Another use for interior rooms could be meeting/ conference rooms/ teleconference/ coworking spaces. Some premium apartment landlords currently have these in their clubhouses, usually reservable by the hour, residents usually get so many free credits a month.
Is this a thing, in planned conversions? If the pricing varied by day and time, or was dynamic, it could work very well. With secure lockers adjacent. (Would that require mixed-use zoning?)
A teleconference room (/remote classroom) by day could be time-multiplexed into a cinema room off-peak (with some compromise in seating plans), leasing company just needs to handle cleaning deposits and video surveillance at start and end to check users keep it clean.
At least hoteling spaces of some sort for people. Combined with conference spaces for when people want to come into the office to meet and work together.
Might be a chance for diners or other restaurants to offer meeting rooms. They could charge less than coworking spaces and make up the difference in food and drink sales.
I honestly really like these types of shared temp offices. I've used them before, but my work won't reimburse me for their use, and they cost more than a coffee shop.
Some coffee shops in my area also have built in meeting rooms at very reasonable prices.
One thing that can work, if you only need a day here and there, is to get a motel room to use as a meeting room/conference room. Even fewer distractions than an office and you don't have to pay for it when you aren't using it. (We did this a few times in the 1980s/90s when I was working for an architect, when we needed a meeting place near a job.)
There are such places already in London, though you might not like the prices. The more business-focused private members' clubs typically have offices, meeting rooms and bedrooms available (for rent) as well as the kind of bar, restaurant, reading room facilities you might expect.
We already have shared buildings but often these places are "bare bones." Maybe someone needs to have the building kitted out (phones, internet, desks, chairs, etc) allowing a startup to move in and be up-and-running within a day.
I know around here they have a couple of those, they're expensive, but they do what they say on the tin.
In theory, co-working spaces should be able to supply this option. But the ones I've seen are barebones at best - temporary setups made out of plywood in old office buildings that would otherwise remain empty, big open spaces where you can rent a desk but only if you do it for at least a month, etc.
While IMO they could just as well divide the place up into smaller offices. Probably cost prohibitive though. As in cost for the end user, not for the co-working space.
This was my experience at Coworking spaces. If you are more of a freelancer and need access to conferences rooms for your clients then they absolutely make sense.
If you're just working from home for another job though, there's not as much of a social aspect since everybody is just...working. I get much of the same benefit by going to work in my local library (out of the house, working around other people who are quiet).
This is what I've been eyeing for my next move if it ends up being remote. My only concern is a space where I can eat and conference call without disturbing other patrons or going outside.
Open up the second floor, put in a bunch of desks with fast ethernet, and let customers rent or time-share them. Coworking is becoming much more popular, is seems.
The co-working spaces around Seattle offer a dedicated (professional looking) space for meetings wired up for tele/videoconferencing. Hell, even a coffee shop could offer those, with proper reservations and a small deposit. Sure, the ones here have "quiet rooms", but those aren't reservable, to my knowledge.
i wouldn't want a shared kitchen or bathroom - besides why would anyone want to live in such cramped conditions if they work remotely. But i d like it if my building had a shared coworking space a cafeteria and perhaps other commercial perks (such as gym) to use frequently - preferably with other remote workers. I know it's possible to share each of these individually, but this happens effortlessly when many people in similar situations are in physical proximity with them.
It must be possible for all the remote workers to gather together and actually rent/make an office like this right (with like, 10 people in, 10 small offices and a shared lunchroom/kitchen)? If you’re not looking for a bunch of profit the rent would sort of remain bearable too.
Most of the coworking spaces here have a meeting room that someone can just drop in for an hour as needed, but that doesn't work if you have zooms all day.
I suspect this only worked once for the novelty.
It's like sprint sessions at conference or emergency bug fixes at client sites - in terms of lines of code/hour it looks very productive but you can't do it for 30days straight.
But congrats for looking at the idea.
How many companies pay $100/sq ft for a prestige office space in downtown. Then cram employees into tiny cubicles (because it's costing $100/ft) and make you stay in Motel6 for $100/night on trips.
Is this a thing, in planned conversions? If the pricing varied by day and time, or was dynamic, it could work very well. With secure lockers adjacent. (Would that require mixed-use zoning?)
A teleconference room (/remote classroom) by day could be time-multiplexed into a cinema room off-peak (with some compromise in seating plans), leasing company just needs to handle cleaning deposits and video surveillance at start and end to check users keep it clean.
reply