Ascott partners SMU to launch living lab to field-test lyf

SINGAPORE (Feb 23): The Ascott Ltd, CapitaLand’s serviced residence business unit, is partnering Singapore Management University to launch a lab to field-test co-living concepts of its newest brand, lyf.

Named lyf@SMU, Ascott will simulate a lyf product at SMU to test out various co-living concepts, enabling its students to be the first in the world to experience and shape upcoming lyf properties.

lyf@SMU is located in the city centre within the former home of Malaya Publishing House built in the 1900s. It will be open 24/7 for all SMU students from Feb 27.

With more than 32,000 sf spread over three storeys, there are co-working lounges with modular furniture, large communal tables at the social pantry with interactive voting boards, multimedia rooms to encourage collaboration and free flow of ideas, days beds and napping pods.

Ascott will also test out recreation areas such as a soundproof music jamming studio and an exercise zone for a game of foosball or table tennis.

Lee Chee Koon, Ascott’s CEO, said: “We will be directly engaging the more than 1,200 millennials expected to visit lyf@SMU daily to field test various co-living concepts and community building activities. With each of the students clocking an average staying time of about four hours, we will be building up a sizeable data reservoir of user preferences and space usage patterns. The data will be translated into actionable insights to better tailor lyf to their needs as they prepare to become working professionals, our main target customers of lyf.”

Ascott has set its sights to roll out 10,000 units under the lyf brand globally by 2020 in gateway cities of markets like Australia, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the UK. — theedgemarkets.com.sg

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