Construction World October 2015

PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS

Building on the CO-WORKING CONCEPT

A trend that first took hold a decade ago in San Francisco is gaining momentum in South Africa, and is breathing new life into the Cape Town CBD spaces as freelancers and small businesses group together in working hubs. >

Inner City Ideas Cartel Schuyler Vorster, who owns the 2 000 m 2 Inner City Ideas Cartel (IC-IC) at 71 Waterkant Street, agrees on the importance of deliver- ing the right collaborative approach to his tenants: “It’s your responsibility to help people work better.” The idea of developing a co-working space came to Schuyler while working in a Cape Town coffee shop, when he realised “that we needed to do better as a CBD” to support serious business people working on their own “but who still appreciated the finer things in office life.” The range of coworkers occupying the IC-IC’s desks is very diverse, from small law firms and PR practitioners, to IT specialists, recruitment agencies and those involved in advertising. Rates range from a co-working desk in the open plan space at R2 000/month to a semi-private or shared office at R3 500/ month, to a private office plus ensuite bath- room and shower at R12 500/month, or even R15 000/month for a private office seating up to six staff members. Rates include all the usual amenities and services expected of a co-working space. Dave Russell, a director at property brokering company Baker Street Properties, remembers his company brokering the first stand-alone co-working space that opened in the Cape Town CBD, long before anyone knew what to call it: the Bandwidth Barn – a space shared by IT specialists and related profes- sionals that opened back in 2000. “What we saw before that,” says Russell, “was the more corporate-dominated market of the Regus model, which catered to a more formalised work space. But mobile platforms have evolved so much in the past few years that what is required now is a far less formal plug-in-and-play environment where all someone really needs is a desk and a good internet connection. “The major advantage of co-working spaces is that they are far more interactive than just sitting in a café or at home: they also provide an environment where people can share ideas, network and possibly even collaborate on projects.” Twenty Fifty Gareth Pearson is the innovative soul behind the CBD’s highly successful First Thursdays, which sees art galleries and other venues stay open beyond 5pm on the first Thursday of every month. Twenty Fifty at 8 Spin Street is now the co-working space he’s opened with partner Nathan Heller. Explains Person: “We had our eyes open for unique opportunities. Cape Town needed it, we needed it, and we couldn’t find this kind

The concept of co-working made it onto Wikipedia some time ago, defined as “a style of work that involves sharing a working environment, often an office, and independent activity.” The term ‘co-working’ itself is credited to San Franciscan Brad Neuberg who, in 2005, coined the phrase when he set up what he called the ‘Hat Factory’ – a live-work loft space that was home to three IT workers around the clock, but open to others from 9 to 5. From there, Neuberg also founded the first “work only” co-working space – Citizen Space. The concept gained ground fast and today there are co-working spaces across the globe, with one multinational (Regus) even making it a global business, having to date set up 2 300 business centres across 106 countries – many housed in large, formal corporate-like environ- ments, including Pretoria, Johannesburg and even Cape Town. However, since Capetonians largely tend to do things a bit differently from the norm, in the Mother City it appears that the co-working trend tends to stay true to its original standard of setting up shop in less formal environments. The Cape Town CBD in particular seems to be taking to the trend like the proverbial duck to water, with nine of the 27 spaces found to date in the metropole being situated in Cape Town’s traditional downtown, and it’s allowing entrepreneurship to blossom, according to Rob Kane, chairperson of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID). “What we’re seeing is a number of underutilised B and C-grade spaces receiving significant overhauls,” says Kane. “Co-working communities are bringing life back into spaces that have been overlooked or passed over by the more traditional corporate environments. “It’s a trend we’ve seen for a number of years now among the creative industries based in the CBD, but now we’re also seeing the trend being embraced by other fields – lawyers, accountants, engineers. East side Steven Harris who, together with his partners, has created four floors of co-working space at 75 Harrington in the creative East City side of

the Cape Town Central City, believes that the collaboration between coworkers is of prime importance to the success of the initiative. “It’s about building a community of prac- tice,” says Harris. “Lots of landlords can set up a co-working space, but not everyone can build a community. This is what differen- tiates a co-working success story from other shared spaces.” “The major advantage of co-working spaces is that they are far more interactive than just sitting in a café or at home: they also provide an environment where people can share ideas, network and possibly even By this Harris means having the ability, as the owner of a co-working space, to network among and on behalf of those who rent desk space: “And in turn ensure that these tenants are prepared to engage with the rest of the community in the building and even in the immediate neighbourhood beyond its doors. “People at 75 Harrington Street can find themselves in a ‘win-win’ setting if they are prepared to look at what they can add back into the overall community; for example in terms of services they can offer to others in the space, or how they engage in the flow of ideas. Many people who come into our space end up working on projects together.” collaborate on projects.”

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD OCTOBER 2015