Creating a shared room: the project that changes a building

Most buildings hold an unused room. Almost none of them use it.

A former caretaker’s lodge, a sealed refuse room, an abandoned laundry, a basement used for junk: many buildings hold common space with no purpose. Turning it into a shared room is one of the rare projects that improves life in the building on a modest budget.

A shared room serves everything owners have nowhere for: board meetings, general meetings in smaller buildings, building parties, workshops, occasional childcare, receiving a delivery or a tradesperson.

Finding the space

• Level access or a ramp, without which some residents are excluded.
• An opening to the outside or effective ventilation.
• A water point and toilets nearby, or the ability to create them.
• Enough sound insulation from the neighbouring flats.
• A location that compromises neither escape routes nor access to technical rooms.

The fourth point is what sinks projects after the fact: a shared room under a bedroom becomes a source of conflict from the first evening. See neighbour disturbance.

What gets voted

Assigning a common room to a new use and fitting it out belongs to the general meeting. The resolution is better off covering the whole project at once: works, budget, equipment, usage rules and access arrangements.

Leaving the usage rules for later means putting the subject back on the agenda every year. Same principle as creating a bike store, and the drafting follows a workable agenda.

The rules that keep a room usable

• A simple booking system, with an identified point of contact.
• Hours, particularly for evenings and weekends.
• An explicit, non-negotiable rule on restoring the room after use.
• The association’s position on uses: meetings, parties, paid activities.
• Key or fob management, and withdrawal in case of abuse.

The last point leads straight to access management: a room whose keys circulate uncontrolled ends up locked for good.

Upkeep, charges and insurance

A shared room generates recurring charges: electricity, heating, cleaning, minor repairs, furniture renewal. Those costs are modest but must appear in the budget from year one, or the room becomes a grievance.

Check too that the building policy covers this new use: see the policy’s cover. And restate that personal belongings left there are not covered.

Why it is worth the cost

A shared room has a rarely anticipated effect: it makes neighbours meet who never spoke. And a building where people know each other settles conflicts faster, attends meetings more, and finds board candidates more easily.

It is an investment in collective functioning as much as in the fabric: see board elections and board communication.

An unused room appears to cost nothing: it merely costs everything it could have brought.

Prepare the project with CoproHarmony

CoproHarmony lists common rooms, gathers quotes and photos, tracks the meeting decision and organises information to residents. Create your free space.