Tinker it now!

I’ve been lucky enough to be speaking on a monthly basis at a number of different conferences and events, some of which describe themselves as “creative hubs” and some such. Often the by-product of local development agency or government money, they are corporate and everything other than creative.

At Tinker.it! in London, we’ve moved 3 times in the past 2 and a half years, mostly because its hard to find the type of space we would be happy with. Part office, part workshop, part studio…it’s a mess. We’re currently in a former squat that’s trying to re-invent itself as an office building. As a creative and new type of company, I thought I’d try giving a guideline for the type of space I would look for and be happy with as I’m sure we’re not the only ones with this problem and if the creative industries and government are looking at “fostering innovation”, they should understand that that has a lot to do with where you work.

TOP 10 things I want in an office:

1. Cheap rent (this usually means less than £150 per person per month which is the going rate for artist studios, but we like to pay for the whole space and not on a per desk basis. )
2. Location, location, location. Being next to the train station is not a sales point for a creative business, its being where everyone else is. In our case, next to the roundabout.
3. Lots of space, high ceilings, no walls as we can build that ourselves.
4. A closed meeting room you can easily book online (No fighting with secretaries for this.)
5. Good social spaces (open plan large kitchen, clean spaces, enough space for couches etc)
6. A great office manager who will answer the phone and pick up and sign for post.
7. Wifi that works consistently.
8. Hardwood floors (you have no idea what a pain it is to vacuum bits of electronics off a carpet).
9. Lots of light and good heating (nothing worse than being stuck in a basement)
10. Good security / locks

I’m pretty sure if cities invested in this type of space, the young creatives would throw themselves at it and “innovation” would just happen…