Adopting a people-centred approach to designing homes, we set out to discover what life at home means for aspirational urban residents in Phnom Penh. After ten months of rigorous research, we are excited to share our findings in our latest white paper, The Future of Home.
As a Cambodian developer creating inspirational spaces for people to live, work and play in, we believe that putting people at the centre of everything we do will enrich their quality of life and create a healthy environment to achieve their aspirations.
Our white paper, ‘The Future of Home’, is the result of an in-depth research journey involving focus group sessions and surveys with 170 participants carried out by our Urbanland team to better understand the perceptions, joys and frustrations of aspirational urban residents in Phnom Penh. By aspirational residents, we refer to members of Cambodia's rising middle class who are increasingly well-educated and informed, purpose-driven, determined and motivated to improve their lives and the lives of others.
Design quality was a ‘very important’ consideration for 75% of participants when choosing their homes, with a general perception that many new urban developments in Cambodia promise grand and luxurious exteriors, with less consideration given to the design of practical and functional living spaces.
We found that 84% Phnom Penh residents that we engaged regularly bring work home and only about 10% have a proper working space in their current home, resulting in approximately 65% of them working from their bedroom.
More than half of the participants spend most of their time in bedroom because there is a lack of space and privacy in the living room. More than 60% of them also reported having insufficient storage space in their current home which results in clutter and a stressful environment.
When it comes to quality design, it is not simply a measure of how big the space is or how aesthetically pleasing it looks, but rather how much these design qualities can serve the practical needs and lifestyles of its inhabitants, which we truly care about.
“By paying attention to their needs and the way we design our spaces to meet those needs, we can use this data to build better homes that suit the changing requirements of Cambodian families as they grow and flourish,” says Hok Kang, our managing director.
We believe the quality of people’s lives is intricately tied to the spaces they inhabit - their homes, their workspaces, and the spaces in between. This research has given us valuable insights for our future developments. Our upcoming project, Chankiri Palm Creek in the south of Phnom Penh, will be the truest expression to date of our people-centred design approach.
We hope our findings will serve as a catalyst for our industry to evolve, enabling everyone to live better and achieve their aspirations. Download ‘The Future of Home’ white paper here.
Discover more about our upcoming borey project, Chankiri Palm Creek.