About this episode

Chris Riley and Oliver Lowrie discuss the design, funding, and delivery of co-living spaces at scale, emphasizing sustainable practices and the growth of the sector.

In the latest episode of PropCast, Chris Riley of Bywater Group and Oliver Lowrie of Ackroyd Lowrie discuss what it takes to design, fund and deliver co-living at scale, why timber construction halves upfront carbon, and what the sector’s rapid growth means for institutional capital. “Design shouldn’t cost extra,” says Oliver Lowrie, co-founder of Ackroyd Lowrie, the architecture practice behind a growing number of London’s co-living schemes. “Gone are the days when you hired a star architect to produce something that looked amazing but wasn’t buildable. We know what the thing’s going to be built out of. It needs to be about pragmatism and making great design.” Nearly 9,000 co-living units were consented across the UK in 2025, according to data compiled by Savills , up 27% on the previous year’s record. In London alone, consents nearly doubled. The capital is arriving. The question is whether the capital (and customers) believe the buildings will be worth it. Lowrie is joined on this week’s PropCast by Chris Riley, who leads development at Bywater Group , the timber-focused developer and investment manager majority-owned by Sumitomo Forestry. Lowrie has designed several co-living…

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