Team Insight: Coworking is Dead. Long Live Working Together

Coworking was meant to save us.

From the isolation of our spare rooms. From awkward run-ins in kitchenettes with colleagues we didn’t like. From beige carpets and the daily desk commute.

It appeared one day in the 2010’s wearing skinny jeans, offering exposed brick, beanbags and Community™.

And for a while, we bought it.

But somewhere between the neon motivational signs and the endless kombucha taps, something got lost. Coworking became a concept, a commodity, a membership tier. It promised serendipitous connection but often delivered noise, overpriced snacks and strangers oversharing on Zoom.

The truth is: the coworking model is tired.

But the desire it was born from - the very human need to be around other people - that’s stronger than ever.

We still want to work near others. Just… not like that.

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From “Community” to Context

The original coworking dream was noble: independent people, doing interesting things, side by side. Swapping ideas. Sparking creativity. Maybe even forming a band.

But then came the rules. The keycards. The very serious networking breakfasts. The gentle-but-firm Slack nudges about upcoming yoga workshops you didn’t ask to be a part of.

And suddenly, “community” felt more like compulsory fun.

Today, we want meaningful adjacency, not scheduled bonding time.

To work near other humans yes, but with autonomy.

To feel in it, without being all in.

A vibe, not a vow.

Because the modern worker has changed. We’re not looking for a workplace soulmate or another branded tote bag. We’re looking for somewhere that fits today. Somewhere we can show up with a half-charged laptop, two coffees deep, and a to-do list that includes “actually reply to that email from three weeks ago.”

We want flexibility, yes - but we also want light structure. Places where we can plug in, breathe out and crack on. And if someone next to us is also quietly getting stuff done, even better.

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Workplaces That Fit Into Life (Not the Other Way Around)

The best places to work right now? Often weren’t built for work at all.

A sunny table at your local café. A bar with good WiFi and great lighting. Your friend’s kitchen table.

These spaces weren’t designed with KPIs and phone booths in mind.

They were designed for people.

And that’s the difference.

Coworking tried to build community through design. But real community happens through context.

Shared environments. Shared energy. Shared understanding that no, no one is actually using the ping pong table.

What we’re seeing now is a quiet but significant shift: away from fixed desks and open-plan formality, toward looser, lived-in environments that mirror how people actually live. Not perform productivity. Places that people feel genuinely good working in.

Because let’s be honest, coworking often asked too much of us.

Show up. Join in. Pretend you care about someone else’s crypto startup.

The new spaces ask less. They just say: come as you are. Work how you want.

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Working Together, Lightly

The need to work around others hasn’t disappeared. If anything, it’s intensified.

We’re craving light connection. Low-pressure proximity. That feeling of being alone, together. Like a good gym class, but with emails.

The future of work isn’t a building full of curated humans and branded cupcakes.

It’s looser. More lived-in. More… normal.

Think: working quietly in a beautiful corner of a space that’s already alive with energy. Not engineered for work, but welcoming to it.

This isn’t about tearing down the concept of shared workspace.

It’s about reframing it.

Coworking, as we knew it, has flatlined. But working together in casual, contextual and authentic ways? That's very much alive.

No keycards. No mandatory mixers.

Just decent WiFi, soft lighting and the quiet knowledge that someone nearby is also trying to finish something before lunch.

And honestly? That’s enough.