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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
OCTOBER
2015
PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS
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.”
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.”
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.
>
“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.”
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