Friday 29 October 2010

The pop-up office & co-working with Space on Tap

The pop up culture is taking hold.  We're transforming all types of spaces for temporary use across the globe, and the North East region is no exception.  Art galleries become shops, community centres transform into restaurants and unused buildings become artists' collectives.
Read our article 'Pop-up culture stimulates innovation' 

The pop-up office and co-working with Space on Tap


Space on Tap's Colleagues on Tap network is now transforming some of the region's spaces into pop-up offices to provide the perfect place for homeworkers, and people who normally work alone or in small teams, to work together for the day.  


Co-working is a new innovation in networking and takes various forms.  Co-working hubs have been springing up around the country providing permanent bases for freelancers, particularly in the digital and creative sectors, to work alongside each other, although their businesses operate independently.  Useful, value-added collaborations have emerged, as well as the obvious - new contacts and informal business mentors.  


Hubs have also taken a more fluid form as occasional workspace, available whenever you need it, sometimes involving a membership programme which provides a minimum number of desk days in a given period.  NeST in Barnard Castle is a great example of this in action, where artists and digital creatives across the Teesdale area are starting to congregate in the cafe and workspace areas, resulting in new collaborations within and through NeST. 


Our 'before' space at the North East BIC in Sunderland
Then there's Colleagues on Tap, a co-working initiative introduced into the North East by Space on Tap, essentially setting up a pop-up office for the day in a range of spaces, to form a venue for co-working on an occasional basis.  


So far we've majored on business centres, including the Keel Suite at the North East Business & Innovation Centre that was  transformed  from a meeting space to a workspace over night.



Pop-up office ideal for Colleagues on Tap co-working
The pop up office is designed to provide a level of privacy for co-workers while they settle into their day, but also to encourage interaction as people find their feet.  We make sure there are ample electricity points, refreshments and wifi - all you need to bring is your laptop, if you'll be using one on the day.



A morning working session is usually followed by lunch in an alternative space, stimulating new conversations and connections, and this is built on further through our SpoT chat sessions after lunch, where one of our co-workers in attendance offers to facilitate a discussion on a topic of mutual interest to the group - Twitter, facebook, networking, home working and so on.

Colleagues on Tap is now branching out beyond Business Centres to demonstrate the versatility of some of the region's other great spaces.  The next few months will see us set up office at The Morritt, a beautiful 17th Century country house hotel that started its life as a coaching house (full wifi access is also guaranteed!), Newcastle City Library which is a modern space with fabulous views of the city centre from its upper floors, and The Workplace, a vocational learning centre in Newton Aycliffe literally 2 minutes from the A1.

CLICK HERE to find out more about Space on Tap's co-working events, or to book your space to join us at work for a day in the future.