The rise of coworking in Spain: Utopicus to open 15 centers by 2020

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Coworking spaces are becoming more frequent, but not only among professionals, startups and SMEs: Large companies also join in to work in flexible spaces.

The rise of entrepreneurship, teleworking, relocation and flexibility of jobs has brought a new star to the world of work: coworking centers, which offer an alternative to the more traditional job.

The figures are clear: according to the 'Global Coworking Survey' report, it is estimated that by the end of this year 2.2 million people will work in about 22,000 coworkings worldwide, and the trend will continue to grow: in 2020, there will be 2.68 million workers and 26,300 coworkings.

In addition, given the usual tendency for coworkings to be inhabited by autonomous professionals or startups, the situation is changing: as evidenced by the 'Study of flexible spaces in Spain', prepared by Cushman & Wakefield, SMEs and 'startups' continue to be the main tenants of coworkings, but more and more business delegations, headquarters and open innovation departments are gaining more ground.

One of the fastest growing companies in the sector is Utopicus, Colonial's coworking platform, which is in full expansion in the so-called 'flex offices' sector in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​where it will have 15 centers and 40,800 m2 at the beginning of 2020. The firm's strategy combines the growth of work in this type of centers, services to its potential users and its expansion in the main nerve and business centers of our country.

Flexible and traditional spaces, united

Utopicus seeks to address both freelancers, freelancers and startups as well as SMEs and corporate departments such as innovation teams, business spin-offs or business delegations, among others. In fact, the company goes beyond the rental of workspaces, since its utopicSCHOOL business line offers training and cultural transformation programs to companies and large corporations that generate a shift towards a more innovative way of working, communicating and cooperating, to be more productive and human.

This double typology allows the firm to combine the traditional office (the usual heritage of Colonial) with the flexible offices, so that all types of companies can share spaces and even do business with each other. A sample of this is in the The Window building, located in Príncipe de Vergara (Madrid), which houses companies of different profiles such as TMF Group, Fibonad or Novo Banco in the traditional space and startups such as Housers, Cygnus, Aplazame or Splunk in the flexible. Other examples are the spaces of José Abascal, Castellana (Madrid) and Torre Marenostrum (Barcelona).

Community, 'networking' and services

Utopicus generates networking activities in its spaces throughout the year grouped into four pillars: Art and culture; 'wellbeing' and sustainability; emerging technologies, and organizational innovation. This initiative is materialized in events such as Inspiring Workplaces, a space for debate and reflection on the latest trends, practices and tools for managing people and ways of working; or Utopicus Venture Club, with investors, presentations of innovative projects and more fun activities such as breakfast, afterworks or community meals.

To encourage this interaction between companies, they offer their own socio-cultural programming and have a bar area and even a 'jam session' area with musical instruments in the Club, a space “for restless minds” that is configured as a place of inspiration and flexible work during the day and a meeting place and personal expression at night.

And it is that the creation of close professional relationships within the labor sectors has, over time, become almost an obligation. This was demonstrated by iKN Spain, which in its report 'Situation, trends and results on professional networking in Spain' interviewed 200 Spanish executives and reached several conclusions: 42% of respondents believe that face-to-face 'networking' provides relationships of high potential, while 38% claim to attend events of this type to obtain information on trends and market challenges. In addition, in the tirade between establishing virtual or in-person relationships, 57% of respondents opted to combine both types of meetings, while 42% valued only face-to-face ones.

Full occupation

Utopicus was born in 2010 and currently has 10 spaces between Barcelona and Madrid, totaling 21,230 m2. At the beginning of 2020, it will put on the market up to five new centers to add, in total, 40,800 m2 of flexible space, distributed in 15 centers between Barcelona and Madrid. Figure that will continue to increase over the course of next year.

These new centers open as the existing spaces are touching the full occupation. The space of Plaza Catalunya, for example, opened in 2017 in Barcelona, ​​is already 100% occupied, and those of Prince of Vergara and Orense Street, in Madrid, are around 80%.

Also noteworthy are cases such as Gran Vía or Gala Placidia, newly opened spaces that are already at 60 and 70% occupancy respectively.

These centers are located in central locations, in 'prime' buildings and have the seal of architectural studies in Spain as Singular Project, Turull Sorensen, Masquespacio or Madrid in Love.

The Gran Vía center, for example, has been conceived with the idea of ​​integrating the creative and cultural spirit linked to cinema and theater. In this sense, in addition to the aspect, said building has an amphitheater and its own cultural programming.

On the other hand, in Barcelona the case of Clementina stands out, a building located in the Gracia neighborhood, inspired by the work of the great architects of Catalan modernism, such as Gaudí, Domènech i Montaner or Puig i Cadafalch, which reflects the creative character of Grace.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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