Housing in which multiple individuals, couples, or nuclear families have some shared facilities (for example, laundry facilities or gardening services) but maintain primarily separate living spaces that have been constructed in quantity, either as multiple dwellings under one roof (such as in an apartment house) or in single units (such as a retirement community). When communal housing comprises separate buildings, the buildings typically have a uniform or coordinated appearance.
Source: AAT
http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300000317
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