New wave of work spots

Greg Ardé welcomes you to the bright new world of co-working in reclaimed buildings which offer spaces and networking possibilities to like-minded entrepreneurs who find working from home too lonely, but are not yet ready to sign a lease

YOU get a cool vision of the future hanging out at The Sett in uMhlanga Rocks: total strangers sit quietly beside one another, sipping cappuccinos and tapping away at laptops while hip music is gently piped off iTunes radio.

Occasionally hostess Sarah glides past offering home-made biscuits.

Every now and then somebody takes a cellphone call and slips out on to the balcony for privacy.

Most of the time the people there are head-down industrious, siphoning off the 8MB/second fibre-optic internet and bottomless coffee.

They break for a quick chat and health rolls before resuming their industry.

This is the future. It’s called coworking and it’s a concept taking hold in Durban.

Travis Gale and his partners at Appletree, a consulting company specialising in corporate culture, started The Sett.

At first they needed a conference venue, but soon realised they could spread the vibe of their company to associates by opening up The Sett in the Cox Yeats building in Ridgeside Office Park.

“I got so sick of tired muffins and a big old silver urn at conferences,” says Gale.

“We’ve paid attention to everything here, from the airconditioning to the lighting and seating and the positioning of the workspaces. We’ve managed to harness the energy of co-workers and there’s a vibe here.

“People come to work here because it’s either too lonely at home or too distracting at a coffee shop.

“People connect here and if they’re like-minded they do business together; if not, they don’t have to and just get on with their work. We’ve created things like Craft Beer Friday and joint learning sessions, so you can be as connected as you want to be.”

The Sett offers fast Wi-Fi, printing facilities, bottomless coffee and a conference venue.

The facility is open every weekday from 7.30am to 7pm and charges a drop-off fee of R110 for three hours and pre-paid bundles, including R3 750 for 30 days.

There are also training facilities, with whiteboard, flip chart and TV with cables that connect HDMI, VGA and Apple TV.

The co-working concept is an international phenomenon pioneered by the likes of Regus, which offers ready-to-go work spaces with a wide range of complementary support services in more than 700 cities, including Durban.

Co-working is driven by affordable spaces for small businesses that offer instant networking opportunities.

It’s attractive to entrepreneurs and professionals who don’t want to be stuck in the spare room at home, but aren’t ready to lock down to a lease.

Another Durban building where the co-working concept is being polished is at The Design Factory, Station Drive, off Umgeni Road.

The 6 000m building is testament to the vision of designer Sean Stretch and owners Durban Property Managers, who took kindly to an idea Stretch took to them about eight months ago.

Stretch has worked for a number of top advertising agencies in Durban and after he went solo was looking for some space for his own studio.

He found the building in Station Drive and approached the owners and their architect, Dereck Petersen of Human Habitat, who very quickly saw merit in his idea of sprucing up the building in order to attract more people like Stretch.

“The idea was originally around a pop-up studio for me at a decent rate in a building that was generally in disuse.

“The owners agreed. Then I said I would work towards creating a design exhibition in the building and the ideas got a bit more serious.

“I started a website to attract more tenants, in return for a favourable rental. It was a good faith agreement, no contract, and it has worked for both of us.”

Since he started marketing the building, it has undergone a Cinderella-like transformation. The owners have spent millions on the building and artfully divided the six-floor structure into funky, attractive office spaces.

Now there are 20 like-minded tenants, from web designers to photographers, fashion designers and clothing brands like the Holmes Bros and Collins and Barrington.

Stretch has also created a space for co-working with Wi-Fi zone and flexible work spaces that double up as photographic studio, exhibition and events area, all for hire.

There are also plans for a canteen.

“We’ve turned this building from a dog into a happening spot and people are attracted to the hip crowd here.”

Since Stretch and the building owners started, the entire building has been let.

The development has been a catalyst for the refurbishment of three other building conversions in Station Drive that offer complementary creative services.