- Sandbox Space is a new co-working space designed for freelancers, remote workers and digital nomads.
- The rates are as low as RM20/day.
- They operate a community portal app that lets you report any issues or make bookings within the space.
One of the newer entries into the co-working scene can now be found in the heart of Sri Petaling, and it’s called Sandbox Space.
It started as a project by two friends who put aside their careers in the finance industry to self-fund this space with one vision in mind: a place for freelancers, remote workers and digital nomads to work and meet.
“We used to work in cafés all the time but suddenly, our favourite one closed down. So we thought, why not build a space that has the same vibe but without the pressure of needing to continuously buy food or drinks to continue working there?” said co-founder of Sandbox, Casper.
The team invited us to work at Sandbox for a few days and test the space for ourselves to see what they’re offering, and here’s what we thought.
Location
We drove to the area and it turned out to be a smooth trip on the days we went (most of us were from Subang, and one of us came from the KL City side).
Sandbox is pretty easy to spot and is smack dab in the middle of a hub of shops and restaurants of all kinds. Finding a place to eat was never an issue—deciding on where to eat was.
Parking-wise, there are ample options around, some a bit further compared to others but all relatively near to Sandbox itself. The rates differ from as low as RM1/hour to RM5/day to RM80/month (which you can ask the Sandbox team about).
Plans
As with most co-working spaces, Sandbox has different types of plans on offer:
Sandbox has an event space that can accommodate up to 100 people. If you’re looking to organise a networking session or a product launch, the furniture can be easily moved around and the space isn’t too restrictive.
Facilities and Amenities
Some of the facilities and amenities that Sandbox offers include:
They also have:
- WiFi speed of 100Mbps.
- Printer.
- Mail and package handling by the community manager but no phone calls taken for business purposes.
- Lockers for rent. Residents can use the large lockers for RM 5 and smaller ones for RM 3 per day while non-residents can rent the large lockers for RM 10 and smaller ones for RM 6 per day.
- Two swings. Fun for when you just want to move around a bit while still sitting down.
Their community app is definitely an interesting feature. It’s essentially a portal for the residents and the Sandbox team to communicate.
Similar to WhatsApp, you can create group chats for you and your team to have discussions on the app. You can also use the app to reach out to fellow Sandbox residents.
The app also lets you report issues—like the room temperature—straight to the team for them to sort out immediately. As an introvert, I appreciated this.
You can also make bookings for spaces on the app itself and find out whether the time slot you’re looking at is available.
Sandbox is open 24/7 so residents can stay in the space as long as they’d like. You can bring in clients for meetings and guests so long as the receptionist is informed beforehand.
Because it’s open all the time, Casper and his co-founder Yu Min brought in a security system used widely in American co-working spaces to make sure the place is secure. All residents are required to download the Kisi app and sign up.
Once the team has given access, all you really need to do is make sure your phone’s bluetooth and location services are turned on and you can enter Sandbox.
For users with bluetooth-enabled smartphones, you can enter without even needing to scan or key in any access codes while others need to scan the app.
Working Environment
The main question we ask when at co-working spaces is, “Can you actually work there?”
Sandbox is definitely work conducive. There aren’t too many distractions and there’s a variety of places you can opt to work at if you’re bored of just sitting at the desk.
The noises were mostly murmurs and light chatter—nothing too loud. Sandbox also has a playlist of soothing music throughout the day, which was nice especially if you don’t have your own to listen to.
However, as it was pretty close to the CNY holidays, we were also working with only about 12 people in the space. So I can’t say it would be the same if there was a larger crowd.
We never felt as if we had to be silent and that every clatter was a distraction. Just be mindful that other people are working around you, keep your conversations on a normal polite level, and it’s all good.
We also found that the areas were not echoey—sounds did not travel even though it was basically a large open space. Multiple conversations could be going on at the same time all around the room without overlapping each other.
If you do feel like you need to make a private phone call or speak a bit loudly, you can make use of the phone call booths provided.
Culture
Sandbox was designed for freelancers and remote workers, so the culture is more free and easy compared to corporate offices.
Besides technical support, Sandbox’s community portal app has a chat function that is used for updates on activities, events or announcements, making it easier to keep up with what’s happening within the space.
They currently have internal community events for about once a month but in the future, they’re planning on hosting these events on a fortnightly basis and eventually weekly.
While we were there, we got to join in on a pizza party organised by the Sandbox team. It was a super casual event where the residents all gathered together, introduced ourselves and chatted leisurely.
In terms of cleanliness, Sandbox does inform you about the general rules but everyone was happy to wash their own dishes, keep the areas clean and put things back where they belonged.
It’s a trust system where everyone monitors their own hygiene as their cleaning lady only comes in twice a week.
It helps that the residents are primarily millennials so it’s nice to share inspirations, bounce ideas or even potentially forge collabs.
So if you’re not purposefully looking to network but wouldn’t mind meeting other people who are like-minded as you, Sandbox has a nice community going on.
Verdict
Sandbox is a pleasant place to work at, and we liked how the “fun” stuff like the swings and the beanbags fulfilled their purpose of helping us to relax, without proving to be distractions.
We were able to be productive as the space was muted enough to not be too stimulating. The café-like chill ambiance and casual vibes made us feel at ease. There was no pressure to dress formally or act in a certain manner.
The location is definitely a big advantage too. Sandbox gets bonus points for having light traffic and easy parking. If we didn’t already work in an area with many food options around, we’d be more jealous at how easy it is to eat out there.
One of the things that really stood out to us about our experience in Sandbox was the app usage—namely the community app and the security app.
Most other co-working spaces come with Facebook or WhatsApp groups to communicate, but the streamlining of that into one app (that allows you to make requests to the Sandbox team on an official channel) was a great feature we think other co-working spaces could do well to adopt.
- You can find more information on Sandbox Space here or visit them at:
22-1, Jalan Radin Bagus 3, Sri Petaling
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia