Urban Coup is an intentional community financed by the occupants and co-designed with architects Breathe Architecture and Architecture Architecture. It is the result of a 14-year project to imagine, conceive, design, develop, and build a home for their community of ~45 people across 29 households.
Urban Coup is the first co-designed multi-residential inner-urban development in Melbourne. It is home to many generations, aged from 6 years to over 80. The residents designed their home with sharing of space, time, and resources in mind.
The building contains a large proportion of common spaces, while the individual apartments are compact. A large kitchen and dining room can seat 60 people, and is the site of twice-weekly common meals for the residents. A system of sociocracy provides the governance, and many residents contribute in different ways to community life: managing the vegetable or herb gardens, preparing shared meals, building and grounds maintenance, running yoga sessions, movie nights, and other events.
Urban Coup is a unique development that its residents hope will help guide and inspire many other example of communal living in ways that limit resource use, reduce social isolation, and bring everyday joy to more lives!
