A few months ago, the future of co-working spaces looked in doubt. The cautionary tale of WeWork’s hubris — breakneck growth followed by near-collapse — was followed by a global pandemic that has kept office workers in their homes. Now, though, a new co-working model is emerging. And it’s probably happening on a high street, or in a hotel lobby, near you.
The Arc Club is typical of these new “hyperlocal” spaces. Based in a retail space below a housing development, it is a carefully designed but simple space in Homerton, east London, offering a cheaper “work near home” option for freelancers, the self-employed and, since the pandemic, corporate staff who are bored with working from their bedrooms and kitchens.
Hannah Philp, its 35-year-old co-founder, came up with the idea while working in financial services. Her commute across the city was a nightmare, “but I didn’t want to work from home because I lived alone and it just wasn’t appealing”.