Mellado Madrid Coliving, featured in “Toc toc, se puede” TeleMadrid

A new TeleMadrid TV show that focuses on different housing alternatives came to visit our Mellado Madrid Coliving, to discover how coliving works.

Óscar, one of our residents, guided them through the coliving building, showing them his studio and all common areas.

‘Coliving’, a new way of living in Madrid

A private room, a ready-built community & dozens of shared spaces? At first it might seem like what you get with a hotel, but it is far from that. Here the people who rent their little corner of privacy are part of a community or ‘family’ who share common areas and even fridges. It’s called ‘coliving’, and it’s not just a new way of living, but a whole philosophy of life.

Óscar and his girlfriend Lidia met at the Mellado Madrid Coliving, after both deciding to try out this new lifestyle, and they now share a larger studio together.

The ‘coliving’ is a new housing rental offer that strongly appeals to young professionals aged 26 and older, who do not mind sharing a kitchen and television with other tenants. They have their own private place in the form of a studio with an en-suite bathroom, and the rest of the building holds different common areas that encourages everyone to coexist harmoniously. Organization, respect and tolerance are necessary. 

Speaking to TeleMadrid, Ósacar explains that “We’ve not really had problems when it comes to watching TV. There are many common spaces available and it is just a matter of organizing amongst ourselves and reaching an agreement”. To avoid conflicts in the kitchen, which is shared between four studios, each drawer and shelf is assigned to a tenant. “If someone likes coffee and brings a coffee machine, it is shared with whoever needs it, if the owner agrees of course.” Continues Óscar. Although cleaning is included in the rent, next to the dining room table we find a large blackboard displaying different tasks and those assigned to each one (water the plants, cleaning the common spaces etc.). 

A ‘new age’ community

Óscar is from Barcelona, but had been living outside of Spain. When he arrived in Madrid he wanted to try this new lifestyle and described his first sentiments as those of surprise.

The ‘coliving‘ provides accommodation with a private bathroom. The rest of the house is shared. It costs between 750 and 1,200 euros per month, including utilities, wifi, maintenance, cleaning and a fully equipped kitchen. Residents all have access to a gym, fitness studio, a movies room and three terraces, one of which has an urban garden, with the main common space offering a large table where the whole community can come together. The building is located in Chamberí and has 74 studios in total, some of them doubles. “This is a way of life. If you want to interact with others, you can, but if you don’t, just don’t go to the common areas as often.” So far though, it seems that everyone has hit it off very well. “Every two weeks we hold a community meeting to talk about any issues we’re having, and follow it up with a delicious community dinner “.

Advantages and disadvantages of ‘coliving’

Advantages of ‘coliving’

• Everything is included in the rent (utilities, cleaning, maintenance, Wifi & even Netflix)
• You just need to bring your clothes, the rest is provided by Urban Campus.
• Complete cleaning in common areas every week and in private areas every month.
• Opportunity to meet new people.
• The gym is included in the price.

Disadvantages of ‘coliving’

• Loss of some privacy by sharing so many common areas.
• Possibility of disputes derived from living with so many people.

The building has about 300 square meters of common areas. The tenants are between 26 and 40 years old and are professionals. The ‘coliving’  does not admit students. Residents can bring guests but they cannot stay more than seven nights in a row.