Co-working: Station C opens in Montréal

Co-working is the popular new way to affordably share a proper office with like-minded professionals. Rather than rent an entire office yourself, a number of independents rent an office together.

Congratulations to Patrick Tanguay and Daniel Mireault, who today open the doors at Station C! It’s a beautiful new 2500 square foot co-working office in Montréal, complete with two meeting rooms and 16 desks.

Why co-working?

Most co-working arrangements are a mix of café culture and shared office space. They provide that important “home base” and a professional place to meet clients, a huge step up from the usual loud, messy, and disorganized laptop-and-cellphone-in-Starbucks.

Co-working also gives independents all the benefits of a room full of peers — keeping up with the latest industry news, people to turn to when you’re stuck, and someone to buy you a birthday cake — without the tedium of office politics. Let’s face it, not everyone can stand being alone all day long!

An interesting model

Patrick and Daniel have a really fun vision for Station C. “We want it to be a year-long BarCamp,” Patrick says, referencing the international “unconference” phenomenon.

While they rent half the desks to full-time “anchor” members for $300 per month, the other half are flex rentals for as low as $130 per month for 14 hours per week. They are also renting desks by the day to out-of-town travellers, to keep the environment full of fresh ideas and energy.

“If we only had full-time people, it would be a normal office,” Patrick explains. They even plan to host a guest lecture series for members — very cool.

Are you into co-working?

I think co-working is the future. More and more people are going independent, but being in an office has many advantages.

I’ve been a fan of co-working since I had a desk in the Centre for Social Innovation, here in Toronto. The buzz in that building is amazing. When I began tele-working for another gig, I moved to Soup.net, a beautiful green space with amazingly friendly people.

I think I would have gone insane if I’d had to work alone all day in my tiny apartment. So I wonder who else out there is interested in co-working.

Do you rent a desk in a shared office? What’s it like?

Or, are you sick of cafés and just wish you knew of a local co-working office?

Then hit the comments — maybe you can find enough like-minded folks in your city to make it happen.