Helen Grange
As a freelancer, I am interested in co-working spaces. One of the downsides of self-employment is a home office can get boring and isolated, and in a creative field especially, this isn’t ideal. But I am not convinced that the solution is “coffices” – free wi-fi coffee shops – which are more about selling you expensive cappuccinos than accommodating your work needs.
The OPEN Collaborative workspace in Joburg’s Maboneng precinct, on the other hand, makes perfect sense. As you walk into this huge open space on the 4th floor of the Main Change building in the eastern CBD, it’s unmistakably a place of work, laid out in a style that matches the best of corporate settings. And it’s peopled by men and women properly dressed for enterprise, not in tracksuits or threadbare jeans.
They have a membership, akin to a gym membership, and they come when it’s time to work, setting up with their laptops at one of the desks or perhaps a sofa near the coffee bar. But what really sets this space apart is you can walk around it like you would at home, speaking on your phone, changing seats, even finding privacy in a nook or meeting room.
OPEN Maboneng has been operating for two years now, and it has done well enough for co-founders Mark Seftel and Paul Keursten to be well on the way to launching the next OPEN, in partnership with Wits University’s Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering, in the tech hub of the Tshimologong Precinct in Braamfontein. Other OPEN workspaces will be launched in other cities around the country in the coming months, with members being able to access all of them.
OPEN MD Westleigh Wilkinson anticipates exponential interest as entrepreneurs and start-up companies try them out. “The first generation co-working spaces were often pretty basic.” he says. “What we’re providing is AAA-grade office facilities, with well-equipped meeting rooms, big and small, and cutting-edge technology.”
Sure enough, a wander through OPEN Maboneng offers everything you need. The wi-fi is top speed, there’s a state-of-the-art printer/scanner that you can link to your laptop, and two-pin, three-pin and USB plug points are available in key spots throughout.
The three boardrooms are multimedia and web conference equipped, and there are two workshop/ training rooms, an “innovation space” and four informal meeting/working rooms. Up to 150 people can be hosted for an event here.
The acoustics are excellent and double-glazed windows bring in a lot of natural light, offering views of the gritty streets below – a reminder that however First World your working environment, you’re still in a developing country with issues that need tackling with good ideas and innovation.
A clever touch is the astro turf, a nine-hole putting green adjacent to a coffee bar serviced by Double Shot. “We wanted a fluid work-cum-play area, where people can take some time out and just putt a few balls. The green can also be turned into a presentation area,” explains Wilkinson.
Currently, OPEN Maboneng has 30 businesses permanently set up there, including an electrical engineering company, skin-care business, digital agency and packaging company. “Then we get block bookings for the boardrooms and meeting rooms. Sasol has booked one boardroom for a week, for instance. The occupancy rate is about 55 percent corporates and 35 percent entrepreneurs,” says Wilkinson.
A regular user of OPEN is entrepreneur Tsakani Mashaba, owner of Michael Mikiala Men, a male grooming product range. “I’m one of the regulars. It suits me because I need to work flexible hours and everything I need, from technology to meeting space to coffee, is right here. It’s also an ideal space to meet and network with other entrepreneurs,” she says.
Like Mashaba, ever more people are becoming autonomous workers, operating as free agents or as contractors to small companies. “The beauty of a co-working space like this is that it’s conducive to ideas exchange and networking. It’s lively and diverse. There’s always something going on here that you can plug into,” says Wilkinson.
Another co-working space that’s growing in popularity is The Common Room in Parkhurst, now a year old. Again, it offers high-speed wi-fi, along with reception services, print and scanning facilities, but in a much smaller, home-style environment. Its boardroom and breakaway rooms are the size of those in a typical Parkhurst character house, which The Common Room once was, and it has a small garden where events can be booked.
“We’ve been slowly getting fuller. Most of the people working here are in web development, digital coding or brand activation, but there’s a wide range from music managers to journalists,” says manager Tabby Lorentz.
Much of the furniture in The Common Room is raw, recycled wood, which is all very well except that it makes for uncomfortable seating. In the “internet bar”, bar stool-like chairs line a table that’s too low for them, so you end up hunched over your computer at lap level. Those, and the orange crate-like chairs and coffee table in the common room, need a rethink, because comfort is surely a top priority.
The Common Room, like OPEN, is clearly meeting a need out there, if not for sociable, hi-tech workspaces away from home, at least for networking opportunities. “Our networking events, like the freelancer breakfast recently, are very well attended and produce a lot of fruitful working relationships,” says Lorentz.
As the co-working trend grows in South Africa, it will likely follow the way that these spaces have evolved in the US and Europe, where like-minded workers pool in a space that suits them best. This is already on the cards for OPEN in Tshimologong. “The brains in the cutting-edge world of technology… that’s where you’ll find them,” says Wilkinson.
l OPEN Maboneng: A month’s fee is R1 500, with other membership options. OPEN is currently offering a month’s free membership to entrepreneurs. Visit www.openworkspaces.co.za
l The Common Room: A month’s fee is R1 200, with other membership options. Visit www.the-common-room.co.za