Gamified Cohousing

"The pioneer of shared living"

We turn empty buildings into economies

Gamified Cohousing Oy is a Finland-based social enterprise that turns abandoned or underused buildings, especially heritage properties, into affordable self-managed micro-economies through participatory, minimalistic, modular renovation and gamified facility management.

We create mixed private and shared spaces for living and working at modern standards, enabling communities to benefit financially and socially from easy, fun daily tasks, shared services, and local interactions. We involve the future users from the 1st moment to lower renovation costs, reduce risks, and improve local adaptation.

We address loneliness, housing shortages, and the misuse of natural resources by promoting a replicable cohousing and coworking model grounded in values such as solidarity, democracy, sustainability, and circular economy.

THE Gamified Cohousings

Kannus

Oulu

Lappeenranta

Hyrsylän Koulu

Kajaani

Kathmandu

"(...) a company that has saved buildings under threat of demolition across Finland."

"(...) a new communal living concept in Finland to ease the housing situation."

the Re renovate symposiums

Following the success of our inaugural symposium in Oulu, Finland, in August 2025, we now continue to do the Re Renovate as regular event. The second edition was in Venice in November 2025.

We bring together leading architects, researchers, cultural producers, and policymakers to challenge conventional approaches to participatory architectural renovation.

The App

why gamified cohousing?

A Tampere University study highlights that Finland tops Western Europe in tearing down historic sites, with strict regulations limiting renovation options. This leads to wasted resources and a loss of community heritage.

In response to social isolation and inefficient use of resources, our “Gamified Cohousing” concept, launched in 2018 from “Architectural Democracy” research, offers a five-step strategy to transform old buildings into shared co-living and workspaces.

We convert aging properties into thriving communities, providing modern amenities and an app for facility management to enhance social connections and economic returns through daily interactions.

Politics - MIX COHOUSING & COWORKING

We are loosing the ability to negotiate differences with our neighbours as it is too easy to avoid or click them away! Third-home purchases swell to record proportions. We build because cities need to consume the capitalism surplus not because people are homeless! (bloomberg 2018) "In the context of real estate we have to be concerned about whether the tech industry will learn real estate faster than real estate learns tech. At the moment real estate is losing, and badly." (Slumbers).

Gamification - PROPERTIES THAT THINK

Ageing population and millenial's fluid life styles demand change of real estate "With a smaller generation (echo boomers) following a larger generation (baby boomers) for the first time in history, we’re caught in the trap of “diers” vs. “buyers.” Essentially, millions more people will be leaving the housing market than entering it. With sellers drastically exceeding buyers, there will be a huge housing glut." (Economy and Markets 2018)

Big Targets

Renovate with the users from the very 1st moment
Create living and working communities where people negotiate differences locally (political literacy), in a more economically, ecologically and socially sustainable way, with adaptable physical and social design where users can master their own social rules within that community via game mechanics
Fight loneliness (Preventive health)
No construction of new buildings if others are empty nearby (environment)
Renovate old buildings or add extensions to old ones (heritage)
Gather information, conduct research and runs public debates
Transform architecture into a process rather than a product based service
Adoption of multiple home ownership schemes to prevent housing market speculation
Measure the ecological footprints of the cohousing, gamer/inhabitants
Implement AI for a better living and working patterns of Cohousing and co-working spaces (user has the data ownership).

PRESS

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GC KAJ Press article Kainuun Saunomat November 2023

GC KAJ press article Kainuun Saunomat November 2023_ATEN

"(...) a new communal living concept in Finland to ease the housing situation."

"The pioneer of shared living"

"The company, which operates in the field of property management, has already converted three former school, daycare and station buildings around Finland into living and working spaces"

"(...) a company that has saved buildings under threat of demolition across Finland."

“An interesting example of utilizing technologies for building residential communities and developing an “adaptive reuse service”.”

BOOKS

Gamified Cohousing book chapter publication

Future for Europe moscow book 2019 arcdem and gamified cohousing publication

lectures

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THE BLOG

The Myth of New Construction

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March 18, 2026

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Gamified Cohousing

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No Comments

New construction is usually presented as the rational answer to housing needs. It appears clean, measurable, bankable, and future-oriented. By contrast, renovation is treated as sentimental, technically awkward, and financially uncertain. But this contrast is deeply misleading. What new construction often offers is not superior social, ecological, or even economic value. It offers legibility to a system built around standardisation: standard permits, standard insurance, standard finance, standard procurement, standard ownership structures.

Demolition as Default: How Cities Destroy Their Past

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March 16, 2026

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Gamified Cohousing

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No Comments

Buildings rarely disappear with drama. They fade quietly through postponed maintenance, temporary repairs, and technical reports until renovation is declared “uneconomical” and demolition becomes inevitable. Across Finland and much of the developed world, structurally viable schools, municipal buildings, and housing blocks are routinely demolished, not because they have failed, but because renovation is administratively complex and economically uncertain.

The Architecture of Exclusion

gamified

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February 11, 2026

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Architectural Democracy, Gamified Cohousing

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No Comments

The contemporary housing crisis is often framed as a shortage problem. Not enough homes, not enough speed, not enough efficiency. This framing …

Team

Pedro Aibéo

CEO

Architect and Civil Engineer and Founder of the Gamified Cohousing

Rajani Dangol

Administrative & Expansion
Coordinator

Concentrating on improving the overall performance of the company

Jaya Maharjan

Architect

Architect with a strong focus on user-centered design.

Nistha Tiwari

Architect

Architect with a strong sensitivity to sustainable and urban design.

Partners

Academic & Research Institutions

Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
University of Sydney
Aalto University
Università Iuav di Venezia (IUAV)
Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (KAMK)
Kpedu – Central Ostrobothnia Vocational Education Consortium
OSAO – Oulu Vocational College (Oulun seudun ammattiopisto)
Concreto Academy

Cultural & Artistic Partners

Mälkiä-Kanavansuu Residents’ Association (Mälkiä-Kanavansuun asukasyhdistys ry)
K&C ry
Promotion Centre for Folk Music and Folk Dance (Kansanmusiikin ja Kansantanssin Edistämiskeskus, KEK)
Folk Music Association Rällä (Rällä ry)
The Irish Music Society of Oulu ry
Oulu Culture Events Association
World Music School Helsinki ry
Air Guitar World Championships
TaikaBox ry
Factum Foundation
ARK – Finnish Architectural Review
Caisa Cultural Centre, Helsinki

Professional & Industry Associations

PROTO – Association of Northern Finnish Designers
Northern Finland SAFA – Finnish Association of Architects
RIA – The Association of Construction Engineers and Architects (Rakennusinsinöörit ja -arkkitehdit ry)
HouseEurope! Initiative
Aalto Siilo
Arctic Construction Cluster Finland

Companies & Foundations

JK Associates
Parmaco Oy
Worldpackers
Coliving

Governmental & EU Institutions

Business Finland
BusinessOulu
Oulu2026 – European Capital of Culture
Instituto Ibero-Americano de Finlândia
New European Bauhaus Prizes / European Commission

Our Own Initiatives

Architectural Democracy Oy
Gamified Cohousing

Recognitions / Institutional Engagement

Gamified Cohousing operates at the intersection of architecture, governance, and community innovation, with recognition across European and global institutional platforms.

United Nations – World Urban Forum (WUF13)
Selected for the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum 13 (WUF13), presenting Gamified Cohousing as a scalable model combining adaptive reuse and digitally enabled community self-governance in housing.

New European Bauhaus (NEB)
Gamified Cohousing is a finalist of the 2025 New European Bauhaus Awards and part of the NEB Regions and Cities network, a European platform supporting initiatives that shape sustainable, inclusive, and aesthetically meaningful environments.

European Union Transparency Register
Gamified Cohousing is registered in the EU Transparency Register (REG 7344744100535–19), ensuring openness, accountability, and engagement within European institutional processes.

We turn empty buildings into economies