Beton, Spacemade’s new Barbican co-working space, offers facilities with a fashionable edge
Beton is a new co-working space looking to nurture a creative ecosystem in the heart of London's EC1
London is awash with co-working spaces, but Beton, a new offering from Spacemade, provides a central location and excellent facilities, including a podcast studio and an on-site community team.
Beton is the newest co-working space from Spacemade, a relatively new start-up in this once-crowded (and hugely overvalued) market. Spacemade has eight locations across London, as well as offices in Leeds and Birmingham. Beton is in Clerkenwell, across the road from the Barbican itself, a proximity that’s referenced in the concrete-friendly name.
Explore Beton, Clerkenwell's new co-working space
Setting the facility within a relatively undistinguished 1960s block, Spacemade has gone all out to ensure that Beton is well placed to lure in creative businesses of all stripes. Across nine floors, there is a host of varied spaces, ranging from whole-floor set-ups for the larger business down to single desks.
In addition to the kind of extras co-workers have come to expect – private meeting rooms with video-conferencing facilities, fully stocked kitchens, a dog-friendly policy, bike storage and ultra-high speed fibre internet, there’s also a dedicated, fully equipped podcast studio, Amplitude, in the basement.
Separate charges are made for the use of one of the four meeting rooms, as well as the podcast studio, which can be hired out by the hour, half day or day. The aesthetic is a mix of Insta-friendly modernism, with well specced seating, desks, lighting and accessories, as well as stripped-back finishes on walls and ceilings that reveal the guts of the original building and also maximise the available space.
If you sign up for a spot, then you’ll get 24/7 access to your designated space, helpfully located just minutes away from the Barbican’s dedicated Tube station (and pretty close to the Elizabeth Line to boot), as well as its many facilities. Spacemade is looking for a mix of creative businesses to populate the new space, hoping to draw in those from nearby Old Street and Shoreditch.
Community events will attract local enterprises and the aim is for a bit of cross-pollination to occur between members. Jonny Rosenblatt, Spacemade’s co-founder, describes Beton as ‘more than just a flexible workspace – it’s an eco-system designed to inspire collaboration and innovation.’
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Beton, 23 Goswell Road, Barbican, London EC1M, co-working starts from £129 for five days per month, £189 for ten days per month, £299 for unlimited monthly access, and £499 per month for a fixed desk. For private office hire, pricing starts at £625 per desk.
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
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