On Tuesday I decanted myself for the day down to Whitespace Norwich a “not-for-profit co-working space”. Apparently “with a fast-growing network of entrepreneurs, investors, mentors and influencers, the Whitespace network encourages collaboration and growth within a supportive and like-minded community of tech and digital innovators”. Blimey.
To bolster our enterprise engagement and community profile the School of Computing Sciences at UEA, which is one of the places I hang out, have a desk there. So I thought I’d try it out.
Whitespace in Jarrolds Building
Whitespace takes up a floor in a classic old building by the river in Norwich, very close to the city centre and offering some nice views.
View from the Whitespace stairs
Having had a quick tour of the facilities (well appointed kitchens and a games area) I got setup.
Nice comfortable chair and plenty of power, it turned out the 5G WiFi wasn’t bad either.
The only small issue I had was monitor poverty… used as I am to two 24 inch and my laptop screen as well… And the desk looked a bit empty.
Other than my screen real estate issues all went well, even met and talked to a few interesting people (which for a computer scientist is quite something). Unfortunately I couldn’t capitalise on networking as I was up against it as usual. So, I’ll be back again when I’m not quite as busy.
There was a nice energetic buzz around and plenty of groovy people doing no doubt groovy tech stuff. It certainly seemed like the kind of place a new startup could grow and thrive.
Being an open-plan shared working place meant there was some noise, but this wasn’t really distracting. I did put headphones in after a while but only because I wanted to listen to some music rather than I needed to drown anything out. It was certainly quieter than a PhD lab.
All in all a really great place to work, good resource for UEA to use, and somewhere I’ll try my hardest to make use of again.
The Good
- Friendly welcome
- Nice kitchen and other resources
- Fast WiFi
- Chairs
- Big desks
- Centre manager on hand for any queries
- Lovely setting (building + views)
- Handy setting (so central!)
The Bad
- The only one issue I had was heat. It was a very hot muggy day and there’s no air-con (it’s been suggested on the whiteboard). Everyone else seemed to have desk fans, I did not… but copious cold diet pepsi helped. Note: my UEA office would have been as stifling, but I do have a fan there.