Weekender Seoul's co-working spaces

Hyundai Card Studio Black / Courtesy of Hyundai Card Studio Black

By Yun Suh-young

Even before the term “co-working spaces” became popular, there was the term “serviced offices” which referred to rented office spaces where businesses could get hotel-style service simply by paying membership fees.

The history of serviced offices traces back to global brands such as the Hong Kong-based serviced office provider The Executive Centre (TEC) established in 1994. Their business model was based on renting office space for small-scale businesses in need of not only space but also services related to maintenance. The brand quickly became popular and expanded globally to 24 cities with 90 centers.

Almost 20 years later came WeWork, a “shared office space” provider which was established in 2010 in New York. The concept of renting out office spaces and providing maintenance services wasn’t really new, but what WeWork added to existing models were two things — the option open to individuals to register as “hot desk” members and freely work in whatever space they wanted, and the “community” built around members through which they can bond with other members.

WeWork was revolutionary in changing the paradigm of work in that sense. The key word was “sharing,” not only of office space, but also experience and networking connections, to which people responded with great enthusiasm. It quickly expanded to 52 cities across the world with 210 locations and 130,000 members.

Since the advent of WeWork, many similar services have been launched and the term “co-working spaces” became popular. Not all second movers followed WeWork’s model as they all want to differentiate themselves, but more or less the concept of sharing offices — providing related services and sharing of community — all became the core of the “co-working spaces” concept which followed.

In Korea’s case, it has seen an explosion of new co-working spaces following the launch of WeWork in Gangnam in August 2016. The local credit card company Hyundai Card, known for its stylish endeavors, opened its first co-working space Studio Black right opposite WeWork Gangnam in January. WeWork opened its second office in Seoul in February in Euljiro and its third in Samseong-dong earlier this month.

Local social venture company Root Impact opened an entire building dedicated to co-working spaces called Heyground in June. Meanwhile, the godfather of serviced offices, TEC, also jumped into the business of providing co-working spaces, opening three co-working spaces in three locations in Seoul, the latest in June. Inno Design, established by renowned Korean product designer Kim Young-se, also jumped into the service. In late July, they opened co-working spaces for businesses in their new office building in Yeoksam.

WeWork Euljiro / Courtesy of WeWork

WeWork

WeWork recently opened its third Seoul location in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, this month. The other two are in Gangnam and Euljiro. WeWork’s branches are all similar in style and function although design details are different for each location and floor. WeWork usually occupies eight to 10 floors of the building they lease which can accommodate up to 1,000 people in each location. The three membership options are hot desk, designated desk and private office. Hot desk is offered at 350,000 won per month and allows individual users to occupy any available seat. The designated desk option is for 480,000 won and the private office begins at 690,000 won per person. All of the membership comes with free coffee and beer and invitations to various events.

The biggest strength of WeWork is its global network. WeWork members can connect through the WeWork app and collaborate with other members. They can also book meeting rooms and use other WeWork locations in Seoul up to five times per month using the credit provided. WeWork does not have lockers available. The Samseong location has a photo studio which is not available in the other two locations.

The overall atmosphere is upbeat and lively with members usually in their 20s and 30s.

Hyundai Card Studio Black / Courtesy of Hyundai Card Studio Black

Hyundai Card Studio Black

As much as Hyundai Card is known for its stylish and minimalistic design, its co-working space Studio Black is a compilation of everything the company is known for. Its 10th-floor lounge is equipped with a wall full of books curated by its design, travel, cooking and music libraries. It is also abundant with resources ranging from design and business magazines to newspapers. The lounge is open to private office members as well as lounge members.

Studio Black offers two membership types: Studio and Lounge. The former is a monthly membership for private office occupants beginning at 400,000 won. The latter is for individuals who can use the open-space desks at the 10th floor lounge. It offers five-day, 10-day and monthly memberships beginning at 100,000 won per individual.

The private office space occupies six floors from seventh to 12th, and the fifth and sixth floors are co-working spaces for fintech startups Hyundai Card is supporting.

Special features of Studio Black include individual lockers for lounge members, a nap room with closed individual capsules available for six people at once and a photo studio. The nap room and photo studio are only available to studio members. There is also a prototype space with 3D printers. Coffee is free for all members and beer is offered in the evening. Various events are held for and by members.

The overall atmosphere is mildly quiet and calm, generated to enhance concentration for workers. Because the space aims for premium service, members are older than WeWork, usually in their 30s and 40s.

Heyground / Courtesy of Heyground

Heyground

Heyground is a new co-working space which opened in June in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul. It occupies the entire eight-story building which was built for the purpose of accommodating startups. Heyground is unique from other co-working spaces in that it specifically supports occupants running businesses related to doing social good.

Heyground’s co-working space from the second to fifth floors is currently fully occupied with 38 companies using the private office membership beginning at 360,000 won per person per month. There are two membership options here — private office and designated seating. The latter is available for individuals or small-scale businesses that prefer working in open spaces but designated seats. The designated seats are available for open and cell options which are offered at 240,000 won and 300,000 won per person per month, with a minimum contract beginning at three months.

Coffee is not offered for free here but a coffee shop on the first floor offers discounts to members. They also have a restaurant on the first floor offering a variety of dishes.

On the eighth floor, a huge rooftop lounge accommodating up to 100 people is available for lease for events starting at 100,000 won per hour.

The overall atmosphere is gently calm and cozy with members’ ages ranging from 20s to 40s.

INNO Coworks / Courtesy of INNO Coworks

INNO Coworks

INNO Coworks is a new co-working space by design company INNO Design which opened in a seven-story building in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, in July.

The co-working space here is closer to a private office rental space for small businesses as there are eight office rooms, the smallest of which is for two people and the largest for eight, occupying the third to fifth floors. Their eight office spaces can accommodate 50 people, which is one of the smallest in scale among co-working spaces. The prices are 1.25 million won for a three-person room, 1.75 million for a five- to six-person room and 2.75 million for an eight-person room.

What is unique about this place is that the company selects startups in need for design consulting or design applications as its occupants. It is closer to a startup incubator than a co-working space as there are no open-space memberships. The company holds demo days through which it selects companies that can receive investment from IBK Capital.

On the first and second floors, there are cafe and lounge areas. On the underground floor, there is a cocktail bar called Purple People Lounge open all day offering lunch and dinner. On the fourth floor, there is the DXL-lab which is equipped with 3D printers and VR facilities for prototyping. There are no open working spaces available for individual members but a lounge on the sixth floor is open to everyone.

The facility here is not as big, hip or upscale as other co-working spaces. The overall atmosphere is low-key and quiet.

The Executive Centre in Jongno Tower / Courtesy of The Executive Centre in Jongno Tower

The Executive Centre

The international serviced office provider began offering open co-working spaces in addition to private office rentals.

The third co-working space opened in the Jongno Tower center next to Jonggak Station in June, which follows the other two built in the Glass Tower next to Samseong Station and Three IFC Office Tower on Yeouido.

The co-working space in Jongno is specifically limited to the use of the open space, surrounded by conference rooms and private offices, accommodating up to 30 people. Membership has three options — day pass (35,000 won per person), 10-day pass (200,000 won per person per month) and unlimited pass (400,000 won per person per month). Membership includes free use of meeting rooms for two hours per month, 10 Nespresso capsules per month and up to 50 pages of black-and-white printing.

Members can freely use co-working spaces in other Seoul locations based on reservation.

The overall atmosphere is extremely quiet and static, with members in their 30s to 50s.