Over the years, many co-working spaces have sprouted up in various locations across Nigeria. These alternatives to traditional offices offer freelancers, entrepreneurs and independent professionals affordable and flexible work spaces with additional perks such as collaboration and relevant trainings.
In Lagos alone, there are dozens of co-working spaces and incubation hubs that offer co-working spaces. One of such is Workstation, located in the heart of Victoria Island, with plans to expand to Maryland Mall sometime in August.
Suggested Read: A comprehensive list of co-working spaces across Lagos
Workstation offers coworking spaces, private offices, conference rooms with a 24/7 access to uninterrupted power and internet, a gym, a shower, among other perks.
Techpoint took a tour of Workstation recently with the help of Michelle Andrade, our tour guide. Michelle is the Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Workstation.
Welcome to Workstation
Just by looking at the building from outside, you can already tell its huge size. Spoiler Alert: there's a workspace virtually everywhere in the premises.
It offers valet parking for its members to reduce the hassle of parking.
The building
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The Reception
The reception is a paradox of the size of the Workstation space. It's a small waiting area with a minimalist design.
Just away from the reception is the conference room
This is where all the seminars and trainings for members take place.
"We have Workstation Academy which is more like an education department. We organise forums, seminars, "launch and learn" sessions where someone comes in to train and talk to our members about their businesses," Michelle tells us.
The conference room can be extended to accomodate more people.
The Kitchenette houses a microwave, coffee maker and a few other essentials
"We provide complimentary refreshment for our members everyday and during happy hour on Fridays, we make beer and wine available for them in the kitchen", says Michelle.
The uncoventional office desks
This space looks like the typical open space office seen in many startup offices, but it's actually a shared space. Just like traditional office desks, members that use the fixed desk areas can leave their laptops and desktops in their dedicated spaces, even though they are sharing the area with others.
The dedicated spaces come with a locker and the opportunity to use Workstation as a business and mailing address.
Cozy pods for a more flexible work experience
The hot desk area for people who do not need dedicated spaces
Workstation offers different packages for the hot desk area; Workx -- a 3-days-per-week plan, Flex -- 7 days per week, Moonlighters -- evenings only, Weekender -- weekends only and the Nomad -- virtual services only.
Members also have access to the scanner and printer.
The hotdesk area leads to the outdoor space. There's a work space virtually everywhere.
We move up the stairs to the space that houses private offices, meeting rooms, and the lounge.
The stairwell was decorated by iFlix, one of the companies that work from the private offices.
The meeting room comes with a projector, whiteboard, and it enables video conferencing
The colourful lounge where members sit to relax, watch television, hang out and play foosball.
Customised private office spaces
The balcony for that outdoor view and fresh air
The private offices come in different sizes
Away from the main structure is the detached building that houses another set of private offices and the cafe
The "green" cafe serves healthy meals and is open to members from morning till evening
More private offices and outdoor spaces
The wellness programme
Workstation is all about helping their members stay healthy; they have a weekly run club and Yoga classes every Wednesday. All members have access to the gym, Yoga and Meditation room and the changing rooms.
Now to the Lifestyle Floor
The changing rooms where members shower and change after their work outs and Yoga sessions
The Yoga and meditation room
The gym
Team Workstation
The team at Worskstation is dominated by women, asides Fareed Arogundade, the founder of Workstation and the Facility Manager who are both men. They were both unavailable during the tour.
It's obvious that the team behind Workstation is not just interested in providing workspaces for their members, they also want to help them live their best lives and the "Live, Play, Work" mantra says it all.
Do you think your office is cooler? Invite us to take a tour through our lens.
