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.
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