This is how a huge conglomerate thinks millennials want to live
Artisanal coffee workshops. Social kitchens. Stationary bikes.
These features, aimed at millennials, may eventually be part of luxury apartments belonging to The Ascott, the world's largest serviced apartment conglomerate.
The Singapore-headquartered hospitality giant, which has apartments all over Asia, Europe and the Middle East, has set up a "living lab" at the Singapore Management University's downtown campus.
The colourful apartment mock-ups feature modular furniture, a large social pantry, a jamming room for musicians, and futuristic recreation rooms with VR headsets and a "reimagined cube for table tennis."
The set up, named lyf@SMU (because millennials, right?) will monitor the popularity of the unique rooms in a pretty innovative way. Via how many people are connected to Wi-Fi, the lab will generate heat maps to show how often people use different rooms, as well as how long they stay.
This'll be one of the factors, in addition to focus group feedback, that will help The Ascott figure out what millennials really want.
Ascott's CEO, Lee Chee Koon, said ahead of the facility's Feb. 27 launch, that millennials want to be part of a community. "People love to gather ... You may have a smaller living area, but you cannot compromise on the living experience."
I am an intern with Mashable Asia, focusing on viral news, lifestyle news and feature news in the region.
