BEING SPACES: you work, they play, everyone is happy

BEING SPACES: commercial establishments similar to living rooms that are located in public places and where you can not only order a meal or some entertainment, but most importantly, they provide territory outside the office and outside the house, where you can just sit and watch TV, read a book, meet friends and co-workers.

In 1990, sociologist Ray Oldenburg, in one of his books, used the term “The Third Place”. A foreign place makes it possible to temporarily abandon pressure from the family and from the authorities. According to Oldenbeg, this idea corresponds to the Freudian concept of happiness - “when there is a beloved person and beloved work”, but with a more realistic connotation: “work when no one else buys you”.

Since the time of Oldenbeg, BEING SPACES has become a developed commercial sector, among its players, for example, Starbucks, which actively installs thousands of BEING SPACES around the planet, each equipped with comfortable chairs, tables and WiFi. Starbucks networks filter into supermarkets and hospitals, cinemas and hotels, universities and libraries, airports and other public places. And, as you know, each new trend is just an unusual way to satisfy ordinary needs.


Paragraph(“Accessible and relaxed workspace for writers of all stripes”) is located in New York. Its territory includes premises for work and a recreation area. The work room has 38 separate work desks, while the recreation area has a kitchen, a large round table and several small coffee tables. A fridge, microwave, toaster and coffee maker are also included. There is a laser printer and, of course, wifi. The institution is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

To obtain a club membership, it is not necessary to have copyright publications, but a strong desire to write is enough. Monthly fees range from $ 80 to $ 132. Now the club has about 120 members.

Canadian The Coffee Office(TCO) provides everything you need to work productively outside your office. Part of the building, which belongs to the cafeteria, is open to anyone, equipped with high-speed free internet and plenty of outlets.

The rest of the room is reserved exclusively for TCO members who are provided with separate personal places and meeting rooms. For $ 90 per month, each member of the club can use a work desk, a place to relax and get 25 cups of coffee to boot. Meeting rooms cost $ 35 and $ 50 per hour, small and large, respectively, and an individual working compartment $ 5 / hour. You can take a nap right there, using the sleeping module for $ 10 / hour. Other services include soundproofing during confidential conversations, as well as calling a specialist at Nerd On Site to help resolve any technical difficulties with your computer.

The prospect of such a business is confirmed by a study by The Yankee Group, which estimates that in the US alone, 50 million people — about 38 percent of the total working population — are “mobile employees,” that is, those who spend at least 20 percent of their work time outside of the main office. These are a variety of freelancers, temporary contractors, minipreneurs and other people who need flexible working conditions.

These coworking clubs have one common limitation - they are good, but only if you are not burdened by family, children or you have where to leave them while you work. But what if you are a business woman with a child and a laptop in her arms?

Tworooms(“You work, they play”) is another New York club that combines space for work, a playground and a community of other freelancers with children.

Two Rooms, as the name implies, provides two rooms: one for parents and the other for children. Everywhere there is wireless Internet, a printer, copy machine, fax and scanner are available. In the kitchen, adults can calmly chat. The center offers several service delivery schedules and everyone can choose what is more convenient for him - a full-fledged kindergarten, a temporary workplace, or both in one bottle.

Children from 3 months to 4 years are accepted. Two Rooms can accommodate 21 children and 21 adults at the same time. Children rage in a completely separate room where there is a special room for babies and even (although all this is in Manhattan, where there is a lot of stress with free space) there is a small courtyard for outdoor games.

The annual membership fee for club members is $ 150. Plus usage fees from $ 7 to $ 14 per hour.

Translation from English:
Roman Ravve for worldwebstudio.livejournal.com