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Wellbeing

London's coolest co-working spaces

Rush-hour commutes to a company office in a hard-to-reach part of the city are, thankfully, a thing of the past for many of us. But if you're done with working at the kitchen table and keen for more structured environment coupled with a reason to get dressed in the morning, it could be time to rent a desk in a co-working space that suits your needs.
Not all co-working spaces in London are created equal: some bring nature into your work, like Second Home, others, like WeWork's Wilson Street location, let you take your dog to to the table. Then there's Cuckooz Nest, which offers on-site childcare while you work away in peace. Workspace wellness is crucial to our sanity and productivity, and these tailored spaces are putting it front-of-mind. Here are the coolest co-working spaces in London you'll want to know about – and join ASAP.
By Jen Barton Packer and Holly O'Mahony

Best for joining a community: The Fisheries

You'll be hard-pushed to find a co-working space that doubles down on community quite as successfully as The Fisheries in London Fields. A weekly members' lunch, yoga, twice weekly HIIT classes and a monthly drinks social are all part of the pull here for its 300-odd members. It looks the part too, with its baskets of plants suspended from the ceiling, swinging bamboo chairs and exposed brick walls.

The Fisheries feels as much like a members' club as a co-working space and it excels at hospitality – which is no wonder really, given founder Hugo Warner's past life as owner of casual restaurant chain Benugo.

There are the little amenities that make all the difference too, including showers, lockers, bike storage and unlimited coffee from local roastery Climpson and Sons. And did we mention well-behaved dogs are welcome too?

Spread over three floors, each offering community desks, private desks and private office spaces, The Fisheries offers three membership plans, starting with hot-desking access for £200 a month plus VAT.

WHERE

The Fisheries, 1 Mentmore Terrace, London E8 3PN

Best for chic interiors: Working From_Southwark

Occupying five floors of The Hoxton hotel in Southwark, Working From_ boasts over 760 desks spread across hot-desking banks, studios and curtained-off booths with floor-to-ceiling views of the city's skyline. As with all Hoxton spaces, Ennismore Design Studio is behind the interiors and has primped the space with elegant furnishings in a palette of muted greens, dusty pinks and slivers of gold.

Hotel-level comforts seep into the office space, including help-yourself pantries fully stocked with drinks and snacks, and a 12th-floor café – complete with comfy day beds – serving barista coffee. There's a laundry service too, plus desk-side food delivery for those lunchtimes when you really can't get away. And for when you can? Head on up to the roof terrace for sundowners with a view, or an exercise class in the sky-high wellness studio.

Ideal for out-of-towners looking for a temporary space to work, Working From_ offers day passes for £30. For those in search of a more full-time solution, monthly Desk Hop memberships cost £300 a month and come with a range of perks, including discounts on Hoxton rooms around the world, restaurant and bar discounts and the added pull of 'duvet days' – bedrooms to crash in for free when you really need them.

WHERE

Working From_Southwark, 32 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8PB

Best for an immersive environment: Uncommon

Uncommon founder Tania Adir believes that our ability to focus and work productively is strongly affected by smells, sounds and light levels. And while this alone isn’t revolutionary, Adir’s approach to creating coworking spaces that prioritise all of the above certainly is. Each of Uncommon’s foliage-adorned sites boasts scented rooms, specially curated playlists to focus the mind, bright (but not too bright) lighting, and standing desks for when your legs need a stretch but your mind is not ready to take a break.

There are heaps of added benefits across the four spaces too, including meditation pods, roof terraces, Peloton bikes and artisan coffee stations. And if you’re worried about contracting Covid while working there? Don’t be: Uncommon now has thermal cameras installed which are designed to identify anyone with a higher-than-normal body temperature.

WHERE

Uncommon: locations in Highbury & Islington, Borough, Fulham and Liverpool Street

Best for growing your network: Huckletree

Huckletree is a co-working space on a mission to connect professionals with others in their industry. As such, each of its locations – which include several offices in London and others in Manchester and Dublin – are geared towards different industries. Workspace West, for example, caters primarily for corporate professionals in the fashion and design industries, while the Soho site is about bringing together brands and innovation teams. Sporting the company’s signature garish branding, each location offers hot-desking, break-out spaces, and stages for speaker events.

In a bid to help its members towards professional betterment, Huckletree also offers a digital programme of masterclasses and workshops; a 12-week Alpha programme to ‘supercharge’ start-ups; and a Renegade Academy offering intensive evening classes for anyone looking to turn an idea into a business.

WHERE

Huckletree: Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Soho, Westminster, White City, Manchester and Dublin

Best for effortless professionalism: Regus

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At Regus’s six London posts, solo workers and small companies alike can look forward to a smooth working day, with the bulk of office management taken care of for them. A reception team handles post and looks after arriving guests; an app helps you manage the day’s tasks and meetings; business-grade WiFi ensures you won’t be dropping out on calls or important presentations; and on-site printers mean you’ll never find yourself thwarted by a finished ink cartridge again. There’s also cleaning on site, meaning you can refresh or iron a shirt last-minute, and fully-serviced meeting rooms, so you can cater for clients without leaving the building.

Choose between a private office space, shared office or a hot desk in a co-working area – wherever you choose, you’ll be able to make the most of shared break-out spaces for hive-minding and desk-free collaboration.

Price: £84 - £141p/m

WHERE

Regus locations in London Bridge, Tottenham Court Road, Fitzrovia, City Point, Angel and Tower Hill

Best for helping that start-up flourish: Google Campus, Shoreditch

Putting an inspiring community of like-minded individuals in one space, as well as providing plenty of mentorship opportunities, entrepreneurial talks and hands-on classes (the workshops tackle topics like how to get up to speed with Google Analytics, or how mindfulness can be an essential life-management tool for entrepreneurs), is just part of why Google's London Campus is the most coveted workspace for any startup or tech-inclined freelancer to join. Past initiatives like Google Campus for Mums offered a family-friendly atmosphere where parents could step away from their seats in a Startup School class on how to get seed funding or how to market their business to change their baby's nappy or feed. An ongoing focus here is on social impact technology and exploring how machine learning can change the world for good.

WHERE

Google Campus, 4-5 Bonhill Street, London EC2A 4BX

Best for makers: Makerversity, Westminster

Located in the basement of Somerset House, Makerversity is a co-making space with desks which gives its creative members access to the machinery and tools they need for their businesses, whether they're working in wood or developing a new biodegradable material from waste. Community atmosphere is also at the heart of this co-making space: the hub of over 350 creative minds hosts programmes to inspire the next generation of makers, offering a rolling desk set-up with three months of free membership for under-25s to develop their businesses. Roaming memberships start at £240 a month for 60 hours of hot-desk space. Now, if only we had some practical skills, so we could apply…

WHERE

Makerversity, Old Post Room, Somerset House, Victoria Embankment, London WC2R 1LA

Best for all the little touches: WeWork Wilson Street, Finsbury Square

One of the pioneers of the co-working movement, WeWork knows the recipe for an inspiring, productive co-working space: a great location, top-notch amenities (from soundproofing to on-site showers), and the little details, like being able to cuddle your pooch at your desk, bike to work (there's on-site storage) and sit outside to make a call. Hot desks start at £450 a month. This is also the workspace to join for wellness fans: from Pilates to meditation, there's always something going on to help mind and body function in harmony. If this location doesn't suit your commute, don't fret: WeWork has over 40 locations in London alone.

WHERE

WeWork, 70 Wilson Street, London EC2A 2DB

Best for small companies: Fora Fitzrovia

With locations around London, Fora offices are known for their pleasant vibe of chic boutique hotel meets co-working space (down to little touches like concierges trained at L’École Hôtelière de Lausanne and tiles handmade in Marrakech). The Wells Mews outpost has everything a small team or individual needs – and then some, including a video-enhanced fitness studio, pick-your-own herb pots (hello healthy lunch), bike racks, luxe showers and podcast rooms. Some Fora locations have added extras: Clerkenwell Central St. boasts chef Stevie Parle's Italian restaurant, Palatino, while Fora's Borough location has a rooftop lounge, gym and personal trainers. Tech is central to Fora's ethos, and there's an integrated Fora app which allows members to book meeting rooms, order team coffees from concierges ahead of presentations or find out about networking events happening in any Fora location.

WHERE

Fora Fitzrovia, 14-17 Wells Mews, London W1T 3HF / locations in Fitzrovia, Shoreditch, Southwark, Borough, Victoria and Clerkenwell

Best for the endless options: Soho Works

The Soho House aesthetic seamlessly merges style with ease, and its co-working offshoot Soho Works doesn't disappoint, offering members everything from brand-building workshops to mindfulness to hands-on sessions, where you can upcycle your pillowcase or make your own energy balls.

From the latest edition to the brand's growing empire, 180 The Strand, to branches in Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, Dean Street and White City, each location boasts lounge space, desk space and bookable meeting rooms, plus café and bar areas, reading rooms, showers and lockers. Workspaces open 7am to 10pm on weekdays, with some spaces offering weekend availability too. What's more, Soho House members get discounts on rates.

WHERE

180 The Strand, Redchurch, Shoreditch, Dean Street and White City

Best for connecting with nature: Second Home

Design and nature are at the heart of Second Home's ethos. The vision of Madrid-based firm CanoLasso, these spaces are a riot of colour and light, and biophilia at its best, with hanging gardens, live moss, and unusual materials like hanging Portuguese cork for soundproofing. There are different membership levels (hot-desking roamers pay from £250 per month, while day passes are available for £16 to £20), although non-members can hang out in the ground-floor café and use the wi-fi. It's no surprise that creatives from all industries, as well as NGOs, have already set up shop here.

UK members also get access to Second Home's international workspaces in Lisbon and LA. Better still, an extracurricular programme of events across all branches includes talks from the likes of Ottolenghi collaborator Sami Tamimi and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and skill-sharing, business-boosting workshops, courtesy of its Breakthrough programme. Yes, Second Home is flexible-working-meets-family-life at its best, but there may be one problem: you won't ever want to leave the office…

WHERE

London Fields, Spitalfields, Holland Park, Clerkenwell Green, Lisbon and LA

Best for a corworking space that puts families first: Cuckooz Nest, Clerkenwell

Best for putting family first: Cuckooz Nest, Clerkenwell

While a working space with a fabulous daycare facility on-site shouldn't be revolutionary, co-working spaces with crèches are still few and far between, and many working parents are still parking themselves at Starbucks and plying their two-year-old with croissants in the hopes of sounding professional during a morning conference call. The co-working spaces with childcare that do exist, such as Cuckooz Nest, are amazing, because they're designed to meet the needs of working parents. At Cuckooz Nest, this translates to affordable on-site childcare, a breastfeeding-friendly atmosphere and total flexibility – you can book in on a Pay-As-You-Go basis for as little as an hour or two a day. The crèche, created with childcare specialists Manny & Me, has Ofsted-registered childcare providers and includes climbing, soft play, crafts, dressing up, a reading corner, a darkened naptime area, buggy storage and its own kitchen.

WHERE

Cuckooz Nest, 24 Ray Street, London EC1R 3DJ

Best for creatives who like the warehouse feel: De Beauvoir Block

Best for creatives: De Beauvoir Block, Hackney

If your workplace is a reflection of who you are, then we all want to be De Beauvoir Block: architects Henley Halebrown transformed these Victorian warehouses into modern industrial blocks with exposed bricks, steel accents, timber floors and large windows that encourage the light to flood in. It's a creative haven, with brand and content agencies, architecture firms and production companies working side by side. Another bonus? You can sign up to a Café Membership, which gives access to the café, communal area, outside courtyard and meeting room, for just £125 (plus VAT) monthly.

WHERE

De Beauvoir Block, 92-96 De Beauvoir Road, London N1 4EN

Best for the techie crew: Plexal, Olympic Park

Plexal takes the concept of the co-working space to the next level. More than a series of desks and community spaces, it's a mini-city with an indoor park, high street and room reserved for prototyping and making. Taking the idea that innovation comes from diversity as its starting point, the space is designed with private rooms as well as ample opportunities for cross-collaborations between the tech businesses and start-ups on-site. The events space with bleacher seating accommodates over 300 people, so is an obvious choice for hackathons, conferences and inspiring speaker talks. Hot desking starts at £220 a month, and gives you a chance to join in with member events like the weekly Plexal football club, 80s-themed aerobics classes, funding consultations and women in tech lunches.

WHERE

Plexal, 14 East Bay Lane, The Press Centre, Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London E20 3BS