Clinton Selby

Co-working the productive hub?

I am writing this from Underground Coffee, which i might add is the Underground HQ directly across the road from our awesome new co-working Space Quad. Typing this on my iPad with a grin and a great flat white, after years of seeing technology evolve, it is now at a point that I can actually be productive in multiple environments, including a coffee shop! Ergostyle like to refer to it as “A Pallet of Places” where staff have the ability to choose their work environment from a selection of spaces which are task related. This is often referred to as ABW or Activity Based Working.

Ergostyle like many other businesses, had been facing the dreaded building shift for some time now whilst EQ repairs are carried out on our building. An opportunity presented itself late last year to relocate Ergostyle into a new co-working space called Quad. Ergostyle has always had a keen interest in new ways of working and this was too good of an opportunity to pass. So with a seriously short time frame we planned the move for late January, Considering we only finalised details in early December we had a task in front of us with 20 Years of showroom samples and history.

I can now say as we begin our 4th co-working week that I am feeling very settled and the staff have adopted to the change incredibly well. Surrounded by young enthusiastic digital creatives has an overwhelmingly positive feel about it. Social enterprise is tackling commercial enterprise head on, and co-working environments seem to be almost a fertiliser for this movement that places social responsibility before profit. The sense of community is what this space is about.

Lastly, one of the significant advantages for Ergostyle is having the ability to test product design in a real time, seeing individuals and teams using product in different ways truly gives it a sense of purpose and function. Our Stance leaner has been used extensively as a meeting space, a standing workspace, and a social place to gather.

Last month we wrote a Blog called “Interior Architecture for Shared Space” which discussed the work of expat Daniel Davis who now is a lead researcher for WeWork co-working world leaders. If you did not manage to read it, check it out.