Coworking spaces are popping up all over Malaysia, concentrated especially in urban areas like Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley.
From international names like WeWork and Wotso to local ones like Colony and Common Ground, the abundance of coworking spaces might make one wonder what exactly they’re all doing that’s different.
Like every other business, a coworking space needs to find a way to stand out. For example, Colony markets itself as a luxury coworking space.
Just this August, a new coworking space called Creatorspace appeared in Kelana Jaya. How they’re setting themselves apart is by carving a niche for themselves by catering to the creative community.
Catering To Creatives
With RM50,000 in capital raised from 13 small investors, Creatorspace wasn’t established to compete with “fancy spaces set up by foreign companies”, founder Qayyum Jumadi told us.
Creatorspace instead simply focuses on giving freelancers, creatives and performers a space to collaborate.
To encourage collaborations and networking among creatives, Creatorspace hosts activities and events like poetry events, music events, classes and food tasting events.
On what sort of projects Creatorspace hopes to help cultivate, Qayyum told us, “Anything that has a creative element to it. It doesn’t matter if it’s work or play. We have a stage here where you can immediately practice [performing] in front of a small crowd, trade notes, etc. Imagine if you could do that with an app, or a website design, or a film.”
This 21 September from 1 PM to 10 PM, Creatorspace will be having its launch event, Spoken Word Block Party. The event also doubles as a platform for creatives to perform spoken word poetry and display work samples.
There’ll also be forum and sharing sessions, after which there will be an afterparty. The event is open to the public and free of any entrance fees. For this day only, attendees will also be able to sign up for monthly passes at a discounted rate of RM200 instead of the usual RM230.
Keeping It Intimate
Most, if not all, of the coworking spaces in Malaysia appear to have different membership plans that dictate what area a member can work in.
On the other hand, Creatorspace keeps it simple with a flexible rate, and members can then choose to add-on things like a fixed desk later.
The general membership plans are:
- Daily Pass for RM25, where you get free seating anywhere around Creatorspace,
- Hustler’s Deal at RM20 a day for those with a full-time job and a side hustle,
- After Hours at RM15 daily for those who come in after 6 PM only,
- Student Price at RM13 per day, and students get to enjoy the same perks as other members,
- Weekly Pass for RM90,
- and Monthly Pass for RM230.
“You don’t have to pay for what you don’t use. We want to keep the space as open as possible. Furthermore, everything here is negotiable. You want the space for 5 days in a month? Use it only at night? Need a private space for yourself? Bringing in groups? Come talk to us,” Qayyum said.
So far, Creatorspace has a few monthly pass members with others coming in and using the space only when they have free time. “By the end of the year we look to operate at full capacity i.e. 10 monthly pass members, 5 weekly members. We have a policy of limited entry (max 20 pax) for the comfort and productivity of everyone who occupies the space,” he explained.
For members, drinks and snacks are free-flow and Creatorspace also hosts Projek Dapur Umar that Qayyum said is famous for its Durian Butter Chicken, and members can get their meals there.
“We helped Projek Dapur Umar set the kitchen up so they can experiment and perfect their craft. We consider them as creatives too. People have come here to experiment on new food and drinks every week. The kitchen is also open for rent, if you want to serve your friends,” he said.
Creatorspace also offers the basics like printing facilities and a lounging area for winding down. “As for events, the space we offer is one of a kind as you get to customise your layout with our modular walls; you can add on a 55” 4K TV, a HD projector, sound system, etc.,” Qayyum added.
Championing The Arts
The initial challenge for Creatorspace was financing it, but Qayyum said that after he first tweeted about the idea, people were interested in it and offered to invest, and they managed to raise enough money in the first few weeks.
“The challenge now is to get the word out and get as many people looking at the space to do events, to co-create, to establish networks, and build great things together,” he shared.
Besides monetising through memberships, Creatorspace wants to focus on events and their creator’s market which will have an online component where people can buy independent, local zines and artworks from the website directly.
At the moment, Creatorspace has a studio in the works meant for music, podcast, and voiceover recordings.
Qayyum shared that he and his team plan to expand and have different types of Creatorspace(s) in the next 2 years, maybe themed ones such as hubs for woodworking, painting, or sculpting.
- Creatorspace is located at 10, First Floor, Jalan SS7/16, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
- You can RSVP for the Spoken Word Block Party here.
- You can read more about what we’ve written on coworking spaces here.
Featured Image Credit: Creatorspace