Coworking Grand Rapids: The Factory
July 13, 2010 
6 Comments
Company: The Factory
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Size: 2000 square feet
Website: www.workthefactory.com
The Factory, a beautiful coworking space located in Grand Rapids, MI, is not just about sharing desks. They’re building community, making friendships and making Grand Rapids a cooler place to get work done.
Here are their core values:
Collaboration
When we work together good things happen. As we share our ideas, the
opportunity arises for them to be discussed, compared, refined and acted
upon. An environment should promote open collaboration.
Openness
Walls and cubicles hinder communication and sharing. When you share a desk
with someone you gain a unique opportunity to discuss. An environment
should provide a relaxed and inviting feel to drive openness among it’s
participants while remaining conscious of ones privacy and individuality.
Community
If it takes a village to raise a child, why should a business be any
different? Whether you’re an independent worker or an employee of a large
corporation, a sense of community will enrich your work. A space should
foster an aura of comfortable integration; bringing various backgrounds
together to help people create, teach, learn and evolve ideas.
Diversity
By providing a diverse environment we are all better able to understand the
demographics of the marketplace. Occasional challenges, misunderstandings,
and arguments may arise but it is key to sparking creativity and avoiding
groupthink. A space should bring together people with different ideas,
perspectives, and ways of working. New ideas. People from different
backgrounds and all different stages in their life and career.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Workified. Workified said: @workified showcase: Awesome Coworking Space in Grand Rapids, MI – The Factory (@cofactory) http://bit.ly/ami8DU [...]
Are the images supposed to show in a lightbox? If not (worked on a few earlier posts, but not now) would it be easy to implement?
Thanks
Steve
Hi Steve, thanks for bringing that to our attention! Yes, they were supposed to show up in a lightbox…just got it fixed. Thanks!
No problem – great site, only just found it!
I like the way in this office that the spaces have been cut-off with movable white boards. Interesting idea to separate without cutting things off too much and providing something functional!
In a coworking situation like this it does make sense to limit the presence of cubicles. After all, most of these professionals can work in a private space whenever they want to. The coworking environment is specifically designed to enhance cross-pollination of ideas and socialization. Since these workers are mobile, they don’t need on-site storage space provided by a traditional workstation with a filing credenza either. I like the openness of the spaces depicted above. It looks like they’re making good use of the natural light available by positioning the desks strategically.
Daisy McCarty
Shared space truly opens-up a productive and working environment. Bringing the wall down brings in light and air to the work place. It Minimizes clutter and maximizes space.