BLANKSPACES is a pioneer in the world of coworking spaces, both locally and internationally. When architect Jerome Chang opened Blankspace’s first location in the mid-Wilshire area in 2007, it was the first coworking space south of San Francisco, and among the first dozen such spaces in the country.
Blankspaces is a coworking community of freelancers & entrepreneurs, and has flexible office spaces and meeting rooms which can be rented by the month, by the day, even by the hour.
In addition to the functionality of the flexible work space, Chang really enjoys the intangibles of the community. “There’s a lot of like-minded entrepreneurs here who by sharing the space they can share ideas, collaborate, and hire each other, or simply get coffee together.”
When Chang built the first space, he wanted to fill a decent-sized office that he could share with others, find like-minded people, and build a community on top of that. He stumbled upon the term “coworking” during the buildout, “And realized that one term embraced a lot of the same values I was trying to achieve.”
Santa Monica followed three years later, and downtown LA opened a year and a half ago. A fourth location will open in Pasadena’s Playhouse District towards the end of this year. Not only is the Pasadena location close to community comforts such as Urth Cafe and Tender Greens, but it is anchored close to Cal Tech in order to serve as a magnet for the area’s deep academic / tech talent.
And each location has its own personality, according to Chang. The Santa Monica location sits in the epicenter of Silicon Beach, just a couple buildings away from innovation studio Science (original home to Dollar Shave Club and DogVacay), educator General Assembly, publicly traded companies TrueCar and Salesforce, plus Uber’s LA offices, which will be opening soon.
Downtown is “more of a raw neighborhood,” east of Pershing Square, a bit more artistic, but vibrant with tons of construction in the area — and with even a Gucci store opening down the street soon, Chang notes that it is “only a matter of time” before DTLA explodes with a more robust community.
But one thing that is constant amongst all locations is incredibly fast internet, since all three sit at or near major nodes and switches that not only connect the neighborhood, but the entire west coast.
Blankspaces is also a founding member of the League of Extraordinary Coworking Spaces, which not only helps Blankspaces members to find safe harbor in other towns worldwide (over 20 brands in 45 locations worldwide, including Toronto, Paris, and Australia), but also helps its partner owners find camaraderie in sharing experiences and best practices amongst the group.
Chang’s experience as an architect has given Blankspaces a unique perspective on creating a space that allows for creative collisions, which allow for serendipitous interactions throughout the day. The mix of public & private spaces and events also create the right vibe for everyone.
As a practicing architect, Chang has learned from the designer side, the owner side, and the user side, “What really makes these spaces hum. I’m studying these things down to the inch,” including how far desks sit apart from the walls and each other, as well as the best place to lay out the bullpen and the coffee bar in the kitchen in order to enhance through physical design why the people are actually there.
Says Chang, “I’m glad I had the chance to open up the space to help entrepreneurs & freelancers to get off the ground.”
