Coworking Spotlight – Halkin
It is all too easy to get carried away with the juggernaut that is coworking. Although coworking will continue to grab a lot of the headlines, we should forget these alt-multi-occupancy office providers at our peril. We’ve talked to Jonathan Kingshott, CEO of Halkin, a leading ‘MOOP’, about their flex offering.
As the term is so broadly interpreted by many people/companies now, what does coworking mean to you? Coworking in the international sense is the umbrella term for flexible office space. In the UK it tends to refer to the open plan, hot desking, entry-level product that many providers offer alongside their flexible private offices. In recent years coworking has been referred to as a ‘membership’, much like for a club or gym, but instead you pay monthly to be a member of a coworking lounge.
From when you started, has your client profile changed? Yes, the flexible or coworking landscape has evolved from being somewhere for start-ups or SME’s to find office space to now also providing project space for blue chip, global organisations. The average size of space sold has increased as a result and, somewhat ironically, so has the length of term taken, from six months to 12-24-month contracts. This is due to many large corporates being used to a long-term 5-10 year leases. So a 12 or 24-month contract, to them, is very flexible.
In recent years coworking has been referred to as a ‘membership’, much like for a club or gym, but instead you pay monthly to be a member of a coworking lounge
Coworking is shifting from being work environments for incubation/start-ups to being flex space for established and blue chip companies. How has this influenced your offering? As a result of this we are taking larger buildings with bigger floorplates.
Which trends influenced the design of your space?
Space has become much more design-led, with creative space being the most popular in the market currently. The critical element that still remains, however, is the ability for a client or member to still be able to make the space their own. This is something that Halkin has focused on intensely.
The lease is dead. All space will be flexible and will evolve to the needs of the people within a given business rather than the business itself
Describe what you think workplaces will look like in 20 years’ time.
The lease is dead. All space will be flexible and will evolve to the needs of the people within a given business rather than the business itself. This might mean that life and work are completely combined with childcare, gym and leisure space, all located within a few feet of your desk.
Given the accessibility we have to the internet from home, would it be extreme to say that office spaces will soon become completely redundant?
There is a time and a place for working from home – sometimes it provides the flexibility needed, but other times an individual might value the separation between work life and home life. Also, being physically present with colleagues should not be underestimated in terms of providing a sense of belonging within an organisation; the social aspect of a workplace has a huge impact on ethos, culture and wellbeing.
