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Core Collective offers a variety of fitness classes such as Pilates Reformer, yoga and boxing.
When they first appeared in Singapore around 2011, co-working spaces were hailed as the new way to work. They appealed to start-ups, particularly in the tech sector, who needed a space without busting their budget. Freelancers jumped on the bandwagon, especially those who couldn't work from home, and found coffee joints to be just too noisy. In a co-working space, the person sitting beside you was often a stranger but before long you would be friends, united by a common purpose and needs.
At the time, co-working spaces were casual affairs with a collegiate feel, with hot desks, some private offices and randomly thrown beanbags in a lounge area. It was all very bohemian, very millennial-centric. These early co-working spaces such as HackerspaceSG, SmartSpace and Cowork@SG are still thriving today.
Along the way, co-working spaces got better-looking as the concept attracted those beyond tech startups namely entrepreneurs, SMEs and even larger companies. Such was the clientele that spaces like The Great Room cater to, with premises at One George Street, and Centennial Tower that look like upscale hotel lobbies rather than functional office spaces.
According to a report from Colliers International, there were 113 co-working spaces in the CBD alone at the end of 2017.
Since December 2017, four new co-working spaces have popped up, and they are taking the concept to the next level.
Core Collective also has wellness experts on hand to treat health problems.
CORE COLLECTIVE
79 Anson Road #21-01
corecollective.sg
Instead of hot desks and private offices, this co-working space has treatment beds, consultation rooms, a fully equipped gym, specialised studios for yoga, Pilates and TRX and even a boxing ring. Only tenants, or residents as they are called, from the fitness and wellness industry can take up a space here.
Core Collective takes up three floors in an office building. On the first floor is a multi-functional space for workshops and group exercise classes.
The Wellness Level is dedicated to treatments and therapy. Among the wellness residents on this level are two chiropractors, a nutritionist, a meditation teacher, a physiotherapist, a psychologist, a BodyTalk practitioner, and a TCM practitioner.
On the dedicated Fitness Level, trainers get access to the functional training area, weights area and boxing, which allows them to do personal training with their clients. There are also studios for yoga, barre, TRX and Pilates.
Paperwork is a co-working space for creatives and design firms.
PAPERWORK
111 Middle Road, National Design Centre, 03-01
paperwork.asia
Say you are a young design firm and looking to set up office. You want to be around other designers so that you can feed off each other's creative juices and constantly feel inspired. You feel that joining a co-working space would be right. But with so many around, which do you choose?
Paperwork is set up specifically for design studios and creatives and is founded by Paperspace, a design collective that spans Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
Tenants can choose from hot desking to flexible or dedicated desks, or even a private suite if they choose to. The 3,500 sq ft space can seat 60 people, and has been designed to foster seamless exchanges and workflows. Through moveable partitions and modular furniture, the space can be transformed to hold events, create individual capsules and group gatherings.
At SILO, privacy and cosiness are the main highlights of the space.
SILO
15B Temple Street
silobydesign.com
Step into SILO and you may mistake it for a chic boutique hotel. The room numbers are discreetly placed on wooden doors, there are sun-lit spots in the building where you can lounge back with a newspaper in hand, and a drinks area that is clad entirely in black.
But SILO is not your next staycation location. There are 13 private offices spread across three shophouses. Depending on the size, the offices can accommodate from two to eight people. In addition, there are two meeting rooms.
Some of the offices come with ensuite private pantries equipped with fridges and microwave ovens. Each office has its own TV screen for when work needs to be shared. Rooms come with height-adjustable tables, wardrobes, and a specially-designed slot to collect any snail mail.
The common areas at WeWork are stylishly designed and encourage interaction and communication.
WEWORK
15 Beach Road, Level 2
www.wework.com
New York-based WeWork opened its first co-working space at Beach Road in December 2017. Soon to open locations include 60 Anson Road, 22 Cross Street, 71 Robinson Road.
WeWork's spaces look more like hip cafes and living rooms than offices. Turochas Fuad, managing director of WeWork Southeast Asia says: "Over the last eight years, we have reinvented the modern office space and the ways in which people approach work every day." WeWork has a global interdisciplinary team of in-house specialists that shape each location's workplace and living design.
It offers private offices, dedicated and hot desks. Tenants' perks include fruit-infused water, freshly roasted coffee and cheese tastings. Workshops and thought leader panels are also regularly organised.
This story was written by Tay Suan Chiang for The Business Times. Click here to read the original story.