Cohousing Futures

Five Rivers are a Sheffield based group which was formed in 2011 with the aim of building their own cohousing community. They are currently exploring the possibility of purchasing a site in Foxhill, near Hillsborough in the north of Sheffield.

In the past, Five Rivers have attempted to acquire a number of different sites but they are still yet to secure one.  With this in mind, Cohousing Futures looked to develop outputs that would not only enable Five Rivers to build homes on the current site, but would also be appropriate should they find a more suitable site in the future.

A key outcome of the project was the creation of a ‘Workbook’, a combination of Five Rivers’ previous work, supplemented with research and design work by the student group.  This workbook was designed to prepare Five Rivers for many of the challenges that they will encounter in the coming years as they develop, design, build and live in their homes.

In conjunction with this, a feasibility study was conducted regarding the suitability of the new Foxhill site, culminating in the development of two viable options. The designs were created collaboratively in an iterative process including both Five Rivers and the students. A series of models and sketches will help facilitate and develop conversation with architects in the up-coming months, forming the foundation upon which Five Rivers’ homes will be built.