Workspace, Vermeer View, by Duane Storey
You may have read the sad tale of the demise of Workspace, the devastatingly gorgeous, open-plan coworking space which effectively functioned as the clubhouse of the Gastown tech community (well, that and the Irish Heather). And as we all know, the Network Hub is full (although Raul says if you’re serious, contact him directly) and DiscoveryParks is so far out in the boondocks you might need a passport. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t cool, accessible, affordable alternatives. Here’s one, in fact:
Studio space for rent
shared art studio / work space available downtown Vancouver, Pender
and Richards.
there are 5 work stations available in a 700 sq. ft. room.
rent is $350 per work station.
rent includes internet, heat, & electricity.
24 hour access available to all tenants.the building is old and has been used by artists since the 80s so it
has quite a lot of “character”.
because the space is shared it’s not suitable for work that involves
noxious chemicals, extremely loud sound, or other overt distractions.
that said, the people currently in the building are musicians, makers,
artists and designers and are a pretty tolerant sort.contact overmindproductions at gmail.com to arrange a visit.
And there’s going to be a big meeting (70+ interested parties) at BOB on Pender near Main, to discuss perhaps making a new space in the hood for this, something a bit larger and more ambitious than the above, and more professional/tech oriented. I think the Golden Buddha Monastery at Hastings and Gore is just crying out to be repurposed this way. Heck, anything’s a step up from its current position as a big empty eyesore harbouring fugitive hookers and junkies in the alcoves. When it was used as a monastery, it never had that character, so this is more in the realm of returning a piece of the neighborhood to its time-honoured position rather than gentrification. I mean, you can’t get much more U than a bunch of Buddhist monks, can you?
Here are the deets; RSVP by email, especiaally important since it’s going to be packed.
You’re invited to an evening of ideas sharing and visioning for a “Vancouver Hub”.
Thursday, October 8th
5:30-7:30pm, BYOB
109 – 5 West Pender Street, Vancouver
778.960.5337
RSVP: hubvancouver@gmail.com
Please forward to others you think would be interested.
What is a ‘Hub’?
A Hub is a shared work space with a dynamic cafe-like culture that facilitates creativity, collaboration, and social innovation. Often a social enterprise itself, a Hub is comprised of a diverse interdisciplinary membership base, ranging from freelance designers to small social enterprises to mid-size NGOs and green businesses. Hubs include shared amenities like meeting spaces, social/event spaces, cafe/bar, business equipment, kitchen, telecommunications, etc.There are a number of organizations and individuals from the Vancouver business community, arts community, non-profit community, and academic community keenly interested in starting or joining a hub. Ideally, a Vancouver Hub would include an element of all of these communities, with a common social / sustainability mandate.
Who should attend this meeting?
If you have a vision / idea for what you would like to see in a Vancouver Hub – please come prepared to share this in the discussion portion of the evening. If you are curious about how a Vancouver Hub might support or enhance your work – you are welcome to listen, ask questions and learn more.** All ideas will be recorded and a facilitator (Olive Dempsey) will help us develop the first steps towards our Hub.**
Who will be joining us?
We are extremely fortunate to have some Hub “veterans”, who will offer their inspiration, lessons from past experiences and practical feedback:
- Jeremy Murphy, Director of Sustainability Solutions Group, collaborator on Halifax Hub
- Bill MacEwen, former owner of Workspace
- Jay Catalan, Founder of The Network Hub
- Michelle Hoar, Business Director of The Tyee
- Kevin Millsip, Director of Genius, former Director of Check Your Head
We strongly feel that Vancouver needs a Hub to incubate and catalyse social and ecological innovation in our city. If you share this aspiration, we look forward to meeting you, and collaboratively exploring a common vision.
See you soon! Please make sure to RSVP to hubvancouver at gmail.com.
Regards,
Sustainability Solutions Group, Recollective, The Natural Step Canada, Vancouver Design Nerds, Workben.ch, Building Opportunities with Business, The Tyee, Genius, The Hub, Environ, and many more…
Other similar hub-models:
Or, if you’re a more visual thinker, hereyago, right-click to download:
raincoaster media 
Raul
October 1, 2009
I’m quite surprised that, having The Network Hub had the name for over 3 years and been in business for over 3 years, that we now need another “Hub” that will do coworking. Um, wouldn’t it be more creative to use a different name?
(Full disclosure – as Lorraine indicates on her post, and I’ve publicly disclosed everywhere, my desk space is, indeed at The Network Hub).
Everyone is jumping on the coworking bandwagon, eh?
raincoaster
October 1, 2009
The Network Hub was, as far as I can determine, named after a movement that was already in existence: it post-dates other Hubs all over the world which do these things. It’s not a case of name-jumping. It’s a movement, of which the Network Hub is part.
And as for bandwagon-jumping, are you saying that a new space isn’t needed? From my perspective (sitting in a cafe) it’s desperately needed. I understand you want to wave the flag for the Network Hub, but I don’t understand hostility to an event in which the founder of the Network Hub is participating.
Raul
October 1, 2009
First, In no way, shape or form have I manifested hostility. Where do you read the hostility, if I may ask?
I absolutely agree that the concept of hub has been definitely in vogue for more than a decade. The literature on industrial clusters defines one particular model of industrial geographical agglomeration (the hub and spoke model, where one specific company is the “hub” and there are spokes, like those of a bike wheel around it). Ann Markusen wrote about this in 1990.
My commentary on everybody jumping on the coworking bandwagon is more of a general observation of yes, there is a real need for office space, but the question that remains unanswered to me is – has everyone thought this through to the extent of knowing what worked and didn’t?
As a matter of fact, I think Boris Mann will pitch a session on coworking at SxSW. If I had the money, I’d be there. But I don’t.
GregEh
October 1, 2009
Hub is a generic term and an apt description for what the space is trying to achieve. Further, there is enough demand, esp with the demise of Workspace, that one would be hard pressed to consider this a competitor to any existing spaces.
Just as the Vancouver Hack Space guys don’t think themselves uncreative for “copying” the many hackerspaces that existed before, because that’s what it is, a hackerspace.
GregEh
October 1, 2009
haha, yeah, there really isn’t any motivation for bad vibes here.
I’m glad there’s such a large collection of groups wanting to make this happen, I’ll be sure to come out for this.
raincoaster
October 1, 2009
I tried to email it to you, in fact, but it bounced. I’m not a spammer, really!
Muskie
October 2, 2009
The meeting isn’t at BOB. It is up the street at Recollective. BOB or at least Brian and I will be there. We want to be part of the solution as always. We’ve been working Brian especially on colocating businesses and non-profits and sharing resources and space but it is not the easiest thing to pull off.
Work is ongoing, but it be best that on Thursday you went to Recollective’s offices not ours. ;-)
raincoaster
October 2, 2009
Ah, thanks for the clarification. I should always read the fine print…but I never do. Is the address in there somewhere?
Muskie
October 2, 2009
It is at 5 West Pender Street.
http://recollective.ca/contactus.cfm
raincoaster
October 3, 2009
Thanks!