Samsung: Community and coworking
When it comes to a brand with a net worth of $295 billion, you would expect them to have some pretty spectacular workspaces. Consumer electronics giant Samsung is well-known for its use of coworking spaces – and they are certainly out of the ordinary!
Founded in 1938, by South Korean businessman Lee Byung-chul, the company started out trading in many different products including textiles, food processing, insurance, retail and securities. Samsung didn’t enter the electronics industry until the late 1960s.
The company started to grow as an international corporation in the 1990s, becoming the largest producer of memory chips in the world in 1992. Samsung opened a development centre in Warsaw, Poland, in 2000. It started out developing set-top box technology, later moving into digital television and smartphones.
Over time, this led to the Samsung Galaxy line of devices including the Note and Edge. Samsung Electronics became the largest mobile phone maker in the world in terms of unit sales in 2012, overtaking market-leader Nokia – holder of the top spot since 1998.
Samsung’s coworking space
Samsung started using coworking space in 2017, when it moved into a coworking space in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in the Republic of Korea, with amazing features such as a games room, well-equipped conference room and even a bar on every floor, selling coffee and beer.
Using coworking space appeals to Samsung because of the connections it fosters between each person. It creates and develops communities. Even though the individuals in coworking spaces may be working alone, they still feel part of a community, as a result of social meetings and events they can join in with together.
Coworking provides a sense of community specific to these flexible workspaces. The connections with other people are one of the main reasons why companies and individuals choose these spaces as a base, rather than working from home, or from a standard office.
The Seoul coworking space has 12 floors and can accommodate 1,500 people. The executive lounge on the ground floor has a colourful design, making it feel both comfortable and vibrant. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, many events and parties were held there, including cocktail parties.
The conference rooms feature a long desk with a settee in the corner, so people can take a break during a meeting without having to leave the room to relax.
Each of the 12 floors has its own bar, equipped with a draught beer machine and a coffee percolator. Every morning, everyone (even visitors) can have a free coffee or a beer while sitting in the lounge.
There is also private office space available to members if required. The offices have glass walls as part of the policy to let natural light into the building.
Coworking investment
Many see coworking as the way forward. Samsung has invested in launching its own coworking spaces, as well as partnering with other companies, to add greater creativity to other like-minded environments.
In January 2020, to support the launch of the Galaxy Note 9, Samsung created the first coworking space described as being “in the middle of nowhere” at Casa do Penedo in Portugal, to prove it is possible to work anywhere with the relevant technology.
10km from the municipality of Fafe, the isolated coworking space had the ethos of “mobility and remote work”. It brought together five individual remote workers from different backgrounds including a presenter, an illustrator, a businessman, a journalist and a photographer; equipping each of them with a Galaxy Note 9, a monitor and a WiFi network.
The coworkers’ experiences were documented in videos to prove how flexible a coworking space can be with the right technology, showing it does not have to be a fixed, physical place in a city or urban area.
Although the Covid-19 lockdown is affecting our ability to go to work at present, start looking ahead to brighter times by contacting Headspace Group for details of our flexible coworking spaces. Coworking could be your future!
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