Hospitality
Customer experience strategy
Service design
Brand strategy
Brand identity
Brand experience
Customer experience strategy
Service design
Brand strategy
Brand identity
Brand experience
Vision and alignement
COLIVING FACTORY
compose
Designing a shared housing model that reconnects people.
COLIVING FACTORY
compose
Designing a shared housing model that reconnects people.
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COLIVING FACTORY
Compose
Designing a shared housing model that reconnects people.
COLIVING FACTORY
Compose
Designing a shared housing model that reconnects people.
Challenge
Address urban isolation by inventing a new model of shared living while supporting the emerging start-up in building, testing, and structuring its economic and business model.
Solution
Over three years, SOUFFL co-developed “Coliving by compose”, a shared living model built on the concept of Relinking, supporting the start-up from design to deployment.
Project stages
Immerse & map out
Set direction
Imagine & test
Shape & refine
Deploy & enhance
Summary
Full story
Summary
Full story
Summary
Full story
Challenge
Over three years, SOUFFL co-developed “Coliving by compose”, a shared living model built on the concept of Relinking, supporting the start-up from design to deployment.
Solution
Address urban isolation by inventing a new model of shared living while supporting the emerging start-up in building, testing, and structuring its economic and business model.
Project stages
Immerse & map out
Set direction
Imagine & test
Shape & refine
Deploy & enhance
A living ecosystem
Designing a living ecosystem for modern transitions.
In response to the housing crisis and growing urban loneliness, Coliving Factory partnered with Souffl to imagine a new way of living together.
From this collaboration emerged compose, a shared living model redefining urban life through connection, autonomy, and care.
Souffl conceived a complete ecosystem, from the housing concept to the brand identity, bringing together private studios for independence, generous shared spaces for connection, and thoughtful services designed to support residents through their life transitions.
More than a housing solution, compose is an invitation to rebuild links, with oneself, with others,
and with the world around us.
The end of the Maslow’s pyramid
Rethinking Maslow’s pyramid in
a non-hierarchical way.
Research showed that, at any age, isolation peaks during life transitions, moving to a new city, starting over after a breakup, changing jobs. These fragile yet open moments drive a search for connection. By mapping residents’ journeys, we uncovered that human needs are no longer hierarchical, as in Maslow’s pyramid, but circular and evolving. What feels essential to one person may be secondary to another. Autonomy, security, and purpose now coexist and shift throughout life stages. This insight shaped the compose model : private studios for independence, shared spaces for connection, and thoughtful services like free bread and coffee, a shared car or housekeeping, designed to simplify daily life and foster a sense of care.
Manifesto
Relinking: a new vision of shared living.
Immersing ourselves in residents’ daily lives, we discovered that the true strength of compose lies in the human bonds it nurtures. To embody this uniqueness, we articulated the concept of Relinking, an invitation to connect, reconnect, and connect differently with oneself, others, and one’s environment. Guided by this concept, we designed a complete experience, brand, value proposition and service model grounded in four commitments: housing access, social connection, local anchoring, and social and environmental responsibility.
Value proposition
A supportive living ecosystem for anyone navigating life transitions.
Through shared homes and thoughtfully designed services, compose makes everyday life easier while fostering genuine social connection. Each residence becomes a place where encounters, mutual support and quiet solitude naturally coexist, and where simple everyday gestures like a shared meal or a morning coffee spark friendships between residents and their neighbors.
The services
Everyday services for life in transition.
compose is an ecosystem of shared living spaces and essential services designed to support people experiencing geographic mobility or life transitions. It provides flexible, all-inclusive housing with no agency fees, no heavy guarantees, and selects residents for their motivation rather than their status. Daily services include cleaning, laundry, maintenance, shared mobility options such as bikes and a car, and grocery delivery.
The houses
Building supportive, connected and community-driven living environments.
Each home is fully furnished, equipped, and supported by a dedicated referent who helps every newcomer settle in, navigate their new environment, and feel truly at home. With shared spaces for living, working, guest hosting, high-quality comfort standards, compose turns relocation into belonging, and housing into community.
The name
A name that embodies harmony and human connection.
The name compose evokes harmony, balance, and connection. Simple yet evocative, it suggests building something harmonious from many parts, like composing music or a shared life. It carries a sense of order, calm, and connection, of things and people coming together naturally. It speaks of recentering, rebuilding oneself, finding equilibrium and reconnecting with others, ideas, and places. Rooted in the concept of Relinking, it embodies the creation of bonds between individuality and community. Free from elitism or jargon, compose feels universal and human, a word that anyone can make their own.
Visual identity
A living logo.
The compose logo is the visual embodiment of Relinking, a living expression of connection and balance. Built from four simple shapes, an arc, a half-circle, a rectangle, and a triangle, it forms a generative system capable of infinite variations. Each version reflects the identity of a residence, its city, its scale, its community, and its rhythm. Constantly evolving yet instantly recognizable, the logo mirrors the diversity of places where compose grows. The symbol moves, the name stands still: set in Helvetica Now Text Regular, the name compose remains clear, stable, and timeless, anchoring a system that unites individuality and coherence, change and continuity.
4 primitive shapes connected to data, to build a living sign :
A circular arc, a half-circle, a rectangle and a triangle form the fundamental shapes of the compose symbol. Its geometry is alive: it evolves in real time based on the data of the compose ecosystem (number of residents, housing types and sizes, cities), whose characteristics directly influence the proportions and relationships between these primitive shapes.
The frame :
A square made of four columns, crossed at its center by an invisible line: a metaphor for the connection that unites compose, its residents and its ecosystem.
Functioning :
The elements are arranged in a staggered layout on either side of this line.
Rules :
The “C” of compose, formed by two circular arcs, is always present. Around it, shapes generated from the four primitive forms fill the remaining columns, creating an ever-evolving whole.
Web design
Bringing the experience online
Designed for people on the move, searching for homes and new beginnings, the compose website instantly conveys the project’s essence: shared living that balances connection and privacy. Visitors can explore available homes, discover associated services, and understand the simple process of joining the compose community. Each residence is shown in its real context, city, neighborhood, landscape, through authentic imagery that captures local atmosphere and heritage. Beyond functionality, the website embodies compose’s purpose: reconnecting people, places, and belonging.
Result
A scalable model for connected, collective living.
A scalable co-living model now proven at market scale: a strong brand, a service blueprint ready to replicate, three fundraising rounds completed, and 29 residences launched across France, including a signature site in Nantes named SOUFFL.
Looking to design a scalable lifestyle service for new forms of living.
Explore our other projects
New business inquiries
If you have ideas for your brand, your business,
or the world at large, we’re here to listen and collaborate.
We can design
a more human future together.
SOUFFL is a global design
and creation studio.
We collaborate with the boldest organizations to shape today
the vision of tomorrow.
We create products, services,
and experiences that define
the future and transform
people’s lives.
A living ecosystem
Designing a living ecosystem for modern transitions.
In response to the housing crisis and growing urban loneliness, Coliving Factory partnered with SOUFFL to imagine a new way of living together. From this collaboration emerged compose, a shared living model redefining urban life through connection, autonomy, and care. SOUFFL conceived a complete ecosystem, from the housing concept to the brand identity, bringing together private studios for independence, generous shared spaces for connection, and thoughtful services designed to support residents through their life transitions. More than a housing solution, compose is an invitation to rebuild links, with oneself, with others, and with the world around us.
The end of
the Maslow’s pyramid
Rethinking Maslow’s pyramid in a non-hierarchical way.
Research showed that, at any age, isolation peaks during life transitions, moving to a new city, starting over after a breakup, changing jobs. These fragile yet open moments drive a search for connection. By mapping residents’ journeys, we uncovered that human needs are no longer hierarchical, as in Maslow’s pyramid, but circular and evolving. What feels essential to one person may be secondary to another. Autonomy, security, and purpose now coexist and shift throughout life stages. This insight shaped the compose model : private studios for independence, shared spaces for connection, and thoughtful services like free bread and coffee, a shared car or housekeeping, designed to simplify daily life and foster a sense of care.
Manifesto
Relinking: a new vision of shared living.
Immersing ourselves in residents’ daily lives, we discovered that the true strength of compose lies in the human bonds it nurtures. To embody this uniqueness, we articulated the concept of Relinking, an invitation to connect, reconnect, and connect differently with oneself, others, and one’s environment. Guided by this concept, we designed a complete experience, brand, value proposition and service model grounded in four commitments: housing access, social connection, local anchoring, and social and environmental responsibility.
Value
proposition
A supportive living ecosystem for anyone navigating life transitions.
Through shared homes and thoughtfully designed services, compose makes everyday life easier while fostering genuine social connection. Each residence becomes a place where encounters, mutual support and quiet solitude naturally coexist, and where simple everyday gestures like a shared meal or a morning coffee spark friendships between residents and their neighbors.
The services
Everyday services for life in transition.
compose is an ecosystem of shared living spaces and essential services designed to support people experiencing geographic mobility or life transitions. It provides flexible, all-inclusive housing with no agency fees, no heavy guarantees, and selects residents for their motivation rather than their status. Daily services include cleaning, laundry, maintenance, shared mobility options such as bikes and a car, and grocery delivery.
The houses
Building supportive, connected and community-driven living environments.
Each home is fully furnished, equipped, and supported by a dedicated referent who helps every newcomer settle in, navigate their new environment, and feel truly at home. With shared spaces for living, working, guest hosting, high-quality comfort standards, compose turns relocation into belonging, and housing into community.
The name
A name that embodies harmony and human connection.
The name compose evokes harmony, balance, and connection. Simple yet evocative, it suggests building something harmonious from many parts, like composing music or a shared life. It carries a sense of order, calm, and connection, of things and people coming together naturally. It speaks of recentering, rebuilding oneself, finding equilibrium and reconnecting with others, ideas, and places. Rooted in the concept of Relinking, it embodies the creation of bonds between individuality and community. Free from elitism or jargon, compose feels universal and human, a word that anyone can make their own.
Visual
identity
A living logo.
The compose logo is the visual embodiment of Relinking, a living expression of connection and balance. Built from four simple shapes, an arc, a half-circle, a rectangle, and a triangle, it forms a generative system capable of infinite variations. Each version reflects the identity of a residence, its city, its scale, its community, and its rhythm. Constantly evolving yet instantly recognizable, the logo mirrors the diversity of places where compose grows. The symbol moves, the name stands still: set in Helvetica Now Text Regular, the name compose remains clear, stable, and timeless, anchoring a system that unites individuality and coherence, change and continuity.
4 primitive shapes connected to data,
to build a living sign :
A circular arc, a half-circle, a rectangle and a triangle form the fundamental shapes of the compose symbol. Its geometry is alive: it evolves in real time based on the data of the compose ecosystem (number of residents, housing types and sizes, cities), whose characteristics directly influence the proportions and relationships between these primitive shapes.
The frame :
A square made of four columns, crossed at its center by an invisible line: a metaphor for the connection that unites compose, its residents and its ecosystem.
Functioning :
The elements are arranged in a staggered layout on either side of this line.
Rules :
The “C” of compose, formed by two circular arcs, is always present. Around it, shapes generated from the four primitive forms fill the remaining columns, creating an ever-evolving whole.
Web design
Bringing the experience online
Designed for people on the move, searching for homes and new beginnings, the compose website instantly conveys the project’s essence: shared living that balances connection and privacy. Visitors can explore available homes, discover associated services, and understand the simple process of joining the compose community. Each residence is shown in its real context, city, neighborhood, landscape, through authentic imagery that captures local atmosphere and heritage. Beyond functionality, the website embodies compose’s purpose: reconnecting people, places, and belonging.
Result
A scalable model for connected, collective living
A scalable co-living model now proven at market scale: a strong brand, a service blueprint ready to replicate, three fundraising rounds completed, and 29 residences launched across France, including a signature site in Nantes named SOUFFL.
Looking to design a scalable lifestyle service for new forms of living ?
Explore our other projects
New business inquiries
If you have ideas for your brand, your business, or the world at large, we’re here to listen and collaborate. We can design a more human future together.
SOUFFL is a global design and creation studio.
We collaborate with the boldest organizations to shape today
the vision of tomorrow.
We create products, services,
and experiences that define
the future and transform
people’s lives.
