Shared ecological retirement housing in France

A group of pensioners have come together to set up the first housing cooperative for seniors based on democracy and ecology in Eastern Lyon, France. Seven years after their first discussions on the project, the building work has now started and should end around mid-2017.

Because they did not want to end up in a traditional retirement home but wanted to continue to manage their lives as long as possible, the pensioners set up the association Chamarel in 2010 with the objective of building ecological co-housing. The building, which will be insulated with straw, south oriented and will have natural light optimized in all rooms, will be designed for its ageing residents (adapted facilities) and will offer individual apartments and shared spaces and services. It will contain 4 floors with 16 housing units and collective rooms downstairs: 2 spare bedrooms for visitors, a room with a kitchen, a hobby (DIY) area, a laundry room, a room for bikes or walkers, as well as an office for the day-to-day management of the Chamarel association.

Read more in French here

Website of the project: https://cooperativechamarel.wordpress.com/