Office was yesterday!Coworking spaces in NRW

There is room for diversity, individuality and flexibility. There are desks for vagabonds and offices for creatures of habit. There are meet-ups to fill your head with new ideas and swings to clear your mind. There is coffee to lift you out of a slump and after-work beers to toast successes. There are writable walls for creative team meetings and huge screens for customer presentations. Above all, there is a mix of suit and slipper wearers, chaos and strategists, bureaucrats and charismatic people, birds and night owls, chatterboxes and silent foxes. All these characters are spread over 2,000 square metres with around 225 workstations where open brick walls and steel beams characterise the space. More than 15 companies work here on five floors in the old ELBA factory. The coworking space is located on the first floor, with a roof terrace and a view of the Wupper. On the ground floor there is also an arena for big events. The event hall is available for events.

www.codeks.de

This rarity is located between Cologne's green belt and the city centre: a coworking space with childcare. What sounds obvious was still an unfortunate gap in the market in the metropolis of Cologne until 2017 - a gap that former self-employed property manager Peggy Wahrlich knew how to fill. Although her two daughters are now grown up, the issue of balancing work and family life is still close to her heart.
Her Cowoki is bright and calm, with no unnecessary frills to distract from her work. The little flowers placed here and there lift the mood when concentration is flagging. Here, coworkers think clearly at ergonomic workstations in unobtrusive pastel colours. Around 30 workstations are spread over an impressive 360 square metres, including some where you can be loud and some where you have to be quiet. Working in a team, being on the phone all day - no problem at all. Meanwhile, nothing can be heard from the children in the day care centre next door. It could be because we are in the immediate vicinity of the Stadtgarten and the group has probably come here to play. At lunchtime, they either go to the spacious kitchen, whose wooden work surfaces and group tables make for a cosy atmosphere, especially in winter. In addition to childcare, this is also the big plus: the atmosphere among the coworkers is collegial and socialising is important. In summer, it's not far to the cafés and sun terraces of the Belgian and Friesenviertel neighbourhoods. Incidentally, anyone who doesn't have their own children but would still like to come here is very welcome.

www.cowoki.de

The good news that start-ups have a positive impact on their surroundings, but above all that they thrive best when embedded in a heavyweight technology hub, has long since reached the Aachen Area. RWTH, FH, IoT and B2B form the solid foundation for start-up evangelists, business angels, students and, above all, a lot of wonderfully solid SMEs: the centre of this unusual and much-envied cluster in the border triangle is the Digital Church, a secularised church and former pop-up hotel that is blessed with a chic ribbed vault and six artistically designed office cubes in the church space due to its previous uses. To the north-east of the city centre, a stone's throw from the Kurgarten and the bus station, a new digital quarter is slowly growing here, the centre of which is already developing great appeal. Jobseekers can find their flex desk in the nave or make a pilgrimage to the sacristy for meetings, while for a well-earned break they can take a seat in the fluffy seating areas or at the Elysée Bar. Everything is taken care of: a full fridge quenches thirst and sociable pizza orders quench hunger. Had enough texting, coding or tinkering? The programme on offer around the Digitalhub Aachen offers plenty of scope for brainstorming and ranges from venture capital advice and IoT workshops to introductions to VR/AR technology.

www.aachen.digital/digital-church

"Kabü" stands for coffee and office, of course. And where coffee is drunk, all can only be right with the world. The café for working people serves as a cultural platform and place of exchange. The idea is simple and good: to integrate your own workplace into a café atmosphere in order to promote networks and synergy effects. A pleasant, colourful collection of furniture that invites people to chat and concentrate on their work also helps here. Meetings, company and club meetings, seminars, readings, weddings or birthdays can be organised on an hourly or daily basis across the entire shop area without a great deal of prior effort. The basic equipment includes a projector, printer, piano (!), WLAN and plenty of power sockets. Delicious hot drinks such as Kabüccino and healthy fillings for hungry bellies are also provided. The Kaffeebüro is located in the middle of the trendy neighbourhood between Rüttenscheid and Essen-Süd in Annastrasse, but it's so nice inside that you don't necessarily want to go outside.

www.kabue-essen.de

The city flows outside, thoughts flow inside. In the lobby of the me and all hotel in Düsseldorf, the lively "Little Tokyo" of Immermannstraße filters through large panoramic windows. Chic bicycles hang on the wall at the back and a speciality coffee from the local roastery awaits on the long table. Good work needs good spaces and this is one of the best that an urban working nomad can imagine. Quiet enough to concentrate, varied enough not to fall into the doldrums. Perfect conditions for flow and completing the day's work is even more motivating with the view of one of the highly acclaimed ramen restaurants around the corner. Wonderful curiosities everywhere: if you need a break in between, you can complete a vertical fitness course up to the 11th floor or be pampered by the in-house barber. Less than eight minutes' walk or exactly one stop on the tram from Düsseldorf's main railway station, larger groups can also dive into new ideas together here. A large whiteboard helps you to record your thoughts digitally, put them into context and send them as an email. Whether you are a lone wolf or a camp participant, the coworking space forms an elegantly designed, flowing transition between hotel and city and between work and pleasure.

www.meandallhotels.com/

The Startplatz is an old hand and there are two of them in the Rhineland: in Cologne since 2012 and in Düsseldorf since 2015. The latter is located in one of the city's most stylish neighbourhoods: the Medienhafen. From the outside, colourful "flossies" climb the façade, while the inside is similarly colourful with the corporate colour frog green. The aim of the company is to bring together the start-up scene in the Rhineland - as an incubator and accelerator. It has been successful so far: over 300 start-ups have been part of the community and have now utilised the full range of its services. Although there is also the obligatory foosball table here, the advisory services in the form of consultation hours with HR, insurance and legal advisors are much more interesting. There are currently 80 start-ups working in the Startplatz and are therefore automatically part of the community - just like established companies, with whom they form the Startplatz ecosystem. Incidentally, there are many opportunities to get involved: For example, anyone not looking for a permanent or flexible workplace can still become part of the community for a monthly fee and take advantage of events and other offers. Those who book a desk have access 24 hours a day, giving them plenty of time to enjoy extended lunch and coffee breaks in the beautiful Bilk district. Here, hungry lunchers will find everything from sushi and bowls to pizza and homemade ice cream. The short route tends to take you to the cafés in the Medienhafen itself, so it's best to drink your takeaway coffee with a view of the water.

www.startplatz.de

In terms of traffic, Cologne's Hansaring is like Schmitz's cat: the underground, S-Bahn and cars cross here on six lanes. The turn-of-the-century façades have nevertheless retained their time-honoured charm and house hotels, law firms and doctors' surgeries. Right in the centre and behind a no less beautiful façade: the Wertheim for slow workers. Arrive, take a deep breath, get started - but in a relaxed manner. Forgetting what's going on outside your front door is really easy here. The home for coworkers rises five storeys into the sky: from the bar on the ground floor to the beehive at the top. Founder Oliver Struch and interior designer Kathrin Nolde have done a great job here: The slow working comes naturally, because the eye likes to wander and get caught up in beautiful pictures, beautiful (designer) furniture and the beautiful view - all the way to the cathedral at the top. In addition to the 40 workstations for coworkers, there are also "flats" where groups can retreat for a whole day. Even though the Wertheim is still called a "boarding house", there is no provision for bed and breakfast. This is also better for the work-life balance. Nevertheless, it can get late when exciting projects and ideas are presented in a convivial atmosphere with a beer in hand at the "Creative Couch" networking event. There may not be a kitchen, but the Friesenviertel with its many lunch spots is within walking distance.

www.wertheim-cologne.com

The Super 7000 is a huge pioneering plant that is preparing to use its creative power to change a neighbourhood on the site of the "Alter Schlachthof" in Düsseldorf Derendorf. The numerous roots it is putting down range from an impressive Fablab, complete with obligatory 3D printers and an exuberant willingness to help, to the nucleus of the NRW food scene, which conducts nutrient-rich research into new foods and products here. But even if you're neither tech- nor food-loving, you can still open your notebook here in style. Distribution sockets greet you from chains on the ceiling, large areas of artificial turf and a ball pit cater to co-working folklore: the Super7000 is called like a detergent and acts like a fire accelerator for good ideas. In addition to the eponymous 7000 square metres, the coworking space primarily offers meeting areas: At the monthly Super Picnic or at one of the countless MeetUps, people get to know each other: occasionally with a day ticket, for longer as a member or as a spin-off in one of the rented offices. The fridge is full and the support team sees itself as a facilitator of very special requests.

www.super7000.de

In the 1980s, a lot was done here: the Union Gewerbehof was created by unemployed people on their own initiative. Since then, it has developed splendidly and today the building ensemble is home to around 90 small companies and around 200 employees from various sectors. The available space is made up of offices, workshops, studios and storage rooms. This also includes communal areas, such as the seminar rooms or the workshop, which can also be rented. It is multifunctional and is ideal for conferences, events, seminars, cultural events and is otherwise used by coworkers. Almost 200 people can fit in! In the shop in front of the Werkhalle, there are more workspaces for coworkers, which can be rented on a daily or monthly basis. When your blood sugar drops and with it your concentration, the Hofcafé is not far away. Breakfast platters, coffee, tea, smoothies, cakes and seasonal treats are served at this cosy little resting place. The café is another place for small meetings, breaks or simply a cosy chat. And if you feel like getting out of work, you can visit the flea market or other events that make the Unionviertel a great place to be.

www.unionviertel.de/coworking-im-unionviertel/