The Best Co-Working Spaces in London – Autum 2021
Growing out of Café working and bored with Work-From-Home? Our thinktank was ready to emerge from Covid precarious life and ready to return into more organised work– or rather 50 shades of hybrid as our new work slowly patterns emerge. We drew up a requirements list and checked out 20 places.
Offices may be passe, but spending a few hours per week with your team makes work more social and helps the younger team members to learn from the old hands. In our team, we are true veterans of co-working, with me co-founding Internet Café Cyberia back in mid 90ties, (the ancestor of all cool co-working places that nursed the first wave of digital nomads) and my team mates, techie types, who have always had a mix of office/home working pattern.
We didn’t want to be responsible for all the extra cleaning and office ventilation required in post Covid time, so the search was narrowed to co-working spaces. The options were between getting a dedicated room or just hotdesking as we are going hybrid.
We were looking to get space for flexible working only on Wednesday/Thursdays where all the team is in the office, the rest of the week just casual hot-desking for those that are more motivated to work in the social space. The requirements were simple: good value, lots of natural light, safe bike parking space, onsite café with vegetarian options and easy access to Tube/Trains.
Also, similar to majority of Londoners now, we are now Dog Dads and Mums (7out of 10), so dog-friendly offices with some green space nearby was going to score high on the criteria list. It would be nice to have tech/apps teams or games development teams in the building to share knowledge and have a good audience for our tech outreach events.
We expected this would be a quick search, as London is semi-empty, only 11% of City offices were occupied in July-August, so the town is seemingly full of vacant co-working places. Alas, this turned out to be an ultra-marathon not a short fun-run of office searches. The choice is wide but the places were going fast, often before we actually got down to see the venue.
We looked at 20 places, then narrowed it down to our top 7
Fora at Spitafields, 34-41 Folgate Street E16BX
For a is a new venue, with a big plus of having a large, atrium style events space with a large 140 inch screen video wall and audio set up in place. We were tipped about it via one of our Cybersalonistas who organised a crypto launch there for Satoshi Block Dojo. The venue has a fin-tech vibe about it and we found a number of friendly crypto heads taking up the desks.
We liked the Roof Terrace (although it is not open every day, unlike other Fora buildings), and a handy wellness studio where you can roll out your yoga mat in peace. App builders like Dropbox and Paypal are there, with plenty of tech talent on hand. Café works well and it has a knowledgeable concierge to help out clients who come for meetings (not a given in most of co-working places).
You can use meeting pods, reading room or sofa areas – we found the community aspect weaker than in other places as fin-tech types tend to keep their heads down and work but the scene nearby on Shoreditch High Street more than compensates for that.
It has plenty of natural light, and a few nearby green spaces for the dog walks. Meeting rooms are extra, which is a downside. However, their secure cycle storage area and availability repair kit was considered a sufficient compensation. It is a premium space, the with very easy access for both Tube (Liverpool St) and Overground (Shoreditch High Street), it makes up for it’s price in convenience.
Soho Works
London – tbc
New York – Meatpacking District and Brooklyn
Fans of Soho House (or even Soho Farmhouse) will be smacking their lips awaiting new location in London for SohoWorks. It will be for more work-oriented purpose than it is allowed on the main club premises, as in those, laptops are now discouraged (I have been nearly escorted out from Soho Farmhouse for using my laptop during breakfast a few days ago!)
Judging from what we have seen in New York, in their Meatpacking venue, this is Level Pro of co-working venues, including access to photo Studios. You get your Lounge (flex membership), Own Desk option or Loft, a dedicated space for the team for Day or Month options.
The crux of the attraction is on-site podcast equipment, 3D printing for making cute miniature of your team members, screening rooms when this documentary of yours needs airing, and the most importantly, private phone booths – a must in the era of Zoom /Hybrid working. We were astounded that it is not a standard equipment in every co-working place. Hybrid work means half of the team may be at home, clients’ meetings are pretty much all on Zoom now but it gets very noisy in the office if a number of people are on Zoom at the same time.
Soho Works London location is a-coming, we can only tell you know it will be near Notting Hill (no surprises here), so follow the developments on our blog to be the first to hear.
Hot in Hoxton
Brickworks 37 Cremer Street, E2 8HD
More wallet-friendly was Brickworks near Hoxton Square. A convenient location, with 10 min walk to Old Street and 2min to Hoxton Overground, it immediately jumped to the top of our list. Studios start from 1.9K (for 587 sq for up to 14 people) it has plenty of light and plants. The space was a former metalworks and pottery factor, and retained a good, industrial feel with copper finishes.
It would suit creatives from digital agencies or “special effects” teams. It has also been a co-working space of choice for small architect firms.
Onsite Café has amazing menu with excellent vegetarian choices, but it is closed from 4pm so you are on your own for the evening pick-me up. There is Molly’s Café opposite and great bars nearby, it is pretty much in the centre of hip Hoxton. Dog owners can walk up to Shoreditch Park or Haggerston Park and there is also a good canal walk about 5 min away.
WeWork
Old Street 145 City Road, EC1V
The granddaddy of WeWorks in London, it was once was famous for free beer, now replaced with cucumber water. Probably wise as the community spirit felt somewhat forced there. It is occupied mostly by app developers for fin-tech and transport start ups, but also some Youth Marketing agencies and freelancers who specialise in social media.
If that is your bag, the location is unbeatable, right opposite Old Street tube, one of the most connected hubs in London. It offers hot desks, dedicated desks or Full Floor offices with your own branding, should you so desire. Meeting rooms are paid-for alas, at £15 an hour per person, so not the best value if like our team, you have Zoom -hybrid meetings. But it is dog -friendly, with Hoxton green spaces near, and cares for the bikers with showers and good bike storage.
Hackney Hub
Mare Street Studios – 203/213 Mare Street, Hackney, E8 3QE
Another one on Workspace.co.uk books, it has good choice of spaces from dedicated rooms from 3 people (£520 per month) to 40 people (4.8K per month). You can also get flexible desk space although most teams seem to have dedicated rooms there, so not that much of networking going on. It is near London Fields, great for our pooches, and for the minimalists, it has a really uber-industrial feel to the décor. It is in a ‘vibrant’ area with somewhat less security that we would have expected, but it is surrounded by lovely cafes and only a 5 minutes walk from Hackney Central Overground.
Arebyte Studios – Canning Town (or East India Docks)
7 Botanic Square, E14 0LG
A fabulous and affordable space, currently configured for makers and digital artists. It is a new cluster of spaces on a green area surrounded by the river from three sites and it has the best green places right in front of the studios.
If you are a Dog Dad, this has your name on it. London City Island is a developing co-working area in collab with Studiomakers. You will be joining a working group of 30 artists, designers and digital agencies. It is more of a commute than your typical Hackney hub but the rates reflect it and we found on-site security better than in other co-working outfits.
A big bonus is the charming and dog-friendly river garden, and for inspo, Arebyte own gallery, specialising in digital art and critical tech, type of art that is right down our street. Prices start from £214 for artists, and £333 per month for creatives/freelancers for a 142sqft enclosed studios.
Impactful Life
Impact Hub 34 York Way N1AB
We are a thinktank so co-working in a space with other non-profits or charities was another option we considered. One space that is very dear to my heart is Impact Hub near King’s Cross. It is full of changemakers and tech-for-good type of outfits, located just a few minutes walk from King’s Cross Tube. It would fit teams that have members coming from the countryside by train.
It was the first coworking space that our team discovered back in 2013 and wrote most of our EU – Erasmus Digital Skills program Digiblox.org from there, fuelled by their excellent coffee.
The Hub supports start-ups that are addressing sustainable food systems and NetZero agriculture like Food Ethics Council. In my view, every business should be impact-driven, otherwise why bother, so we loved the vibe.
Impact Hub brings together people who are looking to build more sustainable future and the building itself has excellent eco-friendly credentials including Eco Printer. It has optional private lockers, a safe bike storage, and offers access to Hub clusters world-wide (useful if you are a digital nomad and find yourself in Mexico).
Your options range from Day Member to hotdesking to fixed desk for the team members, with Meetings Room day hire extra for those days that you want more privacy. It would suit smaller teams that meet a few days per month. Dog walking space can be found nearby by the Regent canal so it is a good value at packages starting from £90 to £260 per month.
Tip: hurry up, if you join before 30Th September, use Code: BackToGoodWork20 and get 20% discount.
WimbleTech
For South London options, Wimbledon has converted local Library into a thriving co-working hub. It is housed in a spectacular old building, with loft-like interiors. It is probably one of the cheaper options in the area, with prices starting from 50 pounds per month for flexi desk for charity, non-profits and student startups (with subsidized hot desks for social impact organisations).
We found quite a few tech start-ups there, and a good events space that can be used for launches and training events.
We loved their hashtag – #LessCommuteMoreCommunity
If you can’t find what you like, get in touch and we will help to match your budget to the right space, with discounts we negociated for Social Impact companies.
Email [email protected] with your feedback or requirements.
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Here is to productive Hybrid Work autumn!
