Having launched our brand new shiny co-working space on Thursday 7th April 2022, we've already created a hive of activity down at Bainfield.
This is our first location off campus, being situated in the centre of town opposite the Fountianpark complex. Our greenhouse-style space is being populated with multi-use desks, whiteboards, screens, projectors, and some quirky posters to encourage creative and to cultivate the entreprenuerial mindset we want to see flourish.
True to the style of the space, we have also started growing a variety of plants, with our tempremental tomatoes doing much better than expected. We've already started planning the bountiful feast we could have with our BRT exclusive produce. Amber - our new co-ordinator and former farmer - is beside herself with this.
We should also do some shoutouts to our favourite businesses in the surrounding area. Expresso Green, run by the charming Suzie, is a pop up coffee van that places itself just outside our doors. Offering a great selection of teas, coffees, hot chocolates and home baking (with good alternatives for our vegan, veggie, and gluten free cohort), Suzie has often been a lifesaver for our staff and members on dreich days.
Similarly, Rosie's has become a staff favourite, offering wraps, salads, sandwiches and the like on excellent meal deals. Great food, and great chat - what more could we ask for?
We are at an interesting cross-road of the student life cycle, being placed next to a high school and also within the student accommodation. It is fun thinking that some of the pupils might well find themselves here, or at Napier more broadly at some point in their lives.
Understandably, with it being in such a vibrant area, we have had our own buzz of activity. We've had:
* 2 pitching competitions
* filming in the premises
* a visit from a Vice Principal of the University
* a water fight (admittedly this was pupils from the school next door but we did think about getting involved)
With it being a unique space we've only just scratched the surface of what is possible, and what we could be doing. While we have our own events planned - watch this space for more information on those - we are keen to get our community involved with what more we could be doing, and how you are finding this space.
Please leave a comment about your experience in the studio - what do you like? What do you wish you could do? What resources would encourage your engagement? What else would you like to see in the space? How would you use the space?