The past decade has seen shared working spaces pop up all over the city. Uptown's Sinclair House is a Kiwi owned and managed co-working space that occupies the back of one of Uptown's most notable buildings on Symonds Street.

As a new tenant, Suzanne McNamara delves into the building's history and talks to manager Nicole Green about the evolution of Sinclair House.

Co-working or shared spaces make sense for many companies. They provide flexibility to grow and don't the start-up businesses into a lease. They are great for freelancers, providing an escape from the home office, with everything you need, from meeting rooms to printers.

Sinclair House ocouples the ground floor behind the Symonds Street frontage occupied by T. White's and Southbound Records. The shared space is named after the building's architect, Arthur Sinclair O'Connor. The entire 4000m2 building was first constructed for the Ford Motor Company in the 1940s. Ford cars were assembled on the floors at the rear of the building and the front was the showroom. It was later used as the headquarters of News Media Services, and the New Zealand Truth newspaper was published from there using printing presses located in the basement.

Today, Sinclair House has 12 businesses that call the building home, including the co-working space. Nicole Green was inspired by what she saw in London, where there were a lot of different shared options, including small boutique workspaces in which she loved working.

Nicole saw a gap for a more personal and homely vibe that was missing in other spaces in Auckland and set out to create a place where people felt like they were working from their own private office, but could still enjoy the ease of walking in and having every thing they need at their fingertips.

Nicole says her intention was to "design a functional and professional space, with a beautiful fit-out and welcoming vibe. A place where people really wanted to come to work”.

Nicole and interior designer Annabel Smart, from Melbourne's Studio 11:11, completely redesigned and refurbished the entire loft space, making sure to retain the beautiful historic features of the building. such as the polished concrete floors and high cellings. They created well thought-out spaces using lush linen curtains that provide privacy and divide larger areas. The interiors were given a complete refresh with new paint, a new kitchen and bathrooms.

Large palm and fig trees are dotted all around the office, bringing a sense of overall well-being. The furniture includes ergonomic work chairs and electric sit/stand desks.

Nicole says that "every detail in the space was carefully considered to provide the most comfortable and productive workspace for our tenants". She loved the process, "it was amazing to work alongside Annabel to choose a colour palette and bespoke interior finishes, it has created an uplifting yet calming space to work from each day”.

The result is that Sinclair House is a beautifully designed, tranquil space where tenants can focus on their productivity rather than worrying about the issues often associated with an office. The vibe is professional yet relaxed and feels more like working from a private office than a co-working space.

To build a thriving community and facilitate getting to know one another, there are after-work drinks. There is a resident yoga teacher, who offers morning classes for those who are keen to start the day with yoga stretches.

There are 60 desks in total, with an interesting mix of businesses, ranging from environmental and urban planners and advertising and design companies to high-end residential and commercial construction companies, IT consultants and economic experts. Businesses range in size from six-12 people, and there are a number of freelancers who enjoy the community that Sinclair House offers. 

"We work with each tenant to ensure their team is seated altogether in a private space. Even on a busy day our tenants feel like they can freely talk and collaborate. We also have four private meeting rooms, as well as private booths where people can book meetings or have private conversations," explains Nicole.

Even non-tenants who need a space to meet, connect, celebrate or learn are welcome at Sinclair House, with multiple spaces to hire on an hourly or daily basis. The private boardroom is the perfect space for a workshop or team get-together.

Nicole has created an elegant, functional space where people enjoy coming to work. "We've seen businesses grow and flourish here, and Sinclair House has provided the flexibility and community to allow them to do that."