What Coworkers Are Craving From Your Workspace This Summer
Help your members stay cool, productive, and loyal – without melting your values
The UK summer has arrived in full force, and we’re now in the midst of a third heatwave. But rather than sweat it out in my home office, this summer, I’ve been getting out of the house and into coworking spaces, like Laundry Studios, and coworking cafes, such as Hoxton Shoreditch and Bermondsey Locke.
Why? Because these workspaces have one thing that my home isn’t giving me right now…it’s the ability to cool down.
In fact, the majority of UK homes aren’t designed with proper ventilation systems. For many remote workers, working from home during the warmer months can be hot and uncomfortable. So, we flock to indoor places – whether that’s the corporate office, a coworking space, or a third place. Over these last few months, indoor places with air conditioning have been buzzing with people.
Londoners, do you remember that sweltering summer three years ago when the city reached well over forty degrees? Going outside felt like stepping into an oven!
Well, in the future, periods of extreme heat are likely to occur more frequently. So, how can the coworking industry meet what people crave this summer and beyond? Let’s explore this further.
Why meeting your community’s needs matters
We can all agree that forty degrees is far too hot, and working in such intense heat can have a detrimental impact on health and well-being. Hence, the escape to cooler indoor locations.
However, not all coworking spaces are designed with the right features to keep their community cool. For example, a coworking space I was part of moved to a new site last April. But as the city got warmer, so did the coworking space. It turned out that the workspace didn’t have an operational air-con unit, so we resorted to placing fans around the space to keep everyone cool. Fine, if you bagged a desk in front of a fan, but there were about four fans to 20 members…
The overwhelmingly hot space started becoming a huge point of friction within the community, so we began looking for alternative options. One day, I went over to the dark side…I spent a day working at a WeWork. Don’t judge me, I just needed to cool down!
Another example is when I was solo travelling around Southeast Asia last September. Staying in the ancient Laotian capital of Luang Prabang, I tried out the one and only coworking space in town: The Desk. When I arrived, swelteringly after walking 10 minutes in 30+ degree heat, I was looking forward to starting my work in a cooler space.
But the owner hadn’t switched the air-con unit on yet, and the intense heat was making me feel unwell. I almost reconsidered purchasing a day pass. The solution? Asking politely if the owner could switch on the air-con unit. I felt a lot better 30 minutes later.
The caveat with air-con
While I’m here promoting the use of air-conditioning, I’m really conscious that this isn’t the perfect solution. Traditional air-conditioning is a huge energy guzzler, and if we’re all serious about sustainability, we need to be thinking beyond short-term comfort. Yet, when it becomes uncomfortably hot, workers simply want to escape to a place with the right conditions for focus and productivity.
An incredible benefit of coworking is delivering shared resources. For example, switching your AC on for a community of 100 people beats every individual installing air-conditioning units into their homes. In a small way, coworking contributes to a greater environmental challenge.
It’s not just people to think of here. We all know that leaving dogs in hot cars is a big no-no. If you’re dog-friendly, please make sure you have the means to keep your workspace cool for their sake too.
So, what’s the perfect indoor temperature? It turns out that there isn’t one. Caroline Criado-Perez’s best-selling book, The Invisible Women, highlights that women and men have different body temperatures. Women prefer a slightly warmer room temperature (on average, 24-25 degrees), yet AC units are typically set to a slightly cooler, male preference (22 degrees), after being designed in 1902 by a US male engineer, Willis Haviland Carrier. As a result, many women are sitting, “shivering in offices set to a male temperature norm,’ describes Criado-Perez.
With every individual having different preferences, it’s difficult to meet every individual’s needs within your community. You can set your room temperature to about 23 degrees, but you can also ensure that everyone feels comfortable expressing their discomfort (if it arises), and meeting their requests with compassion.
Give members a little extra this summer
While the summer months generally bring us more joy and happiness (who doesn’t love it when the sun shines?), you don’t have to conform by switching on the AC in your coworking space, although I think your members will thank you for it.
Ultimately, I respect you if you have firm sustainability values, and using AC in your workspace doesn’t align with them. Additionally, your space might not even call for it, if it’s a naturally well-ventilated space, or your members have expressed they can work quite comfortably without it.
As a coworking operator, your community’s wellness comes first. So, I’ve compiled some further suggestions to help your community stay cool and comfortable during the summertime:
Make the most of your outdoor spaces. Consider using your underutilised green spaces as an extension of your coworking space during the summer months, such as gardens and rooftops. Pop some picnic benches outside so that your members can work, meet, and connect comfortably.
Bring your community outdoors. If you notice your community isn’t forthcoming about using your outdoor spaces, consider using these spaces for more social means, like community events. Weather permitting, consider organising a summer BBQ or party, inviting your community’s family and your wider community along to join.
Be smart about your energy use. If you don’t have outdoor space and you’re based centrally, make sure your AC units are only switched on when members use your space, so that you don’t consume too much energy. You don’t necessarily need to switch them on first thing either, but just ensure you don’t leave it too late, and risk your community members overheating, like I did in Laos.
Ice, ice, baby. Installing an ice machine in your kitchen gives everyone an opportunity to enjoy a delicious iced coffee or cooling beverage (something I mentioned in my last piece on what people look for in your coworking space). You could even create a “summer drinks bar” corner or give away the occasional treat to members, like free ice cream or frozen fruit snacks, or doggie-friendly treats for their pets.
Provide portable cooling options. Fans, desk fans, and cooling mats can help your community manage their comfort on their own terms, without relying on central air.
For the rest of this summer, I’m looking forward to popping into cooler coworking spaces and enjoying the odd work day en plein air. How are you keeping your community cool while managing your energy use in the warmer months?
See you next week,
Lucy