India’s white-collar work ethos and office culture are currently undergoing a substantial generational shift from the tried and tested. The burgeoning start-up industry also brings with it unique spatial challenges and constraints for those who are looking at places to set-up shop. A nascent business organisation cannot really look at renting, occupying, furnishing and maintaining a fully fledged office from the get go. Ironically, though it must be said that the industry is looking to disrupt the way services are rendered and businesses are grown has itself disrupted the way we look at office spaces in the country today.
Therefore, it is only natural that WeWork, a New-York based collaborative workspace organisation that is established across 46 cities worldwide, signals its entry onto local shores with the launch of ‘WeWork Galaxy’ in Bangalore. A sprawling six floor building with a massive terrace space definitely serves as a benchmark for community based professional campuses. The facility is spread out across a combined square foot area of 1,40,000 and has left no stone unturned in ensuring that it lives up to the standards of its global counterparts. Capable of seating more than 2,200 members, WeWork Galaxy is equipped with beautiful and functional workstations, conference rooms, a swimming pool, a game room, a gym as well as a cafe.
Speaking at the launch, Karan Virwani, Director of WeWork India , explained the reasons for choosing Bangalore as the first destination for the company. “We are excited to officially kick start our operations in India with the launch of our first centre in Bangalore. The reason we chose Bangalore as our first location is because it is demographically the most diverse city in India and has a very robust startup ecosystem”. The facility is one of three that will open in the entrepreneurial capital during the course of the year, along with centres in Mumbai and Guru Gram.
People who occupy work spaces here are provided with hot-desks, dedicated desks, Wi-Fi, housekeeping, noise controlled offices, meeting rooms, parking and a whole lot more. The aesthetically gorgeous space has paid attention to every minute-detail, even making use of dead spaces. Visitors are greeted by an open-atrium (which also doubles up as an auditorium) as they enter with tastefully designed conference rooms on the right flank along with a coffee-bar on the left. WeWork members also gain access to a “WeWork App” that serves as a key to a much larger portal that is the WeWork community. Apart from instantly connecting with 120,000 global members, it is through this app that you book meeting rooms, reserve a spot at wellness classes, and find out about day-to-day events at the space. If you weren’t sold on this space already, allow us to let you in on the fact that the collaborative workspace has it’s very own food truck! Yep - this is for real.
WeWork has already garnered significant momentum in Bangalore and Mumbai with the launch of their property WeWork Wellness, committed completely to the realisation that fitness, health and productivity go hand in hand. Once a week, on Wellness Wednesdays, members can expect fitness regimes ranging from Capoeira, Zumba, Yoga, and Barre to name only a few. Work hard, play hard just got taken to a whole new level!
The organization has also begun preliminary talks with various state-governments to explore possibilities of opening start-up incubators and accelerators together in their India Expansion plans and are also looking at Tier-2 cities in phase II of their expansion plans. This certainly signals the dawn of a new age for professional work environments and community based office spaces that offer almost an end-to-end service bouquet.
To know more about WeWork India, visit their facebook page here.
For more information on We Work Galaxy, visit their website here.