Sophie, Al & Hamish

What made you decide to purchase a Nightingale home?

The Nightingale model was appealing to my partner and me for many reasons. We were both keen to live a sustainable lifestyle but found that it was hard to do so in the apartment block we were living in due to poor built quality. We also wanted more of a community feel which we felt was lacking in previous places we had lived. We knew people who lived at The Commons and Nightingale 1 and were impressed with the design of the buildings both aesthetically and functionally. This combined with the general ethos of the Nightingale community made it very appealing.

You’ve just had a baby, what’s life like at Nightingale 2 with a newborn?

Admittedly, I don’t have a comparison because this is our first child, but having such a close-knit community has been invaluable. When we arrived home from hospital, residents had organised for us to have dinner supplied for the first week; each night a different apartment would deliver a home cooked meal to our door.

There are also some other families with young kids in the building, so they have been sharing information and resources which has been an immense help. The communal laundry is also a bonus with the increased washing load; I can pop up to the laundry early in the morning, put on multiple loads of washing at once and it is all done by 8am! They say it takes a village to raise a child and this village has been phenomenal. We are very lucky!

You have some fur babies too. What’s Nightingale life like for them?

We have two bunnies. They have enjoyed Nightingale life so far, especially the floor heating in winter! There is always someone available and willing to pet-sit when people go away for the weekend or on holiday which is both convenient as a pet owner, but also fun when you get to look after other people’s animals! I am very fond of all the other fur (and scaled) children in the building.

What sort of community activities are you involved with at Nightingale 2?

We intermittently as a group have working bees around the building, or organise catch-ups on the roof for food and drinks. But I think one of the best things we have set up is a NG2 ‘Slack’ chat group as a way to communicate as a building. We use this to report any issues, ask if anyone has a tool or food item that you need, share articles and ideas and organise activities.

How has living at Nightingale 2 impacted your ability to live more sustainably?

The building’s location and design makes our lifestyle more sustainable by default. For example, we don’t need air conditioning to cool our apartment in summer and we travel almost exclusively by bike or public transport as it is so convenient. However, I think the biggest difference is waste management. We have worm farms and compost which has reduced our green waste, as well as soft plastic recycling and bins for e-waste.