Office Nomads
One of the original coworking spaces in Seattle and the U.S., Office Nomads is a great example of ‘really existing coworking’. Jacob, Susan, Alexandra and the team have worked for over five years to create a space that is both well equipped and community focused.
About 100 members use the large space, located on an upper floor of a building in the hip Capitol Hill district. The layout flows in a circular floor plan around a central meeting room, allowing easy circulation.
Empty desks are indicated by little flags. The atmosphere is quite and productive, but the members are very welcoming. A quiet radio plays in the background to provide some soft noise.
There are two meeting rooms and four phone booths. The kitchen has most implements needed to prepare lunch, and a Molly’s food fridge if you can’t be bothered. Great cafes are just steps away. The in-house coffee is delicious.
Office Nomads’ most loved member is Buckley the black Labrador. No visit to the space is complete without patting Buckley.
The Hub Seattle
Like most Hubs, the Seattle branch has found a great loft space with big windows and exposed brick and wood. The space is found near Pioneer Square in the Downtown area. It has many big old wooden desks, all with good chairs and lots of space to spread out. There is one meeting area and a kitchenette, complete with a Molly’s food fridge.
But be warned, the Hub may soon move to a new and bigger space, if discussions with other participating agencies work out. Either way, this new branch of the global social enterprise workspace will have an attractive home.
The Hub are working hard to build a community with regular events and good connections to other socially-minded enterprises. They’ve only been around for a few months, and will have a real launch later in the year.
Makers
When it opens, Makers will be a huge and beautiful multi-purpose workspace near the markets at the end of Pike/Pine streets, downtown. Co-founder Lana Morisoli is an interior designer, and she’s putting lots of thought into every detail of the space. Transparent walls will be used to transmit light, and ugly office fixtures will be tucked away.
Makers will have 70 coworking desks as well as ten small team offices. Most interesting may be the demonstration kitchen, which will be used for cooking classes and catering.
Agnes Underground
Opened early in 2012, Agnes Underground is a large open space in the middle of Capitol Hill. It was started as the extension of an architecture firm, which sits next door. When a theatre company moved out of the building, the architects thought to put the vacated space to use as a coworking space.
The large concrete room has been cleverly repurposed using lots of fabric to absorb sound. Colorful carpet tiles brighten up the space. All desks are on wheels to allow for easy moving. Light is allowed through a glass wall that adjoins the architecture office.
There are about 100 coworking desks, 12 permanent desks, a meeting area and lounge area. A few private phone booths are on the way.
Agnes Underground is a hands-off space. Members let themselves in using a security tag, and then get straight to work.
And some more we didn't get to…
The Mill
The Mill is a community of self-starting designers, developers, and digital makers working together in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. The coworking space is just a couple blocks away from Office Nomads and was opened last June. The Mill recently expanded to a total of 16 dedicated desks in their space.
Eastlake Coworking
Operated by the Eastlake Mail center, this coworking space is good for those located in the areas just north-east of downtown, with parking and highway access.
The Branch Office
The Branch Office is a community office in North Seattle. Their members work in a variety of fields including law, marketing, apparel, and technology. If you don't have membership yet, you don't need a reservation. You can bring whatever tools you need. The Branch accept all forms of payment.
Jigsawrenaissance
Jigsawrenaissance is a learning and making community. They offer space, equipment, and community to learn to create the things you want to make. Coworkers get places to sit, plug in, and fresh coffee. But Jigsaw is also a dirty-hands space – so sometimes there are people painting, grinding, and sawing. If that’s your sort of place, then you’ll dig Jigsaw. They appreciate donations but don’t have a daily drop-in late.
StartPad
A software company with extra space, StartPad offers drop-in coworking for developers and entrepreneurs. They encourage interested users to attend an open brown-bag lunch on Thursdays.
Hacker and maker spaces
Seattle has several very interesting hacker spaces and workshops for those who like to make things with their hands. At Metrix Create:Space there’s a kiln and 3D printer, as well as workbenches for laptop users. Jigsaw Renaissance, which calls itself a “clubhouse for geeks”, is great for robot builders, as well as coworkers.
