London’s passion for co-working spaces has spun off a hunger for well-serviced places for freelancers to enjoy some of the advantages that small companies have, such as the sense of community and infinite free Wi-Fi. This micro-tenant movement is bringing some of London’s underused spaces to life.
Recycled Tube Carriages At Village Underground
)
Village Underground is a nonprofit creative arts community in Shoreditch. The main Village Underground centre is housed in an early 1900s warehouse that can be used for events, live art, exhibitions and the like. But high above the venue, four recycled Jubilee line train carriages and shipping containers make up the creative studios of Village Underground. They’re wonky, but the sheer weirdness of the environment might make for some big creative breakthroughs.
Ugli
)
The frankly ugly office development opposite BBC Television Centre declares itself from the start: lovely inside. The site offers affordable office space to film, graphic design, fashion and food concerns. Starting at £290 per room per month, you can rent space from 130 SF to 10k SF. The interior is funkier than WeWork, The Office Group and other more mainstream co-working spaces.
The Walkie-Talkie Sky Garden
)
While The Shard charges £26 to get upstairs, the Walkie-Talkie building’s Sky Garden is free. It also has free Wi-Fi, a coffee shop, restaurants and charging stations. Not to mention epic views of London that keep even the curmudgeonly old git inspired while they work.
Royal Festival Hall
)
Royal Festival Hall has a great space on the fourth floor for members to work (membership costs £65 per year and grants you access to the entire Southbank Centre). Free Wi-Fi, good views of the Thames, and the option to meet with other creatives are all benefits. Plus, it's relatively central, so it's a good place to huddle before a meeting.
Red Phone Boxes
)
The ultimate intimate workspace, where you’re guaranteed solitude, is the red phone box. Increasingly these icons of British culture are being repurposed into mini-offices with Wi-Fi, printers and even coffee makers. They’ve got pretty much everything except elbow room.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)