A new way of working
A view of Fluent Space's facility in Petaling Jaya's Kelana Mall
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 — Who wants to be stuck in an office for 10 hours a day? Certainly not a growing generation of 20- and 30-somethings who see the office cubicle as an antiquated concept – especially now, when all one needs is an Internet connection, a laptop and copious amounts of coffee to get work done.
Of course, all those amenities are available at the nearby coffee-chain store, but it's hardly a practical solution for the long term. Distractions in the form of noisy neighbours, pretty sights, and shouted drink orders, as well as an unsecured table can be troublesome – which explains why co-working spaces have been increasingly popular of late.
The idea isn't novel – hot-desking and cubicles-for-rent has been around for years – but these new co-working spaces offer a working environment that's as comfortable as a cafe, with all the amenities of an office, such as printers, office supplies, and meeting rooms. We check out three co-working spaces in the Klang Valley that fits the bill for any mobile office worker.
Fluent Space
Founded last year by Kamal Mahyuddin, Fluent Space was the first co-working space of its kind in the Valley. Located at Kelana Mall, Fluent Space is designed to be spacious with a minimalist industrial look-and-feel to it, much like how one imagines co-working spaces in San Francisco are made to be.
Amenities aside, it's the finer details that make Fluent Space such a great place to work in. The chairs, for instance, are ergonomically designed SteelCase chairs that you can sit in for long periods; the complimentary breakfast during which co-workers get to mingle around to discuss what they're working on; and all the coffee you want made from the CBTL-coffee pod machine. Also, those who work here tend to be software developers and small-team tech start-ups, offering an energetic environment and the opportunity for serendipitous ideas to pop up.
Take a tour of Fluent Space in this video here.
Price: Prices start at RM40 for a full-day pass to RM600 a month for your own workstation.
Location: 50M-3 & 50N-3 Kelana Mall, Jalan SS 6/14, Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Alt.Space
Located in Jaya One, this co-working space is great for workers who want a place to park their butts down for a few hours to work. Unlike the other two co-working spaces described here, Alt.Space is skewed to be more of a cafe, offering a variety of beverages and snacks from the bar, and price structures are catered to those who just want to work for a couple of hours before heading out.
Workstations range from individual desks to long tables that can fit in four to six people. Its location is ideal too; not only are there a whole lot of restaurants – with The Bee just opposite and Wendy's a few doors down – but Jaya One is easy to find and you'll have a variety of places to schedule a drink with clients. Unfortunately, alt.space doesn't offer a free-flow of coffee like Fluent Space and Nook.
Price: For individuals, prices start from RM15 for two hours on an individual workstation (includes one drink), to RM450 for 10 full-day passes. For group workstations, prices start from RM40 for two hours (includes three drinks) to RM1,350 for 10 full-day passes.
Location: 27-G Block J, Jaya One, No.72 Jalan Universiti, Section 13, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Nook
Located in a quiet spot in Jalan Riong, the newly-opened Nook isn't a shoplot like the others, but a landed property surrounded by a serene landscape. It may sound trivial, but working with a view really does help get things done.
Here, you've got everything you need to run a small operation, with discussion and conference rooms to facilitate presentations, office supplies, private bathrooms with showers, as well as administrative assistants, and tax consultation services. And, like Fluent Space, Nook also offers unlimited gourmet coffee and tea to workers – the essential fuel for any freelancer.
Price: Ranges from RM60 per day to RM850 a month (for a six-month contract), with the latter including extra benefits such as printing credits, storage lockers, and mail handling services.
Location: 9, Jalan Riong, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.
