creative spaces :: club workspace by tilt

I recently spent a day working in a new co-working space in London called Club Workspace. Co-working is a relatively new concept in the UK, but one that has been popular in the States for some time. The idea is that people who would otherwise work alone, share a working space, and in so doing, share ideas, resources, events etc and eventually a culture and community builds up that is conducive to what they each do.

Club Workspace, Waterloo, is relatively early on in this process, as it has only recently opened, but co-working specialists Studio Tilt have designed the space to support this ethos.

They say: “We design enabling spaces, creating inspiring atmospheres that transform the way people interact with each other. Space design can energise or de-motivate in equal measure. It fundamentally impacts on people’s experiences. Imagine an office that inspired you to work.”

An events programme is crucial to the community aspect of a successful co-working space, so flexibility is built into the design. Desk tops can be hung on the wall and desk legs stacked in a corner to make space for a temporary lecture theatre.

Co-working spaces attract different types of people with differing requirements, so there are multiple desk designs with each space. The desk above includes integrated power, a pinboard and a lock, so you can leave a whole mini-office inside.

Other desks are designed to enable switching between collaboration and working alone, informed by insight into how people work at different times in any given day.

These arm chairs are for more relaxed working with your laptop either on your knee or on the arm of the chair, reflecting how people often work at home.

Tea, water and proper coffee are offered free within Club Workspace premises to save you worrying about where the nearest Starbucks is – a Godsend on the day I was there! The Club Workspace model is actually quite clever in that co-working spaces are within rented office buildings owned by the same people, so they almost act like incubators for future tenants.

Internal post boxes make sorting mail simple – and there’s even a big blackboard for brainstorms and sharing ideas.

Further reading for the especially geeky:

• creative spaces :: falcon
• creative spaces :: bulldog drummond
• creative spaces :: jailmake
• creative spaces :: lovely pigeon

Further eye candy for the especially visual:

There are lots more photos of this space and all my creative spaces on the confessions of a design geek Pinterest page; a sort of visual version of the blog. If you’re not a member yet, click here to join, and start pinning images of the things that inspire you.