India in the present state has the largest working population in the world; this working population is young and works hard. People lifestyles have changed dramatically and they are working more on new ideas more than ever. The start-up culture has spread widely and has penetrated to the far ends of our nation.
In this startup culture, Un-boxed a co-working space in Noida creating spaces where fellow startup co-workers feel good @work. The idea is similar to community living; instead they form community working! they try and achieve this through the formation of a physical yet social environment that supports activities to work, brainstorm, innovate together; yet at the same time live, connect, relax, play and rejuvenate together.
Idea
New ideas are emerging and so are new types of workspaces. People have converted their homes, garages, basements, cafeterias, libraries, etc. into their workspaces; they are working day in day out. So, they are either sleeping or working.
As more and more of our waking hours are being taken up by working hours, the need arises to redefine the nature of our working space and our lifestyle. It is time to re-think and re-form our aspirations; convert the idea of a Dream House to a Dream Office. Since we are a very demanding generation; we would like our offices that allow us with spaces where we think, work, dream, grow, connect, eat, make friends, party, sleep, discuss, learn new things, unlearn some, eat, cook, decorate, grow plants, personalize, have affairs, introspect, idealize, relax, exercise, the list is endless.
To sum up we want our spaces that can allow our lives to thrive and support our human instincts and emotions.
How it Started
The idea started with the simple need of a decent workspace, we required for our own architectural practice that we started four years back in 2011; our expectations were the same from our workspace but the task to create it was way too demanding. Work pace, cut-throat competition and starting up our own practice took up all the time and hardly gave any breathing space, nevertheless – we did it; we worked harder, spent more time and gave a new definition to our office space.
We transformed the spaces around us and expanded. Then we came up with the idea of Unboxed and started adding and accommodating more and more people to form our own community working space.
Un-boxed Team
The Igniter : Rajiv Agarwal
Often seen around the Un-boxed premises hanging out with a chick (quite literally), he might appear slightly off the track but officially runs an IT company (Intellisoft), a medical transcription company (Intelliscript Transcription) and an organic food company (Intelliorganics). He has been the thought igniter for Un-boxed.
The Dreamer : Nilesh Bansal
He started the architectural consultancy by the name of Chaukor Studio, which received wide acclaim for its innovative and sustainable outlook in various projects. From initiation, he has been the critical backbone formalizing the ideology, and organizational system of Un-Boxed.
The Doer: Tejeshwi Bansal
A gold medalist from School of Planning and architecture, Delhi she has been managing, curating and making Un-boxed really work. She handles everything right from strategizing the future plans and expansions to day to day organization, financial models to social integration of the co-workers in community.
Milestone Reached
We have grown from 3 to 50 odd dreamers who are co-working from Un-Boxed. Our model is to engage and once the person becomes a part of the space, it is difficult for him/her to outgrow it. We have 7000sqft of covered area in Noida, comprising of 70 seats, dining area, reception, conference room and a think room, a recreation hall with a TT table, a small gym, and a terrace that has grown from contribution of all community members. We have an interesting mix of people, from tech startups, a 10-year-old software development company, an experimental urban farmer, architects, interior designers etc.
Hiccups
To justify open spaces as opposed to jam packed workstation system, it becomes challenging to run it in and make profit. But we believe in the idea that eventually the importance of a holistic work environment will play an important role in our lives and affect us dramatically; and the time is very near when this system of co-working would become completely holistic in its nature.
The co-working space not just solves short-term hurdles of workspace for the budding entrepreneurs, but also resolves the long-term negative aspects of our lives that have come as the derivatives of our changed work culture.
Future Intentions
The concept co-working or community working is an innovative approach that helps to motivate people so they gain respect and affection for their work, to become more satisfied with life, enjoy it, and live it to the fullest.
It allows people with a common platform to come together to connect and grow; grow and develop; develop and innovate ideas for a better future.
So our future plan would be to transform the whole work culture slowly and steadily. Expand, grow and engage more and more people all across the country. We would like not to restrict this idea to ourselves but to make a community which can further re-create many more such platforms for people to Plug and Play.