Cork Institute of Technology’s Rubicon Centre, on CIT’s Main Campus, has completed the refurbishment of a section of their highly successful incubator – ‘Rubicon Cube.’ This involved the creation of a Grade A office building, providing a smart co-working area incorporating an interactive idea generation cube. CIT is the first third level institution in the country to provide this type of space. It will provide entrepreneurs with an interactive space to design and develop their businesses.
Co-working spaces have become extremely popular of late. Across the globe are designed to be as dynamic as the people who will use them. They offer functionality and flexibility that are not seen in a typical office. As business grow, a shared office can become a viable option for scaling. A co-working site, gives the benefits of a centrally-located business at a much more affordable price than a traditional commercial office. Other benefits include flexibility to add staff members, networking opportunities to meet other entrepreneurs and potential customers at events/seminars and workshops. Co-working also supports the promotion of work-life balance by providing venues to de-stress and recharge during a day of work, or the flexibility to pop in and out of the office.
In Cork co-working forms a key element of the ecoRIS3 Action Plan and the Incubator/office space in the region has seen a combination of public and private investment. Recent investments alongside Rubicon Cube include Cork City Council’s COwoRK City, whilst on the private side Culture Co-Working, Republic of Work, Teamwork and many others have introduced modern working spaces for interested parties whom are looking to grow their own businesses or even work remotely.
Speaking about the addition of Rubicon Cube to Cork’s entrepreneurial ecosystem operations manager at the Rubicon Centre, George Bulman, explained “we have developed our Rubicon Cube to complement our existing suite of offerings. This new, smart, co-working space allows visitors and companies to avail of a comfortable and professional location to base themselves for short periods of time.”
The area has 12 individual desks that can be booked on an hourly, daily, weekly, or bi-weekly basis. The space comes with high speed broadband, fixed line, and WiFi connectivity, access to meeting rooms, free parking, and mentoring from Rubicon staff. Bulman adds, “visitors can avail of three unique offerings: Rubicon Drop in Member on a daily rate, Rubicon Business Member booking 30 hours per month and Rubicon Community Member selecting a 5 day or 10 day pass.”
The Rubicon Centre’s Idea Generation Cube also has the facility for users to conduct skype/conference calls and presentations simultaneously. Paul Healy, Manager of the Rubicon Centre said, “We are very excited about this development in the Rubicon and believe it will be of great benefit to our clients and others in the region.” Specifically designed for budding entrepreneurs who are working from a home location this space allows them to have access to the Rubicon Centre’s entrepreneurial community at a low cost. It will also be of interest to organisations who do business with multinational companies in the region who need a base for short periods and for people who may be in Cork occasionally.
Dr John Hobbs co-ordinator of the ecoRIS3 project in CIT believes “the co-working space in Rubicon Cube is inviting, accessible, modern and focused on providing for business needs. Furthermore it allows Cube user’s easy access to the experienced start-up professionals based in Rubicon Centre regarding funding, business planning advice, workshops and market opportunities. The space dovetails well with the co-working best practices seen on study visits within the ecoRIS3 project in Spain, France, Portugal, Latvia and Lithuania.”
Further information on the Rubicon Cube please contact the Rubicon Centre on +353 (0)21 492 8900 or email [email protected].
