 2 units)
5 common houses + town square
Example of a few cohousing communities
1 acre

41. Holiday neighbourhood development
• Boulder Colorado
• A 27 acre site
• 333 units
• Wild Sage Cohousing (34 units)
• Silver Sage Cohousing (16 units)

42. A cohousing & workforce housing
Draft site sketch
• Cohousing is ~ 3acres/30 units + 9 acres
of green space
• Workforce housing is ~9acres/100+ units
Image by Centreline Architects, Sudbury, ON – 2020

43. Our GTA cohousing & workforce housing
project
Images by Kristopher Stevens and Architecture Unfolded, Brampton, ON – 2023

44. Image by Architecture Unfolded, Brampton, ON – 2023

45. An Ikea type solution
Images by Kristopher Stevens, Kiwi Newton Guelph, ON & Brydon Wood P-DfMA – 2023

46. How we define the
“box” “picture” & the “frame” will
drive the market
“Needs” metrics + momentum

47. In cohousing
(all housing)
the people are
the picture…
47
Image by Kristopher Stevens, Listowel, ON- 2016

48. … and the
buildings
are the
frame
Infographic by Cohousing Options created by Lianne Cote - 2019 48

49. Top 3 books to pick up & read
49

50. Visit the associations for listings
Images from the Canadian Cohousing Network - 2020 50

51. Images by Kristopher Stevens, Eco-Quartier, Stasbourg, France – 2022
Have?
Land + Patience
Want fair market value?
Want?
Financially accessibility
A sustainable Home +
Community
Let’s talk!

52. THANK YOU!
Kristopher Stevens
Cohousing Options Canada Non-profit
Kristopher@CohousingOptions.ca
www.CohousingOptions.ca
416-303-1201
Image by Kristopher Stevens, Toronto, ON - 2018