Shared Coworking Space- Five Tried & Tested Shared Office Designs

Coworking spaces are known to be creative, flexible environments that encourage working together. So, how does a coworking space achieve this? That’s an easy question to answer. More than the people in a shared office workspace, or the companies that rent coworking spaces, it’s the design of the office that encourages interaction. Coworking spaces are brightly lit, with a vastly open floor plan and spaces where people can congregate whenever they feel they need to. For someone from a traditional office space, moving to a coworking space is like stepping out of a cage to find the savannah stretching to the horizon ahead of them. That’s the difference between the two. Traditional office spaces are very confining, with steady lighting that is almost clinical in nature, cubicles that make the office seem closed-off and confine employees and encourage little to no interaction between employees beyond team members, if even that occurs. That’s where coworking spaces are different. The entire workspace is designed from the ground up with one purpose in mind; to be more open, interactive and lively. Read on to find out some common design elements that can be found in any coworking space.

Natural Lighting:

A common element that makes any workspace better is natural lighting. While

ambient lighting to set the tone is all well and good, nothing beats the sun for

providing the right kind of lighting that can make any space brighter and more

people-friendly. Natural lighting, whether it’s direct or reflected is energizing

and helps boost creativity and positive thinking. We might not be Superman

but, it’s been proven that sunlight definitely gives us a boost.

Colours:

Colours play an important part of our daily lives. Whether it’s in a presentation,

in our food or in the clothes we wear, colours add a sense of vibrancy, reflect

our moods and so much more. Both observational experience and confirmed

studies have proved the effects different colours have on us. Brighter colours

make us happier, intense, vibrant colours convey a sense of energy and drive

while other colours can evoke a calming sense of peace. Colours in a coworking

space have many uses; they define spaces, adding virtual separations without

restricting members; they can define roles in office workspaces, like one colour

for a tech team, and another for the marketing division. The possibilities and

uses of colours in a shared coworking space are endless. They can even be

used to simply accentuate a workspace.

Ambience:

In most restaurants, the ambience is a large part of the experience. The same

is true for a coworking space too. Designing an open, flexible office is good but,

without any activity, a workspace can seem incredibly dull. Having a constant

hum of activity, with the option for silence when needed is a tried-and-tested

way to boost creativity. The low hum of conversation, the sound of people

shuffling around the coworking space lends energy and vibrancy to a

workspace environment. The activity in a workspace is directly proportional to

the creativity it engenders. Having a certain amount of ambient noise gives off

a sense of action, a dynamic that can motivate and drive employees and

members of a coworking space.

Safe and Sound:

Most coworking spaces are open 24×7, with members able to come and go as

they please, working whenever they want. This though, leads to a need for

improved security. You might be the only person working in a coworking space

late at night. That’s when you become aware of your need for security. All

coworking spaces come with a good amount of security and regulations aimed

at making shared coworking spaces secure for all their members. Coworking

spaces usually allow free access only to their permanent members. Coworking

spaces also respect privacy, despite being known as open workspaces.

Members in a coworking space can get personal lockers for their important

belongings too.

The Culture Club:

Coworking spaces are defined as open and flexible workspaces for everyone.

There is a line however. The point of an open coworking space is to encourage

interaction with other members of the office space. True interaction can’t be

achieved if the coworking space doesn’t respect cultural differences. A

coworking space is meant to be accessible and friendly to people from

different walks of life so, a degree of cultural sensitivity and a line drawn in the

sand of openness will be appreciated more than just a blanket “do whatever

you want” rule. Coworking spaces should be open to everyone, regardless of

the community they belong to, the religion they follow or any other criteria

and, providers of coworking spaces should be aware enough to account for

them when creating their workspace.