Digital 52 2️⃣3️⃣ - On building an ecosystem around an agency, a coworking space, and a community platform: the story of Protein Studios.
Are you ready to make your way to London to discover how coworking can become a part of a company’s ecosystem?
Facilitating Collaboration - How to Start - Multipurpose Space
Read the story of Protein Studios on page 234 of “Around The World in 250 Coworking Spaces”.
A simple question we’ve been exploring on different occasions over the last few years is, 'Who starts coworking spaces?' The obvious answer is people, sure. But what are those people’s backgrounds? Did they all come from the real estate world? Can coworking spaces be initiated by companies? Today’s story will help you build an answer. Who are we featuring? A London brand consultancy called Protein. While it started as an agency, its growth in size and clients has fueled the creation of an entire ecosystem of Creatives, leading them to launch their coworking space: Protein Studios. How does one go from operating an agency with offices in different countries to also operating an online community and a coworking space? You are about to find out.
➡️ A little refresher
Who’s behind the featured space?
Meet William Rowe, the Founder of Protein.
While Protein started as an agency, William launched, in 2013, Protein Studios, a coworking space in the heart of Shoreditch.
“Protein has spent the last 15 years building a diverse global community of curious minds, so creating a physical space was a natural step for us. We wanted to connect with our community in person and create a network for creative businesses to tap into under one roof.”
➡️ Key Figures
- Opening year: 2013
- Size when they started: 3,000 sqft (300 sqm)
- Size today: 13,000 sqft (1,300 sqm)
➡️ A little tour around Protein Studios
➡️ Behind-the-scenes
Things you didn't read in aw250cs
Community is by far the hardest element to nurture in coworking spaces. What’s the community recipe of Protein Studios? Prioritizing fostering genuine connections over hosting a lot of events and activities.. “Our members love to be social, but we don’t force connections by hosting awkward meet-ups. We like our members to connect in a natural way where they feel comfortable -this normally includes food and drink and going to the pub is an obvious choice!”
Our goal is to create an ecosystem where each part benefits from the proximity to each other, like a flywheel.
William Rowe, Founder of Protein
➡️ Protein Studios Today
Running Digital 52 on a weekly basis has provided us with an excellent opportunity to reconnect with 23 coworking spaces featured in the book so far. We are constantly fascinated by the drive and passion that each of these spaces displays in creating thriving environments for their members. Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Will and Harry, the General Manager of Protein Studios (whom we previously interviewed on Instagram), to discuss their latest developments. With nearly a decade of experience in London, one of the most dynamic coworking markets in the world, I was eager to hear their reflections on their journey and their perspective on the near and distant future. As you will discover, the entire Protein ecosystem is taking on new and exciting forms, blending experiences between and around their physical and digital worlds even more seamlessly.
💫 Different ways of growing
As you are about to discover, Protein Studios has grown in size, adding an extra 10,000 sqft of space to its existing 3,000. The latest addition is not focused on providing a place to work, but instead, a place to… meet. What does it all mean? Keep reading to find out!
Beyond its physical space, the Protein team has focused its effort on growing its digital space, not just in size but also in its way of operating. Are you ready to discover what a tokenized community is?
💬 I’d like to start by asking you: what’s new at Protein Studios since September 2021?
(the month the book was released)
We focus less on coworking space and more on venue space, but to us, it's a key part of our model, identity, and business. The downstairs area benefits and supports the upstairs area, and we have expanded our space by another 10,000 square feet (1,000 sqm) in addition to the existing 3,000 square feet (300 sqm). We have received a great response from people because there's literally nothing like it. It's now the biggest venue in central Shoreditch and allows us to host conferences and trade shows with a capacity of a thousand people instead of 300. It's really exciting but also scary exciting as with anything new.
On a more coworking-specific level, we've had new members join, and we've spent a lot of time trying to understand their needs. We intentionally asked them what else we could do to improve, and as a result, we organized more events and made some upgrades to our space. The feedback we've received has been positive, and we're continuing to focus on the details, which is crucial in the hospitality industry.
💬 Can you explain the process and motivation behind opening a new space, and what ultimately led you to decide to pursue this venture?
Good questions.
There's a fire exit down a little side alley next to our building that I was inspecting as part of my job. The air conditioning compressors were on in the summer, so our neighbors downstairs had their fire exit open because it was an old joinery and it was really hot in there. My natural curiosity kicked in and I stuck my head through the fire exit. I was like, 'What? This place is beautiful.' Having worked in Shoreditch for a while, I know those types of spaces just don't exist anymore. Developers have taken them and turned them into something else.
But all of that was six years ago.
It's been on my mind for that long, and I've kept in touch with my landlord, reminding him every six months that if he ever thought about it, he should call me first. Fast forward five years, they sold their joinery business and were vacating.
Our landlord asked if we were interested, and after negotiating the commercial aspects and the fit-out we said yes. So that's how it came about, and the 'why' is primarily commercial. We know that when our downstairs works, it really works. So, in terms of a return per square foot, events are much more profitable than the workspace upstairs.
Also, our location is truly unique, and location is everything in the property world. If a 13,000 square foot (1,300 sqm) space came up in King's Cross, it would be less attractive, or we wouldn't actually do it. But because we are in central Shoreditch and have been running the venue for eight years, we had the confidence to continue with that plan. The response has been incredibly positive since we started marketing it a few weeks ago, purely for the reasons of its size and location, and all the good things that come with that.
💬 What’s the biggest change the pandemic has brought to your space?
I think that this year we have seen a return to more structured event planning, with bookings and confirmations coming in for September, November, and beyond. In contrast to the last couple of years when everything was last minute, we are now seeing a lead time of two to four weeks for event planning. This return to normalcy is great news for the events industry.
On the coworking side of things, not much has changed since we reopened. We have always been flexible with our members, but now we have a notice period and membership agreement in place, with clear terms and conditions. People are now more confident in accepting longer notice periods, which is a positive change.
💬 Protein Studios is much more than “just” a coworking space, can you talk to us about the entire “Protein Ecosystem”? Why was it important to have a coworking space in your concept?
The other main business within Protein is an agency that provides brand consultancy. Through Covid, we relocated our Amsterdam team to London and closed our New York team, consolidating everything in Amsterdam. Our services include consumer insight, cultural strategy, and community-led activation. We are fortunate to work with global brands such as Nike or Google, and PBH.
Our agency team consists of about 20 people.
I have been spending a lot of time working on our community, which has always been there but never had a clear strategy or plan. In September 2021, we relaunched our token as a way to recognize contribution, loyalty, and participation in our community through the idea of shared ownership. Our token is not a cryptocurrency, but rather a social token that is more like a rewards points system, similar to air miles. It is currently part of our community project with about 300 members in our Discord.
We also have a small investment vehicle called Protein Incubator, which has invested in a couple of small businesses, including our partner Oat Cafe and Graphic Magazine, which we are in the process of relaunching. These four buckets make up our ecosystem.
We aim to bring these closer together and create an ecosystem where our agency, members, and community work together and benefit each other. We are exploring ways to tokenize our workspace and recognize participation through our token.
Our goal is to create an ecosystem where each part benefits from the proximity to each other, like a flywheel.
💬 You just talked about “tokenizing your workspace”. What does tokenize mean? Is it crypto-related?
Yes, we are talking about cryptocurrency. Specifically, it's an ERC-20 token. However, it's important to note that it differs from Bitcoin or Ethereum in that it lacks liquidity, meaning it cannot currently be spent or purchased. Instead, it can only be earned and redeemed.
We've embraced a philosophy of community-driven creation, which we shared in a post called 'A Hundred Days of Our Community.' This post highlights our learnings from the first 100 days of running the community, which can be found on our website.
To clarify, we are not a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) because we are not fully autonomous, and we are owned primarily by me. We are an organization that subscribes to many of the principles of DAOs, including progress toward decentralization and adherence to Web 3 principles. We refer to ourselves as a community rather than a DAO, but we function in a similar way.
💬 Did you guys develop an NFT to have some sort of a representation of the token?
We have launched an NFT for access to our online community, which is application-based. If you apply and get approved, you can currently access it for free. As part of the application process, we include our values which is really cool. Our agency has become a B Corp, and we follow the principles of good growth that are integral to B Corp.
We are integrating these principles throughout our Protein Studios, and although we are not technically a B Corp, we are implementing many of the same practices, such as worker benefits and governance pieces. We are also sharing a lot of the work happening in different units to bring the community together.
We have an NFT initiative that we run seasonally for three months. At the end of each season, it is renewed. We are currently developing a proper membership program that is similar to what we have with Protein Studios. It will be a monthly recurring membership with different layers of access, including to Discord, Protein Studios, and the agency community. There will be a base layer, which will be a non-transferable NFT with different badges and utilities that recognize your contribution and allow governance voting.
We are focusing on ensuring it works well within our community before implementing it in Protein Studios and the agency. One step at a time.
💬 If I go back to the ecosystem in itself, why did you think that having a coworking space was something you wanted for that ecosystem?
Our goal is to create a broad community, which is something we've always done but didn't fully realize in our previous spaces. Our first building was primarily an advanced and creative space for events, such as pop-up restaurants, with plenty of space for people to create. The workspace aspect was more of a byproduct because we had a free floor. When we moved to our new location, we were more intentional about selecting like-minded businesses to join us, and we are considering an application process for joining upstairs. We want to align with our mission of creating a place for people and ideas to grow, and if Protein Studios can be the physical embodiment of that, it would be a great way to bring complementary businesses together.
We are now exploring what else we can do to support the businesses in our building, and possibly even other buildings. We are looking at incubator models that combine investment and resources in exchange for equity. It's still the same service, but the exchange of value is structured differently. We are excited about where we're going and setting courses and directions for the future while maintaining our core business.
💬 You’ve been running Protein Studios for almost a decade. How has your mission evolved over time?
It hasn't really changed very much, and to be fair, Protein has been running for 25 years, with Studios being 10 years of that.
But maybe to answer that question differently, which ties back to everything I've just been mentioning, in 2017, I created an update to our strategy called 'Me We Us'. This involved creating a 10-year plan that turns Protein into something bigger than just me as an individual or as a team.
We recognized ourselves as a community in 2017, even though I didn't fully understand what that meant at the time. Last year, we were five years into that plan, which was solidified with our token and the possibilities of co-ownership and evolving our community.
This isn't just about me, it's about recognizing the groups of relationships which include individuals, the team, and the community.
This is 100% about helping people and ideas grow, which has always been our mission and goal. While other businesses may share this mission, what sets us apart is how we execute it.
We constantly ask ourselves what's out there and what we need to do to deliver on our promises. The 'Me We Us' framework is a great reference point for our legacy and for creating a legacy going forward. If you're interested, there was a great write-up on Meta Label, which is a publication set up by Yancey Strickler, who co-founded Kickstarter. Austin, one of the writers, wrote about our 'Me We Us' strategy last year, roughly coinciding with our 25th anniversary.
💬 Have you ever thought about growing in sqm aka, opening a new location?
Yes. Last week, Harry and I were looking at new buildings to ensure our next two potential locations. One of them is Amsterdam, where we already have an agency team. It's an obvious location and feels necessary. We currently have a beautiful office for the agency, but unfortunately, it's a bit too small to turn into a workspace. So, we are definitely considering Amsterdam.
We are also exploring another location, which is still in the early stages of consideration. It's a more rural countryside setup. We are not sure whether it would fall under Protein Studios or not, but there is a definite demand for it. It's quite different and appeals to people with kids and those who have relocated, like some of our team members who are an hour or two away from London.
Those are the two obvious locations we are looking at. Additionally, I'd love to see or work out a partnership opportunity. If you look at Dallas, there's a group called Thursday, which is a basic group of DAO. Folk who got together on Thursdays. We're seeing the beginnings of more of a partnership-type construction, and we're exploring how we can provide access to workspaces for our members in different cities.
We're putting ourselves in our members' shoes and really understanding their needs. This is actually less from our members in Shoreditch because they are predominantly looking into it. These are the members in our Discord who are all over the world. So, the big question is how we can create a feeling and a vibe similar to what we have in Shoreditch and in other places around the world. These are things we are working to explore.
💬 Protein is based out of London, which is one of the most dynamic coworking markets worldwide. What’s your outlook on the market in London lately?
I mean, if you're talking about competitiveness, it's definitely a good thing as it keeps everyone sharp. We were fortunate to have a good relationship with our landlord, but others weren't so lucky. We are still independent and don't have any big banks or investment funds behind us.
For us, it's important to provide a level of service and an experience that goes beyond just being cool. It takes an amazing team and a quality product to sustain demand from the initial opening.
Ultimately, what Harry and the team have done is nurture the community, which is what we call our moat. This is our point of protection and difference rather than just a nice office space. It's always been about the people, which are often undervalued or misunderstood. This curation and scale are important for sustaining demand.
We ran a survey not too long ago. We did it because some of the other spaces nearby, which I won't name, have really impressive events programs and cultural calendars. It's like, 'Wow, that would be amazing!' But when we asked our members if they were interested, they didn't seem too keen. They didn't explicitly say no, but they were more interested in talks, meetups, and other low-key events like Pancake Day and Peace. It's pretty casual, and while it might not translate perfectly to other cultures, it's all about being genuine and authentic.
As an operator, my goal is to provide those ingredients and then step back and let things happen naturally.
It's not always easy, though. We've had some bad fits in the past, particularly with people in the tech industry. I don't mean any disrespect to them, but they don't always mesh well with our community. That was an early realization when we started incorporating this space, but it's exciting to see how much we've grown since then.
One thing I'm really interested in exploring is shared ownership. If we can create a sense of ownership beyond just renting a desk, it could be a real game-changer. I haven't seen many workspaces doing that yet, but I think it could be a huge differentiator for us.
➡️ Reflections on building Protein Studios
💬 What has been your biggest learning out of bringing to life AND growing Protein Studios?
William: I mean, I've covered quite a few topics already, but ultimately the key is recognizing the importance of community and relationship building, first and foremost. Secondly, having a general understanding of commercial property models is also important.
These are the two main things to focus on, and they apply not just to coworking businesses, but to any business in the property industry. Being agile and adaptable is also crucial, especially during difficult times like the Covid-19 pandemic.
For example, we had our best quarter ever in 2020 and then suddenly everything changed. We had to figure out what to do, and as an independent business without deep-pocketed investors, it was a real challenge. But we managed to adjust and adapt, even though it was never easy. Harry especially hates change, but we pushed through it
Harry: I think one important lesson I've learned is the significance of having similar people and companies under the same roof, all working towards a common goal. Although mixing different types of businesses is okay, we're fortunate in that everyone here is part of the creative industry. This has led to a lot of collaboration and joint projects, to the point where it almost feels like one big company. So, having the right types of people and businesses is crucial to our success.
Another lesson I've learned is that members love free things like biscuits and sweets. This has been a big learning for me this year, and we've introduced many fun member goodies. People really enjoy receiving free items, and it's been a valuable addition to our budget. We'll see how long we can continue to offer these perks, but for now, they're a big hit.
💬 What would be your best advice to someone thinking about opening a coworking space?
Harry: My advice would be that finding the perfect space should be your number one priority. We are fortunate to have this amazing, beautiful, and bright warehouse as our space, which is why we love it so much. Additionally, I would suggest putting a lot of thought into space planning and creating multiple options for configurations before making any final decisions. We were lucky to work with a great designer who helped us with the design and feel of the space, and it took a lot of back and forth to get it just right. So, taking the time to plan and design the space properly is crucial.
William: Yeah, I mean, when it comes to anything property-related, the location is crucial. Just like when you're choosing a venue for a party, the physical space's location is always the number one factor and that will never change. We were fortunate enough to find this building in the first place, even though we had to pay for it, but it was a very worthwhile introduction. If we were trying to do what we're currently doing in Kings Cross, it just wouldn't work. Let me rephrase that - we could do something in Kings Cross, but it would be very different from what we're doing in Shoreditch, especially now that Kings Cross has been redeveloped. It just wouldn't have been possible in its current configuration 10 years ago. So, location is 100% crucial.
Furthermore, it's always about the people. The community piece is essential for positioning yourself, and considering who and why that community would want to join you is a key aspect to consider.
💬 If you could chat with coworking operators now, what would you like to ask them?
💬 And if you could chat with coworking members?
How can we help them? Is there anything more we can do?
💬 Last but not least, what’s your biggest dream for Protein Studios?
Community owned. In short. And in Ibiza. That is my dream.
Member discussion