I was quite busy during the summer, but I managed to find a free day for checking out Luova Laboratorio in Oulu. My plans to travel to southern europe were quite clear at that point, but I wanted to know what kind of coworking spaces Oulu has, since there is a good chance I’ll need a desk place from Oulu at some point in the future. I was also planning to visit Njetwork Inn coworking space, but unfortunately I didn’t have time for that. There are also other options in Oulu such as Business Kitchen, but I’m not sure if they offer similar services as regular coworking spaces do.

Coworklisboa

But lets start with Coworklisboa, since it is – so far – the only coworking space where I’ve actually worked in. Coworklisboa is located in LX Factory site in west Lisbon, Portugal. The area reminds me of Berlin – and Toppila 😉 – and the atmosphere there is really relaxed and nice. There are many cafes and restaurants in the area so you’re likely to find a nice breakfast, lunch or dinner there every day.

Near the front door there are few sofas and chairs working as a lounge. Two tables are meant for flex desk users, but most of the space is reserved for fixed desks. For small companies there were also more private office spaces available. Espresso coffee and reasonable black & white printing are included in the price. There are also two meeting rooms available for a fee.

After travelling to Lisbon I tried to work a bit in the Hostel I was staying for few days, but I couldn’t properly focus for more than 5 mins due to bad ergonomics of the flimsy garden chairs and tables and I had similar issues in the cafes I visited. I understood I needed a decent desk place to work from. Originally my plan had been to reserve a fixed desk from some of the coworking places located in the central Lisbon, but for my surprise non were available.

After trying out Coworklisboa for one afternoon I decided to stay there in a flex desk place. The staff promised to let me know as soon as fixed desk spaces became available and in the end I got a fixed desk seat in my second day there. There is a Facebook group for coworking space members, but I haven’t encountered any other communal activities so far. The price for flex desk is 100 e / month and 180 e / month for a large fixed desk.

My experiences so far:

Pros:

• Very nice and helpful staff
• The desks and chairs are sturdy and ergonomic enough for my use
• Internet speed has been alright, 70/9 Mbps according to speedtest.net
• The space was quite peaceful during my stay and I could have made calls to fellow developers from the work desk, but…

Cons:

• …it would be nice to have few dedicated rooms/booths for important client calls
• The space is only open Mon – Fri 9:00 – 21:00. So far this have been alright for me, but it makes it more challenging to arrange meetings with people working in Finland for example.

Luova Laboratorio

This reviews is based on the short half hour visit last summer so things may have changed since. Luova Laboratorio also have spaces in an old magazine building next to Oulu marketplace, but I didn’t visit that site. The space I visited is located in the 4th floor of the Stockmann building in the very heart of Oulu, Finland.

The space is divided into multiple rooms along a corridor and there are at least one restaurant and few other services located in the same floor. The main room with the reception included few desks meant for flexible use and there were two call booths. Based on the web pages there are three different rooms with 30 seats meant for flex desk members. There are also 5 fixed desks in a separate room.

Coffee and tea are available for free. I also understood the nearby restaurant offered really competitively priced monthly lunch deals (bit over 100 e / month or so). Similarly priced – around 100 e / month – parking service was also available for basement floor parking with convenient access to the coworking spaces. Overall the space felt very comfortable, inspiring and modern. I also understood there were regular networking events available for the members. Price for a fixed desk seems to be 299 e / month and 229 e / month for a flex desk.

Pros:

• Nice staff and fast response to my contact request via web pages
• Really nicely decorated rooms and inspiring atmosphere
• Rooms with different levels of lightning are available
• 24/7 access for fixed and flex desk users
• At least the fixed desk tables were height adjustable

Cons:

• Umm…

The prices felt a bit high at first. However you get quite a lot of value for your money and if you can benefit from the lunch or parking offers the price is very competitive.

If things go well I’ll be working in many different coworking spaces in the near future and I’ll most likely write short reviews about them. Permanent work spaces have their benefits, but I think it is really refreshing to change the scenery now and then even for a short period.