This is how the largest 'coworking' in southern Europe looks, which opens its doors in Barcelona

BarcelonaThe 22@, Barcelona's technology district, has a new building with open-plan offices, modern spaces, and multilingual workers. This time, however, it is the largest coworking space in Southern Europe by surface area. It is located just a ten-minute walk from Plaça de les Glòries and covers 20,000 square meters, including a gym, swimming pool, climbing wall, terraces, a restaurant, a games room, and a slide that goes from the first floor to the ground floor.

"It's completely safe; my children went down it the other day," jokes Gabriel Espín, CEO of the Catalan business group Aticco, which specializes in the development of shared workspaces. The companies located here have a combined valuation of over 20 billion euros. Since opening its doors in early April, 70 freelancers and 40 companies have moved in, six of which are unicorns, meaning start-ups valued at $1 billion without being listed on the stock exchange. One of these companies is the multinational technology company specializing in refurbished products, Back Market.

Espín highlights the "heterogeneity" of the companies present, both in terms of size, sectors, and origins: half are international companies, a proportion that is also reflected in the workforce.

Fees of around 290 euros

The building has 2,163 spaces, of which about 1,620 are occupied by mid-May, about three out of four. Half of these workers are Spanish and the other half are foreign. "Our community represents the nationalities present in Barcelona," said Aticco's operations director, Naiara Chaler, highlighting the presence of Argentinians, Italians, and French, among other nationalities.

The fee for a freelancer can cost around 290 euros per month, while accessing five times a month is 125 euros. It includes 24-hour access every day of the week, during which members can freely use individual workspaces and phone booths, rent meeting rooms for a certain number of hours, and access spaces for events at a reduced price. Beyond the purely work aspect, it also includes unrestricted access to yoga and gym classes, the swimming pool, the restaurant —where the lunch menu costs 11.90 euros, to encourage the cafeteria to be a meeting point—, to the breakfasts that the coworking organizes on Thursdays, and to networking events. Just this Tuesday, there was a pottery workshop. Massages in the wellness room are paid separately.

Bill 50% more this year

To create this community workspace, Aticco has reached an agreement with the German fund Patrizia, owner of the building. The two companies share the risk —and, therefore, also the profits— and the Catalan group pays a rent, which is lower than what it would have to disburse without the agreement.

Aticco expects to increase its turnover by 50% this year, going from 20 to 30 million euros in revenue. The company, founded in 2016, operates 86,000 square meters of shared workspace in Barcelona, Valencia, and Madrid, and in total has the capacity to accommodate almost 10,000 workers. These figures include the building it plans to open in Lisbon by the end of the year. In 2020, it added to the coworking business the opening of a division of coliving spaces —Aticco Living—, and a accelerator for startups —AticcoLab.

Espín has shown himself to be open to expanding Aticco's coworkings

to other European cities, although he has warned that they will only do so with a "sustainable strategy". "It makes no sense to go putting up little flags. The desire is there, opportunities have to arise," he concluded.

Large companies in a 'coworking'?

According to Espín, among the reasons that lead companies to establish themselves in a coworking space instead of setting up their own offices are flexibility, employee loyalty through spaces, and the possibility of establishing new synergies.

On the one hand, large companies "don't know if they will have workforces of 200 or 500 people next year" and shared workspaces offer them flexibility while leaving the door open for them to leave whenever they want without having to monetize any real estate investment. On the other hand, the bulk of employees are "technological and creative profiles difficult to retain", for whom open-plan spaces with leisure and relaxation options can be a point to consider when deciding their professional path.

The executive director of Business and Entrepreneurship of 22@, Itziar Blasco, opines that Barcelona is "in a very sweet moment as a city" because it is "the first hub in Southern Europe" for the entrepreneurial ecosystem.