Coliving Awards
Edition 2022

Co-founder of Marc Koehler Architects, Superlofts.co, Openbuilding.co & MaMa Pioneers

Marc believes in the unique craft of architects to create adaptive collective systems - with profound cultural, social, and ecological impact. Marc wants to safeguard architecture as a “safe space” for social experimentation and spatial poetry in the context of hyper-capitalism, which is intrinsically hungry for novelty but sceptical to profound change.

Marc Koehler Architects (MKA) is known for initiating labels such as Superlofts.co and openbuilding.co and have opened a 2nd studio in European start-up capital Lisbon from where he intends to develop international platform brands at the intersection of real estate, branding, architecture & experience design such as MaMa Pioneers: a modular shared living concept offering a mix of affordable and market housing with multiple buildings around Amsterdam, build in CLT and around “Tiny Forests”. And more recently Nomalides; a regenerative Eco Village & hospitality brand in Melides Portugal.

MKA’s ideas about modular design and community building also play a role in the master vision for a new sustainable city in Thamesmead London, currently being developed with Prior & Partners, Arup and ABA and others.

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Jeroen Vester started his career at Concrete Architectural Associates where was responsible for the development of the CitizenM room and the design of the public areas of the first hotel of the chain, which opened in 2008 on Schiphol Airport Amsterdam. After the second and third CitizenM Hotel, the Royal Lounge on Schiphol Airport Amsterdam and several other projects Jeroen ended his 7-year period at Concrete opening W Hotel Leicester Square spring 2011.

After 3 years of creative collaboration in several combinations Jeroen founded Ninetynine in 2014. Ninetynine focuses on concepts and interiors for retail, offices and hospitality and grew to a small core team of creatives, expanded with various external  specialists specifically selected for each project. 

Ninetynine created interior designs for Hotel Casa Amsterdam, Restaurant Entrepot, Mash, de Wasserette, Vice Media Benelux HQ, TSH Collab, The Pool and many others. Besides these stand-alone interiors Ninetynine developed interior concepts for roll-out for clients like Coffeecompany, Vlaamsch Broodhuys, Salsa Shop, Juice Brothers, Vanmoof and others. A full list of projects is available at www.ninetynine.nl.

Co-Founder of Coliving Ventures and Managing Partner at Spatial Experience. Her contributions in various initiatives within the coliving industry – such as Coliving Insights and Coliving Awards – are fuelling the sector with innovative ideas, focus and strategic thinking.

Michael helps companies increase marketing effectiveness by improving their marketing organization, operation and internal and external collaboration. He is an expert on strategic planning, media management and in-housing agency capabilities.

Besides he is a coach, examinator and assessor at the University of Applied Science in Amsterdam and the Avans Hogeschool in Den Bosch.

Co-Founder and Head of Sustainability & Research at Conscious Coliving, Dr Penny Clark. Penny has recently obtained a PhD at the University of Westminster in environmentally sustainable practices within communities. During Coliving Awards 2022, Penny will lead the assessment of Impact & Sustainability category.

James is recognised as one of the leading thought leaders on the future of the real estate market. He travels the world as a keynote speaker, or moderator at some of the leading property events.  

His role as the Co-Founder of Unissu (http://www.unissu.com/), the trusted PropTech procurement portal, means he has an unrivalled perspective on global PropTech trends.

Surveying over 10,000 PropTech businesses, and being exposed to the challenges from the global property market gives James an incredible insight into the property market. With his role, and research, surrounding the innovators in the industry, James’ speeches are filled with useful knowledge for companies, and their employees about the digital transformation of the industry.

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Samuel Vetrak is the Founder and CEO of BONARD, a global market research and advisory firm that assists with data, strategies and assessments in rented residential asset classes, incl. student housing, co-living, BTR, PRS and senior living.

Samuel has over 20 years’ experience advising governments, municipalities, sector associations, investors, developers, operators and other real estate stakeholders.

Since 2007, his staff of 50 researchers and analysts operating in four offices around the world have been providing the highest level of secondary and primary (in-field) research, making BONARD a go-to address for granular data in various sectors.

Samuel speaks frequently and at major real estate conferences, sharing latest, insights backed by his long-term industry experience.

Arunima is a former interdisciplinary researcher of the humanities with a PhD. During her time as a lecturer and admissions co-ordinator, she honed her expertise in providing quality education by working with various stakeholders. Her interest with the area of youth development has motivated her to be involved in projects aimed towards making learning accessible, and thus, equitable.

As the Programme Curator for The Class Foundation, she approaches higher education in a holistic manner by focusing on affordable student housing and student mobility grounded in the ethos of sustainability, and creating social value for both students and their host communities.

Gonçalo Hall is the CEO at NomadX, one of the biggest nomad communities in the world with physical communities in Madeira, Cabi Verde and Lisbon.

Also he  launched projects like the Remote Work Movement, Future of Work Conferences, Remote Portugal and Remote Europe in order to help the movement grow and spread. 

The Digital Nomad Village is Gonçalo’s popular project, being developed in Ponta do Sol, Madeira island, where he is building a community of digital nomads focused on positive local impact and deep human connections. The project was featured in CNN, Washington Post, Lonely Planet, Irish Times and many other international publications. 

He started working with the Cabo Verde government to replicate the project and attract thousands of remote workers and entrepreneurs to the beautiful islands of Africa, helping digitalizing and educating the local population to work remotely from Cabo Verde to any company around the world.

He is also the host of the Remote Movement Podcast where he interviews people making a ruckus in the remote world.

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Ron has devoted his life to researching and teaching topics like senior housing and healthcare real estate finance, impact investing, business cases and asset management. His various accomplishments in the industry include fulfilling his roles as a Founder / Chief Executive Officer of MI, a Co-Founder and Chair of the Senior Housing & Healthcare Association, a lecturer at Sociëteit Vastgoed Netwerk® (SVN) and Managing Editor of Real Asset Media Journal.

Adina is Director of Urban Living at Greystar, tasked with consolidating Greystar’s global strategy around the development and acquisition of urban living assets which integrate efficient unit design, expanded shared areas, resident programming, and communal workspace to deliver cost-effective and connected communities.

Adina was most recently Vice President of Investments at The Collective until 2019. She was previously with Greystar’s UK investments team focused on BTR in the UK. Prior to joining Greystar in 2016, Adina worked in acquisitions and asset management for Dermot, a residential company in New York. She started her career in CRE with Knight Frank in Bucharest, Romania in 2010. 

Adina holds an MSc in Real Estate from NYU and a BA from Emory University. She is an active member of ULI UK and ULI Europe and founder of Ladies in Real Estate. She has been named a RESI Trailblazer (PropertyWeek, 2018), a woman shaping the future of RE in the UK (Bisnow, 2019), a Rising Star by PropertyEU and Estates Gazette (2020), and a UK BTR Influencer (EG, 2022). Adina spends most of her spare time cycling.

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Sophie Chick has recently joined ULI to lead the research for Europe. She is responsible for developing and delivering original, objective research on a wide range of issues related to land use, climate change and sustainability, real estate development and investment, and the built environment.

Prior to joining ULI, Sophie was the head of department for Savills World Research team and the lead researcher on ESG in the Urban Environment. Working across all property sectors, she delivered market leading research on global real estate markets and the international forces that shape them.

Before her global role, she moved to Sydney, Australia in 2016 for two years, where she set up a residential research department for Savills. This role was followed by a period at Mirvac, an Australian owner and developer, which saw her working closely with the capital transaction team to best understand risks and opportunities for potential purchases and sales. Sophie began her career at Savills in 2010 in the UK residential research team.

Kristen Zupancic is a shared living professional with an eye for trendspotting in future living, working and learning spaces. A former researcher and innovation analyst in coliving and PBSA, Kristen now heads operations at Co-Liv, the global nonprofit for coliving professionals and leads the transformation of underutilised spaces as founder of Plot Twist Placemaking.

Gaëtan de Dietrich is a business builder specialised in community-centric products and experiences. As part of the founding team at Hmlet (now merged with Habyt), he helped scale coliving operations across Asia and Europe, pioneering emotionally intelligent and economically sustainable models at scale.

He works with founders to build systems that integrate co-creation, civic engagement, and social connection into operations - designing models for both businesses and NGOs where residents are not just customers, but active contributors. A strong advocate for putting people back at the centre, Gaëtan champions community-led design as both a social mission and a strategic advantage.

Virginia is passionate about analysing emerging lifestyles and designing new space usages and business models to promote them. Gathering a double expertise in architecture and consulting, she has helped major real estate groups in the creation of innovative concepts, including coliving and coworking offers. She’s also an advisor for the global coliving no-profit Co-Liv, for which she leads the academic partnership with the School of Design - Politecnico di Milano.