Get on board the WeWork wave
WeWork – "We provide the space, community, and services you need. Create your life's work". WeWork opened its doors in 2010 to build a new kind of place for individuals to come and work, in March 2015 it had 29 coworking spaces in 10 cities around the world and is still growing fast. It's a wave that is bringing structure and multiplication to the shared workspaces in large cities world wide.
Many of our professional friends who worked for large corporates saw the recession years as an opportunity to start something new, breaking away from the comfort and provision of big businesses (which turned out not so comfortable after all).
But working at the kitchen table or in the loft can only last for a few months before you go stir crazy and as business picks up more entrepreneurs are looking for collaborative shared space. With little ties to corporate etiquette;; dress codes, office design and working hours - these spaces look and feel very different to the traditional office.
Typically, it was just the London ad agencies that had offices with games tables or bars, dressing down and encouraging a non corporate feel, yet this attitude is naturally part of the DNA of the next generation of shared office spaces. Many coworking and shared offices are now occupied by those who have never stepped into a 'typical' corporate workplace.
So where does this leave the office designers, workplace creators and business space architects? With many successful new businesses having started life in the coworking culture the next generation of workplace designs must provide authentic honest places for people to do business. Understanding the organisation's culture and getting the brand environment right in the workplace design is vital.
If you can perceive who an organisation is you've got a better chance in creating a workplace that sits well with the 'coworking space generation' offering individuals a great place to come to work..
