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The Importance of the “Third Place” In Multi-Family Developments
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“Coffee shops, post offices, neighborhood restaurants, parks, etc provide us with a place to create organic social bonds and participate in informal gatherings. These places are public but also have a level of intimacy..”
Ray Oldenburg, an American urban sociologist coined the term “third place” in his book “The Great Good Place” published in 1989. He identified that in modern societies, time is primarily spent in our first place (home) and our second place (work). He introduced the need for this third place for our social and emotional well-being, suggesting that coffee shops, post offices, neighborhood restaurants, parks, etc provide us with a place to create organic social bonds and participate in informal gatherings. These places are public but also have a level of intimacy.
Social interactions have looked quite different this last year than what we typically picture them to be and the notion of the third place in trend conversations has reemerged with a vengeance. Most of what we are seeing about the third place anticipates the office adopting that role, to provide a familiar, flexible, and well-rounded offering to fulfill that need for community. And while we agree wholeheartedly, we see the home and work environment as two sides of the same coin. This is especially important right now as our typical third places have been unavailable to us and are in a state of evolution.
Multi Family amenities are a natural option to take on this mantle. Amenities should always strive to promote social interaction and community building. Amenities cannot be simply a check list of typical spaces to include, they instead need to be organic and flexible and respond directly to user needs and behaviors. A wellness offering for a suburban garden property and a wellness offering for an urban highrise property should be different, not just in size, but in programming, equipment, and aesthetics. Developers, property managers, architects, and designers need to be in touch with their targeted audience and local market more
than ever to be in tune with a fine-tuned need to connect. Why is it so important to create that connection? Aside from our psychological need to create something of value? Amenities can be a dusty untapped resource for revenue if they sit empty. Designing amenities that people actually use, and creating a connection, turns renters into long-term residents with brand loyalty.
Here are some things to keep in mind while programming for amenities that add value.
“Amenities cannot be simply a check list of typical spaces to include, they instead need to be organic and flexible and respond directly to user needs and behaviors..”Photo Info: First and Farmer Tempe, AZ MorningStar Hillsboro Hillsboro, WA Elkwood Flagstaff, AZ
“Spaces aren’t meant to be stagnant; they should be a dynamic, living, growing part of the community. When the offering is more than their first and second place, you fulfill the muchneeded role of third place.
Because the third place has been primary thought of as neighborhood gathering spaces, a question to ask is not just what the surrounding neighborhood has that can supplement to your property’s programming, but what does the neighborhood not have? How can your property fill that gap in the needs and wants for prospective residents? Also, what are things you can offer that residents don’t have in their own unit? Too many times we walk into a clubhouse to see a large sofa, some chairs, and a TV, and guaranteed most residents have that kind of layout in their own unit, so how can you push that to the next level to give them something unique? Another key element is flexibility. Designing a space that is flexible means every inch is still planned, but the space lends itself to be interacted with. Spaces aren’t meant to be stagnant; they should be a dynamic, living, growing part of the community. When the offering is more than their first and second place, you fulfill the much-needed role of third place.
