Google’s London Coworking Space – Google Campus
Google Campus is a project run by Google UK, it is a 7 storey space intended for coworking and events. The coworking space is located in the centre of London’s so called Tech City, aka Silicon Roundabout. It is part of Google’s aim to fuel the success of London’s tech start up community. As office spaces go Google never disappoints, but its especially nice to see coworking being used as a vehicle to fuel entrepreneurship!
If you are looking for a coworking space in London check out what eOffice has to offer @ www.eoffice.net.
[Photography by Gareth Gardner, via OfficeSnapshots]
Looking for idea in shared workspaces
Established companies hope interaction will spark collaboration
Taking a page from start-ups, some established companies are opting to share their workspaces.
In downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., workers from five large employers, including furniture maker Steelcase Inc., SCS +0.87% shoe company Wolverine Worldwide Inc. and food retailer Meijer Inc., share an open, lofty space in a recently developed building.
Employees are urged to wander from floor to floor, bounce ideas off one another and test out new products in the hope that such informal interactions will help spark collaboration, solve problems and generate new ideas.In some cases, companies are renting desks in co-working spaces, with an idea that workers from different companies, and with different skill sets, can complement one another. Some companies are also turning to shared workspaces as a way to save money on pricey leases or to house employees in areas where they don’t have other corporate offices.
While some companies say these co-working initiatives are too young to point to new products created from intercompany mingling, managers add the practice can help inject older firms with a start-up mentality and bring in new talent.
Initially popular among start-ups and freelance workers, co-working spaces are gaining traction among bigger employers who want their staff to cross-pollinate, or interact with employees from other firms.
“What’s appealing to the big businesses is they want to be near the places where the start-ups are,” says Steve King, a partner at Emergent Research, which researches workplace issues.
When workers are stuck on a tough problem, working outside of the office can help, Mr. Ware says. “Sometimes that change of scenery encourages you to think differently and that’s what we want.”
If you are looking for shared office space please click here to see the cool services eOffice has to offer.
Copyright © 2012 Dow Jones & Company. All rights reserved Rachel Emma Silverman. “Looking for ideas in shared workspaces.” The Wall Street Journal. Mar 20,12. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577293853649106414.html
10 Tips: Find a Great Coworking Space
Get out of your garage: A shared office for your start-up company can improve your productivity and help keep costs low.
In my recent outreach to keep costs low for entrepreneurs, “solopreneurs” and startups, a recurring suggestion from many of my “start-up warriors” was the idea of working in community.
Here’s why:
- Community work spaces bring together people with different backgrounds, thoughts and approaches. This helps entrepreneurs develop more creative, robust ideas and solutions.
- Top challenges for solopreneurs are managing time, staying productive, and maintaining motivation throughout the workweek. Co-working spaces help with these challenges–it’s easier to stay focused if you’re away from home’s distractions.
- Respondents to a study done by DeskMag in 2011 said they are more motivated (85%) and have better interaction with other people (88%) since they moved into a co-working space. They also say they can relax more at home.
- At least 42% of respondents also report earning a higher income since joining a co-working space.
10 Things to Look For
- Test drive: Ask for a free day to test out the office space.
- Office tools: Make sure they fit your needs. Everyone will have printers, faxes, etc. but make sure the space provides the tools that help you get work done (conference rooms for client meetings, phone rooms).
- Culture: Every space will have a culture and not everyone will fit in. Find one where you feel comfortable.
- Inspiration: The people and the space should make you want to come to work–and be productive.
- Lease terms: You want them flexible.
- Room to grow: Look for multiple work zones that offer enough space to allow your company to expand and contract.
- Good workspace management: You don’t want to be the one dealing with printer problems, phone service outages, etc.
- Collaborative community: Some co-working facilities allow members to contribute by giving presentations, making introductions or taking other actions that enhance the environment.
- Productive workstations: Don’t settle for just a flat table space. Look for offices that have put thought into a productive work environment.
- Comfortable design. Collaboration can’t happen as easily in a cubicle jungle. The most productive shared office spaces are ones that are built for collaboration.
If you are looking for shared office space please click here to see the cool services eOffice has to offer.
Microsoft – hotdesking in Amsterdam
Just a short drive from Schipol airport, the Microsoft office in Amsterdam is a world away from the traditional corporate office space which can be seen replicated all over the world. This office is completely permanent desk free, in other words the office fully employs hotdesking. For such a large office space this is no mean feat! The company wanted to put the focus firmly on coworking and collaboration, employees are allowed the freedom to work in the area of the office which is the most suitable for the type of work they are doing at any given time. Microsoft was so committed to the idea of hotdesking in Amsterdam that there aren’t even offices or assigned desks for senior employees.
According to a press release the benefits of coworking and hotdesking to Microsoft are clear:
- A 30% reduction in real estate costs
- Increased productivity
- Enhanced market reputation and ability to attract and retain top talent
- Increased employee mobility
- Benefits for the environment
Coworking Office Desk
Add+ is an innovative concept for office furniture that is specifically designed for coworking spaces. It was created by Aram Haydeyan in collaboration with Casitoo’s graduate designer Tobias Fortsch. The coworking desk allows for a full range of expansion options. The furniture was designed to allow it to be assembled and dissembled rapidly, which makes it perfect for smaller office spaces that require their rooms to serve many purposes. The desk provides many flexible arrangements and a numerous combination of units can be added. All in all the furniture promises to make coworking easier and more efficient.
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Freelancing Madrilenos choose co-working over home offices
The economic crisis sees freelance Madrileños opting to “co-work” in a creative, social alternative to the home office.
Utopic_Us is a shared-usage space for rent behind Plaza Mayor, in the center of Madrid. It has an open floor plan, flexible for its office space, events, galleries and classes. Currently, 100 “autonomos,” working for themselves in creative fields, are sharing workspaces in two old wholesale storage facilities. Co-workers include bloggers, jewelry designers, architects, IT programmers, painters, sculptors, audio and visual engineers, and publicists.
When SmartPlanet was visiting, some members were hosting business meetings with clients in the shared workspace.
“Our space is generating new energies. It is a hybrid space that gathers characteristics of a lab, an education centre, a studio, a living room and kitchen, where a variety of ingredients are mixed and experienced in innumerable ways,” as it is described on their official marketing.
For a monthly fee from 75 euros for ten hours a week to 250 euros for unlimited access, Utopic_Us members are able to use the office space, equipped with WiFi and phones. Members also receive discounts for the Utopic_School.
“It’s a factory of transforming ideas,” said Raimond Garcia, in his native Spanish. Garcia is a Ruby Web developer who has spent the last year working at Utopic_Us, following five years working “in pajamas” from home. He is also going to teach a workshop on Ruby there next month. Garcia said, working at Utopic_Us “is much more social. There’s an equilibrium of men and women, a lot of synergy, and the networking is impressive.”
Compared with the cost of renting their own office space and paying for their utilities individually, members find great value in their investment.
Santiago Vallado is owner of DF Produciones, a one-man video production company he has been running out of Utopic_Us for the last six months. He does not think the 250 euros he pays each month is too steep. He said in Spanish that “It’s not a lot of money and it has so many more things,” than working from home or renting an external office space.
Before coming to Utopic_Us, Vallado spent two years managing his business from home, saying, “It’s basically annoying. A thousand distractions. You work longer hours, but less efficiently.” He uses Utopic_Us for networking, already having made videos for some of his co-workers’ marketing projects. He described Utopic_Us “like a multinational office space” filled with people sharing different experiences and ideas.
Vallado added that he likes to bounce ideas off his colleagues during 15-minute breaks spent playing ping-pong and soccer.
Utopic_School features workshops that cost anywhere from nothing up to 650 euros. Some topics covered have been motivation, sustainability, experimental methodologies, and digital technologies, to name a few. The communications manager Olivia Czetwertyrski described Utopic_Us’s business model as focused on learning, seeing, feeling, sharing, and getting to know people and new ideas.
Czetwertyrski is one of seven staff members. She started with Utopic_Us as a co-worker 18 months ago. Czetwertyrski is now employed by the company itself, in charge of internal and external communications, working with the different brands, events and accounts that use their office space. Some events included Reebok, Hendrix, Brugal and public relations for the Community of Andalusia, Spain.
The current facilities have space for about 150 co-workers. They hope to expand their business model to other cities inside and outside Spain. They are even looking into offering visa sponsorships for co-workers to travel to other future Utopic_Us locations to work.
“There´s a lot of things we can do better and a lot more we can do,” Czetwertyrski said, also in Spanish. This included creating storage space for the small business owners to use. “Poco a poco,” she said, which means little by little or step-by-step.
With small businesses looking to decrease costs and increase innovation, co-working is already popular in the United States and Great Britain. Utopic_Us is the biggest official space in Spain, but it certainly will not be the last.
By Jennifer Riggins via SmartPlanet
Innovative Coworking Space
The Hub is the HQ of a shared office space in Rovereto. The shared office was designed by the architect Andrea Paoletti and aims to be an inspired place for meeting, working, creating and connecting. The space was transformed from an art gallery into a unique space that combines great design with functional elements of a member’s club, an innovation agency and a serviced office. As you can imagine all this creates a distinct kind of environment that allows coworking to flourish!
[box] If you’re interested in coworking, please make sure to check out what eOffice has to offer by clicking here. [/box]
[Photographs are by Francesco Pernigo via]
CoWorking – Oklahoma City
Located in midtown of Oklahoma City okcCoco Coworking Collaborative is a shared workplace for creatives and entrepreneurs alike. The okcCoco is 7500 square feet of space with coworking areas, a 14-person boardroom, conference rooms, private offices, social lounge, and an event space. The urban professional atmosphere is perfect for new startups or for companies to host and cater events.
[box] For more information, visit the okcCoCo. Other cool workspaces include eOffice. [/box]
Blankspaces – Work For Yourself Not By Yourself
Blankspaces offers flexible office plans to start-ups, freelancers, and entrepreneurs by the hour, day, and month. Blankspaces is located in two locations in California: Santa Monica and Los Angeles. The services they provide include; private offices, open work stations that are great for small companies, work bar for coworking, conference rooms, meeting rooms for quick meetings, virtual offices, and a lounge area to take a break from work.
[box] For more information visit the Blankspaces. If you’re interested in learning more on about cool workspaces around the world be sure to check-out our main site eOffice. [/box]
OfficePort Co-Working Office Community
OfficePort is an open collaborative workspace for freelancers and small businesses. The aim is to provide a more flexible and affordable alternative to the traditional office. Their mission is to establish an OfficePort in every major city, but currently they only have three locations: two in Kansas City and one in Chicago.
Each office provides entrepreneurs with an inspiring environment for innovation and productivity, while also providing an opportunity to belong to a vibrant community.
[box] If you want to find out more about office services in the United States click here.
eOffice also has a global reach, so if you want to discover other countries be sure to check out our main site. [/box]