Revolutionizing Coliving

"100% of projects we analyze go through Rayon first. Our team is using Rayon to run feasibility studies, which give us 90% of what we need in a crazy quick amount of time, so that's an extremely efficient solution for us."

Commune Co-Living today stands out with an innovative concept in a world where coliving spaces cater primarily to young professionals. Founded by COO Ruben Petri and CEO Tara Heuzé-Sarmini, the company is expanding the coliving industry’s diversity and reach by exclusively catering to single-parent families.

Commune was one of Rayon's FIRST-EVER Beta users, and we are lucky to have them as daily base users to this day. We sat down to chat about how Commune came to life, where they are today, and their plans for the future.

The story behind Commune

In 2019, while working for a traditional coliving company, Tara realized that providing coliving solutions for young professionals was interesting - but a more significant opportunity came to mind. Market research she did revealed that single-parent families have been overlooked in the industry, and for her, it was a "challenge accepted" moment. Her solution was to create Commune, the first turnkey and affordable housing solution for single-parent families.

The challenge: Building a real-estate portfolio

Tara and Ruben took a deep dive into the real estate industry to build Commune's unique portfolio, accommodating their vision. After seeking input from architects, urban planners, and developers and completing their real estate training, they needed a tool to realize fast floor plan feasibility studies to assess the countless real estate locations they were considering.

"We were outsourcing architects, so their availability was limited. When many real estate opportunities started coming in, this issue became extremely critical from a time and money POV."

The solution: Streamlining feasibility studies

Commune found Rayon to be beneficial on multiple levels:

• It allowed their team to utilize floor plans without outsourcing their work and helped them work internally more collaboratively.
• It shortened feasibility study cycles and enabled a fast and informed decision-making culture.
• It was super cost-effective: cutting outsourcing expenses, spending less time on feasibility studies, and helping nail suitable real estate projects.
  

Moreover, Rayon was great for working with standardized apartment layouts. Commune's minimal single-family unit includes two bedrooms, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. On top of that, there are shared spaces like a kitchen and dining room, a multipurpose play room, a laundry room, and sometimes even an outside area and co-working spaces.

Using Rayon, the team could easily plug and play with these pre-set standards in their feasibility studies. This allowed them to apply their unit typology to various locations, resulting in quick conclusions about which option made the most sense. At Commune today, all projects go through an initial development phase in Rayon. If the project is validated, they will take it to the second phase of in-depth requirements and detailed design.

"It takes us about 3 hours to process large projects of thousands SQM with Rayon. Which is incredible since, before that, the same process with outsourced architects would take a day or two."

A vision of inclusive global coliving

Commune is about to launch its first two Paris locations, marking a significant milestone. They aim to create co-living spaces for single-parent families worldwide and plan to open 500 residences globally over the next ten years.

Commune's journey is only beginning, but it's already clear that Tara and Ruben's vision and determination, combined with innovative solutions like Rayon, are paving the way for a more inclusive and compassionate future in coliving. Commune is poised to impact the coliving industry, providing a supportive and nurturing environment for single-parent families worldwide.