To some people, a co-working space is a place for them to do their work. But for some, it is more than that – it is a place where you share ideas, creativity, build networking, and motivate each other. It is precisely what Sandbox Co-Working Space implements to every single tenant in their office.
I was lucky to be able to interview one of the co-founders of Sandbox Co-working Space, Casper Foo. Here we talk about the background, future planning, services provided by Sandbox, and the culture of co-working space in this country.
What was the idea behind Sandbox Co-Working Space?
Speaking to us, Casper explains the idea of Sandbox based on his experience working as a freelance financial planner previously. According to him, he used to work at cafes because he doesn’t have to be in the office.
“I used to hop around cafés to do my work because I don’t have to be in the office.”
Aside from that, the birth of Sandbox began after the cafe he used to work at closed down.
“So one day, the café I used to hop to do my work closed their business.”
Casper admits that he was bound to the idea of co-working space which at that time, the whole industry was still new in Malaysia.
“I could say that there were not many players in this field at that time.”
“I was bound to the idea of other co-working spaces from Southeast Asia like Thailand and Indonesia.
“At the time, I can see there were not many co-working spaces in Malaysia.”
The best thing about Sandbox
One of the best things about Sandbox is that they are catered to the freelancers and startup businesses who do not have a place to do their work correctly.
“We hope to create a space where all these people could work, where you are sitting here in the hall, on the pantry, or just sitting at your respective spaces.”
He admitted that freelancers usually hopped around places. So the objective of Sandbox is to create a community where people can talk to each other, share ideas, get motivated by each other.
The tenant of Sandbox
“We don’t have specific numbers, but we have around 80 to 90 members.”
“Most of the tenants in Sandbox are freelancers who do their work here instead of from home.”
Non-Resident
“Non-residents which we called it daily users – it can be students or walk-ins.”
“For day pass, they come in at 9 a.m. and leave at 6 p.m. during weekdays and 9 p.m. on the weekends.
Resident
“We call our monthly members as residents.”
“So residents basically have access to this place 24/7.”
“After six, residents who want to do their work here can access the place using their phone to enter the office.”
Sandbox’s Memberships
When asked about the membership plan, Casper explained to us that it is created specifically for those who wanted to work in Sandbox but will not come in regularly.
“Some people will come frequently, and some will seldom come in a month.”
“Memberships are offered to people who come around five times a month.”
The purpose of membership is to help ease the burden of customers. According to Casper, instead of paying the regular price, Sandbox’s membership will get the privilege of free one day-pass, half price for subsequent day-passes, exclusive discount at Sandbox’s partner merchants, and 25% OFF Meeting Room Bookings.
Sandbox Offices, Areas, and Event Space
Sandbox is divided into three types of co-working space and also an event space. All of the areas serve different purposes.
Office
“Our offices are for those who rent offices of their own.”
“You can see that they take the whole space, which we call private box.”
“They take one box and put signage.”
Open Desk Area
“For an open desk area, you will get your desk.”
“You may set up your workstation, bring your monitor or whatever you want to put there, it is your place.”
Concrete Zone
“Concrete zone is what we call our hot desk area.”
“People come and just sit, wherever there is an empty seat and start doing their job.”
Event Space
“The event area can fit up to 70 to 80 person.”
“We usually use the area to host a talk, seminars, and things like that.”
Community of Sandbox
“The idea of Sandbox, we are proud that we are able to create an outstanding community. I think a lot of people are trying to do the same thing but did not found much success because it is not easy to achieve it since most co-working space out there is huge and more towards private offices.”
“So for us, we are more like an open area where people can talk to each other.”
Requirements to become a Sandbox resident
“Usually people will come, talk to us and we will get their details.”
“After that, we will confirm the customer whether there is desk available or not.”
“Before we approve them to be the tenant in Sandbox, we must make sure they fit with the culture of this working space.”
“So whenever people apply to become a resident here, we will go through the application, and then we will see if they fit the culture or not.”
“The idea is we don’t want too far fetch from each other. We want the age group, the industry network similar.”
Pricing
“We tried to make the price as reasonable as possible because I was a freelancer before and tried to look for co-working spaces and sometimes the price is a bit expensive for me.”
“So I try to make the price more affordable to the people.”
What Made Sandbox a unique place to work?
“For Sandbox, in particular, we always try to be the place that gathers all the freelancers, those who feel like they are isolated because they are working alone.”
“So we tried to create a space that people can go and find a place to their work.”
Future Planning
“We tried to open branches in other areas.”
“We are almost done renovating a place but everything is not public yet, so probably would be announcing next month or something.”
“It would be the same style. The place will still be in the Klang Valley area.”
Conclusion
Sandbox Co-Working Space is a place for people to work, so everyone in this office is looking for different things. Some people came here for work only, and some to get to know somebody. If you are interested in Sandbox Co-Working Space, make sure to visit their website, Facebook, and Instagram page.
