There has been a rise of coworking spaces recently. What seems to be the reason is that co-working spaces offer various advantages over convention offices, such as: greater flexibility, clean and refreshing environment, good accessibility, etc.
That said, coworking spaces can be very challenging to set up correctly. Here are a few things to inspire your next (or current) coworking space project.
Traditional Office vs Coworking Space
What makes coworking spaces successful? Coworking is a community space with the objective to work alongside others. And while serving the same purposes as the tradition office, you may find many of these spaces with un-office-like layout.
Credit: Dezeen
Community
Designing socialization spaces where users can mingle and share ideas is key for peak performance. What shared spaces allow for is true freedom and mobility. The culture is conducive to the truly organic collaboration and conversations that are struck up. However, privacy is still an important point to be taken into consideration when designing coworking spaces.
Instead of system partition as the traditional office, we separate the space, by using obstructive objects like bookshelves, plants, and decorations while keeping the space’s layout fluid and programmatically connected.
Flexibility
A common theme as we research the many benefits of coworking is how the change of scenery can enhance creativity and performance in general. Different area with design mood and feeling are created such as open hot-desk area, meeting booth, phone booth, community table, for instance.
Lighting
Next, mind your equipment and furniture to reduce cost. Lighting should satisfy your usage, especially if your space operates on the basement or in areas with limited sunlight exposure.
Speaking of which, natural light is needed to maintain the liveliness of the place as artificial light can get dull sometimes. Therefore, you can put glasses into use to take advantage of the environment. This can even help you effectively cut down your electricity bill.
Go Green!
Designers at D&P tend to prioritize greenery area as heavily industrial look may become tiring eventually. Additionally, an in-house café might be a bit of work but it can be a fine source of inspiration and relaxation for working people.
No matter how fun the work is, stress is an inevitable result. Fun fact: Studies have shown that “green” buildings produce a 26% boost in cognition and 30% fewer sickness-related absences (Forbes).
As for furniture
This may be the best part in designing a coworking space. Just keep in mind that the endorsed elements is advisable to be in the contemporary category. You can go creative all you like, but make sure that a consistent design language is maintained.
Take something like the adorable staircase at b.sorted (Romania), or the retro-ish desk at Thomas House. But do know that these creation don’t look out of place with its surrounding at all!
You may try out something a bit crazy. Sections with artsy playful pattern to intrigue the inner child in everyone. A library-like area for bookworms. A coffee shop inspired area for the talkative. Your choice!
Other services like providing snacks or office necessity is also a great addition. Because who doesn’t love snack?
What breaks a coworking space?
Inconsistency
Naturally, there are also a few things to avoid while designing. First, don’t be a plain Jane, but don’t try too hard to be different either. Visitors are more sensitive than you may think, a forced vibe will easily be noticeable and may become a deal breaker. To save yourself from this, don’t try to cramp too many ideas into that single space, though this won’t be an easy task for creative minds.
Insufficient budget
Second, don’t kick start the project if a sufficient budget is not available. Low in quality or lacking in quantity will make your space look cheap and uninspiring!
Finally
It’s never a crime to peek at others’ work. Learn from their success and mistakes, and undoubtedly you will come up with a charming yet practical coworking space. Hopefully this design code article will help you come up with some really cool ideas for your space.
