The early 2000s saw the emergence of the first coworking space. They drew largely independent contractors and internet company owners looking for an alternative to working from home offices, coffee shops, and business centers.
Since then, coworking has spread around the world, and coworking spaces have changed to adapt to our evolving work styles. In 2019, there were an estimated 19,000 coworking spaces worldwide. Individuals working remotely as well as full business teams utilize them these days.
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What is a coworking space?
In its most basic form, a coworking space is a setting created to accommodate individuals from various businesses who come to work there.
Shared resources, services, and equipment define coworking spaces. Coworking spaces are more than simply a means of cutting expenses; by sharing infrastructure in this way, members may share the cost of operating an office.
Coworking spaces serve as social gathering places, community centers, and hubs for cooperation where employees from various backgrounds may exchange knowledge and consider novel ideas. The original “hackerspaces” in Europe are where coworking spaces got their start, and they still have a significant social component today.
Larger businesses are increasingly using coworking spaces lately as a method to reduce their idle office space, relocate from conventional headquarters, and adopt a more flexible working style.
Without taking on the risk of a long-term contract, coworking spaces allow expanding firms to reach new markets and recruit new talent. They provide newly remote workers with a convenient location to continue meeting and working together with coworkers without having to make long commutes.
The background of coworking
1995: Berlin hosts the first hackerspace. These community-run spaces, which served as a model for contemporary coworking spaces, drew in programmers, scientists, and software engineers and served as a gathering place for exchanging ideas, comparing code, and organizing seminars and social gatherings.
Apple releases the first iBook in 1999. The gadget allowed employees to be productive while on the road and was one of the numerous increasingly potent laptops of the time. Anywhere freelancers congregated to work, including coffee shops and study halls, the recognizable and vibrant clamshell shape was a familiar sight.
2002 — Vienna builds a “entrepreneurs center.” Before the word “coworking” became popular, Schraubenfabrik, a shared open-plan workplace housed in a dilapidated factory, was home to a burgeoning community of freelancers, architects, and startups. Even today, Schraubenfabrik proudly refers to itself as the “mother of coworking.”
2004 — In Emeryville, California, a “work club” is established. Architect and designer Neil Goldberg converted his Bay Area warehouse into the Gate 3 WorkClub, a shared workspace for dotcom telecommuters based in and around San Francisco, after failing to find a buyer.
2005 — San Francisco hosts the opening of the first coworking space. Brad Neuberg, a software developer, created a brand-new kind of shared workspace that would unite individual employees in a more sociable and effective environment than a home office. In the Mission District, he opened the San Francisco Coworking Space at the feminist group Spiral Muse.
2008 — The world of work is altered by the global financial crisis and the recession that follows. The employment environment changed as a result of record numbers of people turning to self-employment due to company downsizing and an increase in job losses.
2009 — A number of informal coworking activities are held at South by Southwest. These spontaneous gatherings served as the foundation for the Global Coworking Unconference Conference. An estimated 160 coworking spaces existed worldwide by the end of the year.
The development of coworking spaces: more coworking techniques
While the name “coworking” is relatively new, the idea behind it is not. For as long as there have been people, people have been working together, and collectives and maker spaces have existed in one form or another.
However, coworking spaces are being reexamined in light of rapidly evolving workplace patterns in only the last few years. Businesses are starting to function in a more dispersed manner. Workers want greater freedom and flexibility in how and when they utilize the office. Remote workers need a place apart from home where they may utilize specialized equipment, meet coworkers, and concentrate and be productive.
As a result, a new kind of workplace that blends elements of in-office and remote work has emerged: the hybrid workplace model. Businesses have had to change their current office layouts to accommodate this way of working, doing away with allocated desks and permanent cubicles and adding design elements that promote more collaboration, creativity, and invention.
The outcomes resemble coworking facilities far more than typical workplaces, as one might anticipate. The contemporary coworking space has evolved from its initial conception as a transitional area where IT entrepreneurs and digital nomads played table tennis. Coworking spaces are increasingly adaptable workspaces and centers for collaboration that cater to both people and businesses of all sizes.
Although they might have varied meanings depending on the situation, terms like flexible working and hybrid working are frequently used interchangeably. We’ve compiled a series of articles that go into further detail on the main distinctions between various coworking approaches in an effort to assist make sense of the situation.