Natural Office Community

Basic information

Project Title

Natural Office Community

Full project title

Natural Office Community - Ecological Coworking and Coexisting Spaces

Category

Reinvented places to meet and share

Project Description

Natural Office Community promotes coworking spaces made from natural materials for people, who want to work in sustainable environment. The spaces would be build in rural landscape outside city in order to bring the people together with nature and show them the potential of natural resources. The office is then used as a template for future construction projects in Saxony. During planning phase are considered only sustainable materials and the use of renewable energies.

Project Region

Leipzig, Germany

EU Programme or fund

No

Description of the project

Summary

The corona pandemic has our work almost overnight world fundamentally changed: flexible working, home office and video conferencing are “the new thing” for many people. My idea is to move the office life into rural spaces and create a chain of Natural Office Community - open for work and exchange ideas. The Spaces would be made sustainable and open for users for their worktasks. The connection of natural spaces and worklife shows a lot of potential. Coworking spaces create a positive dynamic, which also improves the quality of life and would lift throughout the rural life. In the case of rural coworking, a lack of space is not the problem - here it is even more access to network, encounter and mutual support that makes the model attractive. As a result, there are places created which, thanks to their accessibility and the mix of users, encourage encounters and exchanges. Infrastructural conditions of rural life can be expanded with the help of digital and social solutions. This is how the projects open up for community with additional offers such as freely usable workshops, cafés, accommodation and cultural events. That clearly distinguishes them from the years they have been doing in existing residential communities in the countryside. A wide variety of people meet in coworking spaces each other and network - it is a great opportunity for new social meeting places and hot spots to visit.

Key objectives for sustainability

The choice of sustainable materials and construction techniques makes a significant contribution to climate protection and serves as a role model for future coworking spaces. The project is also effective in reducing greenhouse gases and shows “new thinking” for the construction industry. The focus on sustainable materials and environmentally friendly construction requires regional and ecologically sustainable products. My focus is on wooden structures, which are filled with bio-components as insulation. The prefabricated wooden parts arrive at a construction site, what accelarates the entire process. For the energy supply, I implement renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic systems, heat pumps, etc. Wood has a positive effect on the environment due to its property of removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing the carbon it contains in the long term and thus makes an important contribution to climate protection. The more wood is used to build, the more carbon is bound over many years.

Key objectives for aesthetics and quality

New workplaces, total standing on commuter routes, must be organized in the new way. Many metropolises expect with problems: traffic congestion, driving bans, exploding residential and commercial rents. More and more families, young professionals are moving there in the outskirts of the big cities, where they are cheaper and possibly also be able to live closer to nature. The quality of the equipment is based on the standards of professional offices and thus has one greater investment needs. However, the Natural Office Community offer sustainable office for prices, which are more convenient than usual office space in the city center. There could be asked individual table or team offices. Coworking spaces can integrate social and cultural offers. The commuter port model thus also offers the option of less lucrative, but important cultural events could be financed such as exhibitions for the local community. These initiatives can be empty reactivated standing areas - initially, for example with a pop-up coworking space and regional to make needs visible and also support the establishment of communally operated coworking spaces.

Key objectives for inclusion

The advantages are manifold, which is why the number of coworking spaces has increased significantly in recent years. In Germany, the supply outside the metropolitan areas has grown one in the past three years to over 140 - one trend that continues. The advancing digitization drives this development even further. Coworking spaces in rural areas are increasingly being considered as an important contribution to the attractiveness of a village, as they allow more people to be in the country and still doing jobs that normally they did in the cities. There has been a significant leap in development in the scene since 2015, both in terms of the type and increasing number of coworking spaces being set up and the changing target groups. In 2020, companies came to coworking spaces for strategic reasons due to the flexibility of workplaces - they want to try something new and preferably away from headquarters and their own corporate culture. The clientele of rural coworking spaces is also much more heterogeneous than those in the cities. In the countryside, it is not just representatives of the traditional, original milieu of the cultural and creative industries that come together. Instead, coworking spaces here reflect the breadth of society - their target groups range from academics and craftsmen to teachers. With the increasing spread of mobile work and increasing demand for coworking, more and more large spaces are emerging and more and more specialized offers are being developed. The overall growing market also offers opportunities in the combination of municipal (co) financing and local operators in community management.

Innovative character

The demand for new alternative forms of living and working is already exceeding supply. If implemented correctly, these projects can offer high added value for the region supplement local offers in a meaningful way and provide impetus for new ideas and services. The locations can redesign rural regions by combining meeting points, a willingness to innovate, civic engagement and technology affinity and thus creating points of attraction for new skilled workers and residents. Natural Community Office creates new places that are increasingly aimed at younger target groups. Many newcomers want alternatives to the existing meeting places in the countryside. The available coworking spaces serve as a basic structure to accommodate other offers and services. The big advantage of coworking: On the one hand there is a reliably open place in the community, on the other hand coworking offers are basically therefore accessible to all. Key handover as well as cleaning and catering can be organized centrally and fast internet is available. In this way, users can stay active with little effort and also contribute their own offers. The greater exchange between users makes it easier to generate new projects, as well as connect persons with various topics. Compared to home office, work and private life can also be better separated in the coworking space. Especially employees often have to plan significantly shorter commuting times if they simply can drive to the nearest coworking space instead of going to the company location.

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