Creative Work Space
Breaking Boundaries: Alternative Office Places
Forget cookie cutter cubicles and characterless office parks. In today’s wireless world, thinking outside of the box in terms of where you work can impact your business just as much as being innovative in how you work. For Lou Barber, president of Silhouette Media, LLC and co-author of Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Unleashed ( Sams Publishing, 2006), changing up where he works is essential to keeping his Web design work fresh.
From artsy office suites to WiFi-ready cafes to outdoor work spaces, Richmond offers a tremendous variety of work environments for movers and shakers. Plant Zero Art Center is just one of many of Lou’s favorite places to get down to business.
Plant Zero Art Center
0 East 4th Street
“I wanted to have a place where I could meet clients, not just a Starbucks, but a real place where we could sit down and talk,” Barber comments. “When I found out that this was a center for artists and photographers, I got in my car and put a deposit on this place before it was even finished.”
One look at this warehouse-cum-artist haven and it is easy to see what brought Barber here. Located in Manchester, one-half mile from Shockoe Slip, Plant Zero is the working home of nearly 200 visual artists, designers, Web professionals, filmmakers, and freelancers spanning a wide variety of industries.
Acting as both office space as well as a place to exhibit work, meet and greet others in creative fields, and in some cases live (44 upscale condominiums are being added this year), Plant Zero is more than just a place to work, it’s a place to get inspired, get connected, and get a break from the typical cell-like office without sacrificing crucial workplace amenities.
Each of Plant Zero’s 60 studios comes with 24-hour entry access, DSL wireless Internet, and ranges in size from 300 to 3,000 square feet. Additionally, the 7,000-square-foot shared assembly space (which comfortably seats up to 400 guests) may be rented by the public and offers a common area for conferences, showcases, film screenings, special performances, or any other business-boosting event you could possibly need.
Above all, Plant Zero just looks cool with its exposed beams, 16-foot ceilings and enormous windows juxtaposed with freshly-made art and modern conveniences.
“I’ve thought about getting an office space in an Innsbrook-type setting, but I decided I would be bored,” Barber states. “When clients see my office now, the first reaction is, ‘wow, cool space.’ That’s what 90 percent of people say.”