In the Gangnam district of Seoul hides a ‘treehouse’ made of steel reinforced concrete
It’s the first building of co-living apartments for young people in the South Korea
Here 72 young people have their own rooms
And share kitchen, home theatre and reading room at the same time
They do yoga and watch movies in the shared living room
Melody is the designer of the building
And also the campaigner of ‘co-living’
We meet in the living room surrounded by green plants on the first floor
Treehouse is located in Gangnam, which is the financial center of Seoul
We have around 33% people （who are living here） with a foreign background
We actually dug up the concrete like this around 660 centimeters
That's the depth of soil a tree needs to have to grow properly
So the trees have been alive
So the project began in 2017
We actually surveyed 395 people, millennials
And the results were that people would not mind sharing the laundry
They would mind sharing the bathroom
They would like services such as linen, even the kitchen
So based on these results
We started to know what to take out of the units
And put into the community space
The conditions for renting in Korea are very special
It's a typical scenario that you have to pay 10 months to one year of deposit
So many young people, they cannot afford to live in, to enter the rental market
We have just a two-month deposit
The rent is around a thousand and two hundred dollars
We aim for about 30 percent, 35 percent of the salary
But with all of these additional things included
As a foreign tenant with a dog
American girl Ariana was bullied a lot
I came here in March
The lofted floors are fantastic
But the stairs aren't suited for Ginger
Because she has a quirky body
I really like this one
Because I like the blue tile over here
This table moves
If I want to watch Netflix
I just kind of push it this way
If I want to cook a bit and like prep stuff
I push it that way
There's a bench here so I can use it as a desk
We have two dogs on the third floor
And I think the dogs like each other
So one time one dog was barking from this side
And then the other dog was also barking
And they had a conversation
So it’s a community for the dogs
There are six different types of apartments
The third floor is more suited for women
Then the fifth floor is the cat life
So the bookshelf acts as the cat tower
The seventh floor is the minimal life
I stayed there for six months from the very beginning
Paying rents and utility bills
Making reservation for the fitness courses, art classes and movies offered by the treehouse
You only need a cell phone
Choi Ji Yoong lives in a lofted room on the 8th floor
He’s a developer of real estate apps
He shows me how to get the hang of the treehouse with the app
Of the 395 millennials that we surveyed
75% preferred the loft type
And the eighth floor is the peak life
Which is a double-height space
On the first floor, he tends to do cooking or enjoying his hobbies
On the second floor, he either uses the bed for resting or he can also work on his laptop
As the treehouse ushers in its first anniversary
Lots of new tenants become ‘old’ tenants
Style director Park Sohyun lives here
She also brings her working partner florist Jeon Seongyeop
Who becomes a tenant here too
I was on a business trip in Japan
She told me it was a nice apartment
So when I came back from Japan
I came here with my suitcase straightaway
Sometimes my work team come here as well
We gather in the meeting room
We also make the building the shooting scene of our look book
We usually meet up in the hall
Eating, drinking tea or chatting
I enjoy the plants and see the changing of four seasons here
When I just moved in
When I decided to sign a lease with the treehouse
I said if the plants wither away one day, I will move out
For many South Koreans
In fact, we’ve been living in our own comfort zone
We always see the same people in the same places
We always do the same thing at the same time
But since I moved in the treehouse
New people, new sites, new communication and new themes
I think that’s the treehouse’s advantage
So you also set up rules for living in this apartment building
One example is please don't hang your laundry on the rails of the atrium
Or please don't smoke inside your rooms
Nobody has been kicked out, thankfully
A friend of mine who moved here
She was saying, when she's feeling alone
As soon as she opens a door, there are people in the living room
People are social animals
We encourage community even in the house
I think that will make a culture that bleeds into the rest of the city
And how we deal with others too