In a 150-year old building nestled in Brookline Village, working professionals of all ages and industries congregate at The Village Works, a neighborhood co-working space that offers private offices, meeting rooms, and open office setups.
Three designers established the Village Works in 2017. Prior to that, they had opened a shared working space in Coolidge Corner’s Arcade Building and knew a void needed to be filled in the Brookline area. “We knew there was a need and knew people with this need,” says co-founder Melissa Tapper Goldman. “Here in Brookline, a lot of people have limited space when they can work from home or they don’t have a healthy work set-up. We provide ergonomic seating and chairs, standing desks, and sitting desks. We also have the community and camaraderie of getting coffee with your neighbors, which you can’t get working from home.”
Walking into The Village Works, it possesses an industrial yet homey feel with original exposed brick and plenty of natural daylight seeping through the many windows. A comfortable, coffee-shop like setting is the first room to welcome visitors. Some workers relax in armchairs with laptops resting on their legs. Other members speak intently behind the closed doors of private offices while the kitchen buzzes with people chatting over afternoon coffee and water breaks. The building’s four floors hold a variety of different rooms with some resembling the couches-and-armchairs set up of urban coffee shops and others with long tables similar to a typical corporate meeting room. Goldman explains that the goal is to offer many different work environments to suit different work styles and preferences.
The workers who utilize The Village Works appear to appreciate what the founders have aimed to achieve. “It offers the best of both worlds. I have a private office space but get to interact with people doing really interesting work,” says Gary Cohen, the president of Health Care Without Harm, a non-profit focused on environmental sustainability in health care. “I’ve met a lot of people doing some innovative projects related to what I do.” Having previously had an office space in his home, Cohen says “it’s very helpful to not have my work in my home space — it’s good both for me and my relationship with my wife!”
But does this gathering of ambitious professionals in one space create competition? “No, there’s never been any competition; only positive synergy,” Cohen emphasizes. Savanna Li, a designer working for Agency, a design firm that specializes in social impact, works alongside her colleagues who utilize The Village Works space as well. “We operate independently, but we can rejoin if we need to with this coffee-house setting,” she said. “The space is beautiful and works for our needs and location.” Like Cohen, Li also likes to leverage the social aspects of the space. “They’ve created a space that allows you to share things,” she said. “You can grow in things you’re interested in learning more. There’s a lot of opportunity to collaborate. It’s easy to get connected to people here. People are very willing to have conversations — even across roles and industries.”
The founders hope to maintain The Village Works as a single location in Brookline Village rather than expanding into a WeWork franchise. “WeWork is focused on providing office space for start-ups,” says Goldman. “We are focused on community building. We serve very different needs.” It currently offers private office, full-time, part-time, and even drop-in membership options detailed on the website. The Village Works also holds regular events that are open to the greater community, some even free of charge, such as movie screenings, learning sessions, and prompt writing nights as a way to engage with the greater Brookline community.
“We want to be interacting with the community,” Goldman said. “We want to see an even more vibrant Brookline Village.”