A coworking space is a great way for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and independent workers to be more productive. Not only does it give them an office away from home or an inspiring shared workspace, but they also have the opportunity to meet with other like-minded people in a similar position in a space filled with ambient noise-ideal for nailing down creative ideas.
The coworking space needs to be beautifully designed to encourage creativity. It’s not just about finding a beautiful space or location, the design of your office will affect your mindset and your ability to create happiness while working. With that in mind, here are some ideas to help you design the perfect coworking space.
Allow Natural Lightning
Natural light is the best option for lighting in a coworking space. If you can, avoid harsh fluorescent lights altogether by using large windows that allow the sun’s rays to stream in. The idea behind this is that natural lighting allows your body to produce serotonin-the hormone responsible for making us feel energetically positive and happy. Fluorescent lighting, on the other hand, inhibits serotonin production. Incorporate large windows into your coworking space’s design to allow for plenty of natural light.
Open Air Benching
Open-air benching is a great way to encourage collaboration among coworkers because it forces people to interact with one another. If you’re able, incorporate kitchen-style seating where coworkers face each other as they work on their laptops rather than from behind a desk. However, if your coworking space has multiple rooms-maybe you offer private rooms and communal rooms-avoid placing desks facing each other in the communal room. It gets too noisy and confining.
Create A Common Space
Outfit your common area with comfortable seating arrangements made for long hours of work. The most open coworking office space has a common space for workers to sit, eat lunch, read, or use their laptops when they don’t want to work in their private rooms. Restaurants offer great inspiration with their unique booths and chairs, but remember that people want to feel at home in your coworking space-not like they’re sitting in a restaurant!
A Gallery Wall
A gallery wall is an easy way to makeover your empty walls. All you need are some canvases, paint, paintbrushes, and some inspiration. Making a gallery wall allows you to create your own work of art and display it for everyone to see. It’s also a great way to encourage creativity and collaboration with coworkers by asking each person to design their own canvas or submit their art in some other way.
Simply set up an email address where people can send submissions and then hang all the submitted pieces together. If your coworking space is located in an old refurbished factory or warehouse, there’s a good chance that the walls used to be a brick-a great idea for adding character to your office.
A Greenhouse
Planting a greenhouse in an unused space (like on top of a desk) is the perfect way to bring nature into your coworking space. Potted plants can be placed all over the place-the kitchen, the common room, private rooms, everywhere. The benefits of having plants in the office include a reduction in air pollutants and a calming, fresh scent to make your coworkers feel relaxed and refreshed.
In fact, bringing in living plants to decorate your office is a great way to liven up the space because humans instinctively feel better when they have live plants around them.
Create A Focal Point For Decor
What sets one coworking space apart from another is the amount of thought and effort the owners put into decorating. The focal point of a coworking space can be anything from a wall to a table or bench and it should be something that your coworkers want to spend time around. In most cases, this is where you’ll find the art gallery, kitchen area, or common room. Whatever you choose to use as your focal point, make sure it’s easy to decorate with plants and other decorations. You don’t want anything blocking your ability or anyone else’s ability to create their own works of art.
Add Sitting Diversity
Remember, your coworking space isn’t just for standing desks. Outfit your office with different sitting arrangements to encourage people to sit in multiple ways throughout the day. If you have any old chairs or sofas sitting around that you don’t need anymore, use them in your workspace! Don’t forget that an office chair doesn’t stand alone-you can create a sitting area with a small table, a vase of flowers, and some candles.
Lighting Is Important
Office lighting is one of the most overlooked aspects of designing a coworking space. It’s important to have overhead lighting in case you need to use your laptop or read a presentation, but also make sure there are plenty of lamps and lights around for when you want to create artwork or sit comfortably on a couch with a chat.
The environment you create, both inside and outside of your coworking space, will have a major impact on the way people feel when they come in. There’s no need to be constrained by traditional ideas about what makes a good working area; as long as it has enough natural light and places for people to sit comfortably at their desks or brainstorm together-you’re golden.