TEMP AGENCIES
OFFICE-SPACE RENTALS TAKE THE STIGMA OUT OF BY-THE-HOUR BOOKINGS
ENOUGH WITH THE COFFEE SHOPS. They’re noisy, crowded, and not conducive to speaking confidentially or closing a major deal. If you want high style without high overhead, a number of by-the-hour office rentals have cropped up. Consider it a side industry supporting self-employed individuals, particularly as casual and contract employment increases. These spots are equipped like a hotel business centre (wi-fi, pens, scratch pads, charging docks, and a candy dish) but without all the beigeness and fluorescent lighting of mass chains. My ByWard Office (78 George St.), which launched in April, features live-edge slab desks; furnishings by Blu Dot, EQ3, and Herman Miller; exposed brick; a lounge area; and a kitchenette. You can get access to the meeting rooms for as little as $15 a day — the cost of a few lattes. “The rooms are such that when a person comes in for the first time, they immediately see themselves in the space and what they want to do,” says My ByWard Office founder Eric McRae. An artist might see a great gallery space; a virtual team that gets together once a week finds a common hangout; other people come in and do photo shoots.
Lise Snelgrove, co-founder of This Space Works, believes that a great space inspires. Her company, launched in January 2014, books private spaces in commercial buildings and restaurants for business clients through their website. There are boardrooms for interviews and large, open-concept spaces for panel discussions. Want to rent out your space? There’s no cost to list, and Snelgrove says it’s a great way for space owners to connect with the business community in a whole new way.
Harried travellers will appreciate the rapidly growing office rental company called Breather. It was founded by Montrealer Julien Smith, co-author of reputation book Trust Agents, who was always looking for a place to work while on the road for readings and signings. Active in five cities, Breather spaces look a bit like an EQ3 room display
with lots of small-space smarts. You can book your room on the AirBnb-like user-friendly app. When your booking is live, you receive a pin-pad code on your smartphone. Enter the code to unlock the door, and make yourself at home. Priced at $20 per hour, each room is similar in setup: there is a small couch, workstation, yoga mat, and a book rail with picks such as Gloria Roheim McRae’s BYOB: The Unapologetic Guide to Being Your Own Boss and Simplicity Essays, a treatise on minimalism and leaving the rat race by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus
Looking for collaboration? Event spaces, workshop rooms, and meeting rooms are available for as little as $15 per hour at Hub Ottawa (71 Bank St.). While there, you can bounce ideas off the social innovators, non-profit leaders, and tech gurus who dock at this HQ. Just down the street is @TheSpace (139 Bank St.), a co-working hangout that also offers business services from admin assistance to marketing.