Room to grow: The world’s top 10 collaborative workspaces

Sharing spaces, driving innovation

Why 10 brilliant collaborative workspaces work

#10Britain’s GCHQ: decisions in a doughnutBritain’s spying organisation may be secretive about its work, but it’s open when it comes to its workspace.

The 1,000,000,000 sq ft building somehow remains neighbourly and intimate.

Outside - in the secure “hole” of the doughnut - is a beautiful landscaped garden hidden from prying eyes.

The interior is one long circular corridor called “The Street”. The Street encourages ad-hoc meetings and chance encounters, fostering a sense of unity among 4,000 staff.

GCHQ may or may not be saving the world, but it’s a great

collaborative workspace.

#9iCrave: where work is a city breakNew York marketing agency iCrave wanted work to be a destination.

And what desirable destination beats a

hip hotel?

The innovative

8,000 sq ft

workspace mimics a hotel lobby, with high-quality wood and leather.And a DJ booth to keep Fridays interesting.

In a global economy, hotels are an equalising force where billionaires share bars with tourists.

iCrave’s office creates a level playing field for

collaboration

#8WeWork: a workspace for all of usCo-working space provider WeWork doesn’t “foster” collaboration: it builds it.

Freelancers and indies use its shared spaces for their individual work,yet shared tables and nooks drive connections and conversations.

Each WeWork space is different... but all have

human warmth.

#7The Pentagon: collaboration in strange placesThe 1940s Department of Defense building - an odd choice for modern co-working?

Nope.It’s among the greatest collaborative structures

ever designed.

Over 17 miles of corridors… yet no two offices are more than a 10min walk apart.

When air, sea, land, and political organisations often work to different agendas… this building lets them co-operate.And in politics, corridors are where the work gets done.

Built in a time of stringency and segregation, it’s kept people

collaborative over more than seven decades.

#6The Jules Verne Hotel: collaborationin Key LargoThe Jules Verne Underwater Lodge is today a hotel…

But it was once an intimate co-working space.

Marine scientists studied for weeks at a time, in

a building with no floor, 12m beneath a lagoon.

Windows remind residents that research looks outwards,

not inwards......and that human innovation

is limitless.

#5Cisco: spaced out in Silicon ValleyCisco’s building looks workmanlike, but was designed with a specific goal…

...to save the average two-thirds of costs traditional offices waste by having offices unused

65% of the time

“Based not on job titles, but on the needs of individuals”- Dolly Woo, Cisco

For Cisco, collaborative-smart is also financially smart.

#4The Learning Grid: innovation to a degreeMany universities are at the forefront of co-working.

The UK’s Warwick has its Learning Grid - a “library for teams”.

No books and no shushing. Just moveable tables and screens that let students and lecturers build collaborative spaces on the fly.

Insight: collaboration is enabled by the space, but driven by its users.

#3Trinity Buoy Wharf: London live/workingA disused wharf off the Thames turned old shipping containers into spaces -

Not just for working, but for living.

Artists and craftsmen collaborate and innovate in the low-cost development…

...and have built a real community.

Trinity Buoy Wharf proves innovation doesn’t have to be

high-cost.

#2The Bahnhof: data centre collaborationInside a Cold War era nuclear bunker.

The Bahnhof Data Centre fosters collaboration inside a hollowed-out rock.

It doesn’t hide its nature… but adds nature, with plants and lighting.

Somehow, the workspace 30m underground is comfortable and airy.

Innovation can happen in the strangest places.

Which leads us to Number 1…

#1 THE INTERNET

Cool design, great architecture, and innovative co-working spaces are all brilliant.

With tools like web conferencing, whiteboarding, and webcasting, technology makes the global web your global office.

But the most collaborative workspace of all isn’t made of glass and concrete.

And you can move in today.

Takeaways

Effective collaboration is often about the opportunities for chance encounters

Workspaces designed for collaboration often lead to innovation

Good architectural design can enable closer collaboration

Discover how you can promote collaboration across your team, download

Generating a collaborative culture, how to build innovation in your enterprise

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Sourceshttp://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/pictured-first-ever-look-inside-4993793

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2914372/Inside-GCHQ-pictures-heart-Britain-s-spying-station-intelligence-agency-working-prevent-Charlie-Hebdo-terror-attack-Britain.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doughnut

http://www.creativebloq.com/design/design-offices-912828

http://design-milk.com/icrave-office-by-icrave/

http://www.officelovin.com/2014/11/12/wework-coworking-hollywood/

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/434175220298469066/

http://www.dezeen.com/2014/01/18/cisco-offices-by-studio-oa-feature-wooden-meeting-pavilions/

http://www.mjparchitects.co.uk/projects/the-learning-grid/

http://www.itnews.com.au/gallery/photos-the-worlds-coolest-data-centres-416337