Brighton & Hove business and coworking community wins two national awards

Brighton & Hove business and coworking community wins two national awards

Brighton & Hove’s largest independent business and coworking community, PLATF9RM, has won two national awards at the Global Coworking Unconference Conference (GCUC).

PLATF9RM won the top award for Best Community Programme, while Best Designed Coworking Space under 10,000 sq ft went to its newly opened ground floor venue in Hove Town Hall.

Announcing the Community Programme award the judges praised PLATF9RM for creating a community that reaches beyond its walls, as well as supporting its members. For example co-creating events with art, culture, education and third sector communities within the city, as well as the more obvious but vital business networks. In recent months these events have been as diverse as workshops with Channel 4 commissioners, fine dining pop-ups and parenting support groups, while last weekend PLATF9RM hosted a conference including a talk from the VP of Twitter Bruce Daisley.

With more than 800 members and two sites across the city - one in Tower Point and one in Hove Town Hall - many of PLATF9RM's events are open to the public as well as members.

In keeping with PLATF9RM’s commitment to bringing unused or unloved buildings back to life, its renovation of the undercroft below Hove Town Hall which opened this Spring won the under 10,000 sq. foot design award. In collaboration with We Like Today, PLATF9RM’s adaptive reuse of the space was recognised for reviving the grandeur and soft-brutalist features of the original building’s 1970s design. Renovations included ripping out false ceilings to expose the original shuttered concrete and lifting the ceilings back to double height. This is contrasted against modern fixtures and bold colour combinations.

This previously vacant area of Hove Town Hall opened its doors in March 2019 and is now the company’s first venue with areas open to the public including a cafe and bar.

Accepting the two awards, CEO and Founder of PLATF9RM Seb Royle said:

“When we started out, it was important to me that we embedded ourselves into the existing community, rather than just creating our own. Before designing anything we met with all sorts of people and everything we’ve built reflects this understanding of our city. We’ve worked so hard to build the PLATF9RM community, so it’s amazing to be recognised for this by the best in the industry. None of this could have been achieved without our incredible team, and of course the members that make PLATF9RM what it is, so a huge thank you to all of them. We’re very lucky to be part of something that continues to grow and take on a life of its own.”

Tim Devitt, Producer of GCUC UK commented:

“PLATF9RM’s entries stood out for the commitment they have made to creating an environment and community that benefits member’s day to day lives and reflects the needs of the surrounding area. PLATF9RM has also made fantastic use of an old unloved building and brought it back to life which came up in the Judges discussion.

“Co-working communities are thriving across the country and it’s great to see independent businesses like PLATF9RM raising standards and ultimately improving people’s working lives.”