
In the age of an industry that’s heavily reliant on both flexibility and bleeding-edge tech, coworking spaces are nothing short of an elegant solution to a rapidly growing need for an inspiring, yet equally modern workspace for the digital nomads and startups of the modern economy
The coworking space providers of the world are now competing to provide a truly innovative design that strikes the perfect balance between productivity and collaboration. Many of the coworking spaces are challenging the concept of the traditional office spaces that are often characterized by drab, uninspiring cubicles, and foster the ideals of open offices that are meticulously designed and curated to provoke creativity and foster a sense of belonging in a dynamic, like-minded community of high-functioning individuals.
The highly-competitive coworking market might look like a race to provide the most attractive workspace with the strongest identity. However, these coworking spaces’ goal, in the end, is to empower their members through a disruptive and revolutionary set of design choices.
Two of such coworking space providers are GoWork, the product of a merger between two well-renowned local providers; and Connext by Marquee, a senior player in the fully-serviced offices market in Indonesia.
Connext: Revolutionizing Workspaces
Connext’s journey in the Coworking landscape began in 2015—a time when even the term “coworking” was still strange even to the savviest digital nomads and startup founders. Their first location was Connext Bali Alimanda, and opened 3 more spaces in locations around Jakarta.
The mindset behind Connext’s next-level design was integrating state-of-the-art equipment into their highly-engaged spaces, utilizing data to discover what their members needed to thrive. However, despite having been based on advancements in technology, Connext’s spaces are often characterized by wooden furniture sculpted into geometric forms that stimulate the feeling of openness without being too distracting. Their open workspaces are designed to promote communication between members, simulating the feeling of an engrossed club or community, where each of their members can easily immerse themselves in collaborative conversations.
The spaces’ walls are decorated by murals that depict what might be the identity of the space itself. Without using too many colors, the space’s interior wall design speaks of creativity and an economy in a revolution. The color yellow that they pick as a mainstay of their scheme brings about the feeling of the moxie and ingenuity of the members, who seem to be highly engrossed in the community that Connext has built.
GoWork: Purpose, Redefined
At the time of GoWork’s conception, several coworking providers have entered the market, but GoWork strives to fill a certain niche in the shared office space game: well-curated, beautiful workspaces with a strong identity. This ideal can be found in GoWork’s newest space in Plaza Indonesia. Even though it is only one out of the 13 locations now available throughout Indonesia, GoWork Plaza Indonesia stands out as one of the most striking workspaces that perfectly combines elegance and sophistication.
Adopting the low-profile, industrial design sense often used by the Scandinavians, GoWork opted to fill its space with fabric-covered furniture with soft colors and wood-grain flooring and walls. The overall design elicits a sense of refined modernity, which often lulls the members into a feeling of comfort—something much needed in a workspace.
However, underneath it’s chic and delicate hood, lies a framework of bleeding-edge tech that supports a correspondingly avant-garde member community of companies and individuals. The highly-competitive coworking market might look like a race to provide the most attractive workspace with the strongest identity. However, these coworking spaces’ goal, in the end, is to empower their members through a disruptive set of dynamic design choices. Coworking spaces are really here to bring intelligently-designed workspaces into the savvy crowd of the present-day workforce.