The coworking coach belongs to ClubOffice, a 'Premium Coworking Space' in Berlin. It is used as an extension of their office space for functions, meetings and coworking sessions. A battery onboard provides lights and power for laptops, and a mobile wireless router supplies the internet connection.
As ClubOffice’s Robert Pfadt explained, the coach was an unexpected addition to their set-up: “A friend was having a birthday party, and he wanted to ride through the city in a coach. On the trip we realized that all the people in the street really liked it. Everybody was taking photos of us. At five kilometres per hour you discover the city from a whole new point of view. You discover shops that you never normally see. It was such a great party.”
After the event, Robert spoke to the coach driver, a Norwegian named Per, and discovered he was having difficulties attracting customers to his business.
“We said, ‘we can help you do the sales.’ So we agreed to take over the bookings.” There are three wagons of different sizes, ranging from 20 to 35-seats. They can be booked for parties, weddings, corporate functions, or any event. And of course, they are used for coworking.
“During the summer we three times told the people at ClubOffice – ‘We’re going for a ride, anyone want to come?’. We went and had a picnic, and people took their laptops along.”
The coaches are stationed in the ClubOffice carpark. The horses – there are about 28 of them - are stabled outside the city and are driven in whenever they are needed. Per has trained his horses to be able to walk through the city without using blinders. When the horses become too old, they are put out to pasture to enjoy their retirement.
The coach was also utilized recently as part of Coworking Week Berlin. It took a load of passengers to various coworking spaces. Along the way, several experts gave speeches about aspects of collaborative work. Richard Leyland from WorkSnug gave an appropriate talk about his company’s low carbon footprint approach to travel – nobody from the organization is permitted to fly on a plane for the purposes of work. Richard himself had travelled overland from London to Berlin by train. No doubt a ride through the city on a horse-drawn coach fitted nicely with his objectives.
