I'd echo a lot of the sentiments raised so far. It does really come down to the vibe that you want to create in your space; since we modeled Citizen Space after a cafe-like experience where folks are free to drop in and discuss openly, we went for only one walled off area and it's made a great deal of difference.
On top of that, without walls we're able to host events, like tonight's Net Tuesday -- events which can be critical to growing awareness and your community. Lastly, I think there is some utility to have a few "quiet" spaces, but you should think carefully about your "property" model -- ie can folks get a regular space that they can call theirs or should it all be floater space? We're doing the hybrid thing and inf that it works well. There's enough flexibility for folks to come in randomly and meet while also giving our regular folks a sense of permanace, belonging and identification and/or ownership of the space. Chris On 5/8/07, Luter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Brian: > > I echo Eva's comments. We went with an open plan model with custom > screens made out of semi-transparent polygal. It helps with privacy > and sound transmission, but allows light through. We also added a > private conference room, and a "chill-out" room. Several people in our > community use those two rooms for privacy during meetings and phone > calls, or for collaboration amongst the group. You can see photos of > the workstations and spaces on our website at www.hivecoop.com. > > - Andrew > > On May 8, 9:49 am, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > We went somewhere in-between. Rather than the big open spaces with > > desks, we went for low-walled cubicles that give people some visual > > privacy, but retain access to natural light. We also built some small > > private offices. To date, the private offices have not been used > > much, although that may change as we get busier. I would focus you > > money on creating walled meeting space and maybe leave one private > > room for private phone calls. Doors really detract from the community > > feel of the space, which is my theory as to why they have not been > > wildly popular at CubeSpace. > > > > -Eva > > > > On May 7, 8:34 am, BrianR <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:> I went to look at a > potential office for a coworking space the other > > > day. This one had around 2100 sq. ft and about 10 small offices. There > > > is a small open space in front, a big room in back, and a kitchenette. > > > > > If I rented this space should I knock down a few walls that make some > > > small offices to create more open space? > > > or > > > Should I leave all the walls up and let people have doors? > > > > > Lots of the pics I've seen of coworking spaces tend to have big rooms > > > with shared desks. Is this open working environment essential to the > > > coworking style? Will collaboration and community atmosphere suffer > > > with lots of doors? > > > > > I think a combo of both is probably the best. What do ya'll think are > > > the advantages/disadvantages. > > > > > -BrianR > > > > > -- Chris Messina Citizen Provocateur & Open Source Ambassador-at-Large Work: http://citizenagency.com Blog: http://factoryjoe.com/blog Cell: 412 225-1051 Skype: factoryjoe This email is: [ ] bloggable [X] ask first [ ] private --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
