Locus Workspace celebrated its 15th anniversary on the 4th of May!
It is an important milestone and a perfect time to take a moment to reflect on Locus’s past and future. For that, we gathered some memories from our long-term members and asked the current owner, Mathias, to share his thoughts on how Locus has changed over the years and where it is headed now. Enjoy the read!
“Locus has meant everything to me since the very moment I set foot in Prague nearly 5 years ago, both personally and professionally. From a professional perspective, other than being lucky enough to work with an amazing team as a Community Manager, I’ve also had the opportunity to meet many interesting member profiles that have often been a source of inspiration and collaboration. On a personal level, I met amazing people at Locus from day 1, some of whom I consider my closest friends in Prague (and in general). Locus provides lots of opportunities for members to connect, with a wide range of events that make it easy to meet others. Thanks to this, I’ve had experiences I never would have imagined, like joining a Street Art Tour of Prague led by a member, going on hikes to off-the-beaten-track places, or attending a work retreat in the Czech countryside (plus lots of other informal meetups such as pub nights, bowling, potluck dinners, and more!). I really can’t imagine my life in Prague as an expat without Locus.”
– Eva Sanz, Community Manager since 2020
“My life in Prague was really different without Locus, and I regret I waited almost a year to join. I was a starting freelancer and wanted to save money, but after just a few days, I realized how much more work I got done compared to working at home, the NTK library, and at different coffee bars around. And next to that, I met SO MANY great friends in Locus, even people who were just passing by for a while. It’s great to have many contacts in different places around the world. Also, the conversations over lunch or at the coffee machine contribute quite a lot to my daily well-being. I can honestly say that I feel so much better after working a day at Locus than working from home.”
– Mathias Vanluchene, owner since 2020 and member since 2016
“When I look back over the almost 8 years that I’ve been at Locus, I feel like the main things that it has given me are a sense of community, a place to work from, and an environment where I could meet new people. That’s the part that I appreciated the most: getting to meet various people from different walks of life and different corners of the world. Many of them became my friends over the years, though many of them have also left Prague already, and it’s been tough to stay in touch. But I’m grateful for each new perspective that I got to see through how they look at the world, and through them I also learned a lot about myself and things that I can work on and improve.”
– Lukáš Petr, member since 2017
“Locus is a great office with all amenities, and it keeps getting better. We have faster internet than at home and comfortable temperatures in summer & winter. And of course, meeting the other members for a quick coffee or longer, in between work or at Locus events, has been invaluable.”
– Heiko Webers, member since 2011
“I met Will Bennis, the founder of Locus, on a visit to an organic farm – an event organized by Evi Verboven, another long-time member – not long after he started Locus. I began coming to events in those early days and eventually ended up playing something of a community manager role, showing people around, setting up coffee breaks, etc., in exchange for using the space myself. When Will started what was then a Friday group for students finishing their dissertations, he agreed that I was welcome to join to work on my novel and to extend the invitation to other members of the Prague Writer’s Group. Sonya Lano, the organizer of that group, and I quickly became the most regular attendees, and when Will stepped back, we took over its organization. Several dissertations have indeed been finished over the years, and also a number of books published by group members.”
– Sarah Shaw Tatoun, member since 2013
“I joined Locus back in 2014 when I just moved to Prague. We were only a few members working at the former Muzeum location. I must thank founder Will Bennis for creating such a friendly environment in which to work and socialize, and Eva, Mathias, and all community managers have only been improving over the years. Feeling part of a community helped me to settle down in the city and meet new people, especially working in IT like me. Coworking spaces were still quite new at the time, and Locus was one of the first ones in the Czech capital and the only English-speaking one.”
– Sylvain Tissot, member since 2014
“It’s hard to pick just one, but some of my best memories are from community events. Two that really stood out were the coworking retreat in 2022, where we spent a few amazing days together in the countryside working during the day and relaxing in the hot tub in the evenings, and a pumpkin carving event in 2023. Many of us dressed up for Halloween, we had so much fun carving pumpkins together and then stayed for a Beer Friday, which was followed by a night out at Lucerna! It’s one of my fondest memories. I remember thinking how lucky I felt to be part of this community.”
– Eva Sanz, Community Manager since 2020
“There are so many moments worth mentioning. To name one, I really enjoyed our last grill party. We try to have it every year, but that’s not always possible. This year, it was amazing to see how people came together in our courtyard with their partners and family. We also had a whole kids’ club going on in our meeting room. During the whole evening, there were many people helping out here and there. Seeing so many people together having a great time, contributing, and laughing together gave me a very warm and grateful feeling.”
– Mathias Vanluchene, owner since 2020 and member since 2016
“It’s tough to pick just one! But I feel like one that was kind of funny/awkward/embarrassing at the same time is when we had a Secret Santa and I secretly put a gift there for a friend/Locus member who wasn’t even participating in the Secret Santa. And when she unpacked it in front of the ~15 people who were standing around, not knowing who it was from, she was happy but also seemed uncomfortable (I’m sorry, Sarah!). Another really memorable situation was when we had a coffee break many years ago. It was my birthday that day, and I was talking with Bryn (a Locus member from the US). And he was asking me all these reflective questions around birthdays and where I want to go in life, and it all felt just really inspiring.”
– Lukáš Petr, member since 2017
“You could say that working here brought me together with my partner. 🙂 Later, we organized a fun Cooking Club together in the first Locus kitchen (in the center).”
– Heiko Webers, member since 2011
“I’ve participated in a number of Locus groups over the years and always enjoyed the coffee breaks and group lunches when I could make them. Overall, I think Locus has just the nicest, most interesting, and most helpful members I’ve ever met. I don’t know how first Will and now Mathias have managed to work their community magic, but I’m very, very grateful for it! Life wouldn’t be the same without it.”
– Sarah Shaw Tatoun, member since 2013
“One evening, I was working late at Locus, and there was a Prague band, Rí Ra, booking the meeting room for a rehearsal. I enjoyed very much the free concert 🙂 Another good memory: there used to be a cooking event on Tuesday evenings; it was great to try new recipes together and then taste what we had prepared.”
– Sylvain Tissot, member since 2014
I started my first membership in 2016 and eventually took it over from Will in 2020. I was a big fan of the space and the community from the beginning. Back then, we already had weekly lunches, pub nights, productivity meetups, and most of the recurring events we still have going strong today. It’s really a strong foundation of our coworking community. I always liked that the members were really involved in everything, were asked to provide feedback, and had some kind of ownership of the space. It’s the members’ space, after all. Moving forward, we always made sure to keep these foundations and even took it a bit further. We doubled down on member participation, and it’s great to see many people taking initiative to organize events, book club meetups, language lunches, and even opening up their homes for weekly yoga sessions. This community is thriving thanks to its members.
Another important pillar of Locus is productivity. People have to be able to work well. In 2020, we had one call booth. After covid and with the rise of remote jobs, this clearly wasn’t enough. We now have six of them (4 in the main space and 2 in our Annex office) , and once we save up enough, we’ll put in two extra standalone booths. We also improved the design, e.g., by having an artist paint our entrance hall, adding more plants, putting in a new kitchen (with the help of our amazing landlady), adding a big community table, getting a better coffee machine, and much, much more. I think it helped to professionalize our space while keeping a casual vibe. Sometimes, it does get busy. That’s why we opened another small office across the street, called Annex. It’s a place where you can focus well, with standing desks and the same great design as you know from the main space.
What’s next? As any other small business owner, I have a whole list of things that need improving. I’m afraid that list will never be empty, but I’m ok with that. I can elaborate on one: Because of an increased number of members working in a remote team, call booths are sometimes in high demand. Once we save up enough, we will put in two more call booths, increasing the number to six in total. And if we think about non-material things, I’d love to get a yearly getaway going. We went twice for a cottage retreat, which was amazing. It would be great to find a way to repeat this or something similar every year.
If we look at the bigger picture, I am very proud of the community at Locus. I don’t think I would like to establish a second similar location in Prague. Locus Workspace in Vinohrady is the place to be for everyone working alone: freelancers, entrepreneurs, remote workers, writers, architects, etc. People come from far around Prague to work here. If we’d like to expand, I would like to create a place where small teams feel welcome, where there are more breakout rooms or small offices, all with the same casual vibe Locus offers now. Nothing fancy, but a great, inspiring place to work and collaborate. It would be a challenge to get the community together, given they work in small teams, but I think we can do it.
Another important issue in Prague is the high cost of real estate and flat rents. It gets really difficult to justify living in Prague with these prices, and that’s a shame. I am personally really interested in coliving projects and also in the concept of living in small places thanks to clever designs and sharing communal spaces. I’d like to explore those options further, but there are no concrete plans yet.
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