Entry 29, a Possible Location for Polycademy

Rory Ford and a group of other entrepreneurs in Canberra have been negotiating with the Australian National University, to take the abandoned space between the Street Theatre and Kingsley Place and turn into Canberra's first coworking place called Entry 29.

What's coworking? Well coworking is essentially a shared working space. It is mainly used by urban freelancers or entrepreneurs who are seeking an office space away from home without having to pay for the entire space or the entire time. These places are also good for meet ups and collaboration between different entrepreneurs. This reduces the typical isolation of professionals who work alone.

It's not just a space but a community. A freelancing/entrepreneurial culture is required for these coworking spaces to succeed.

I've been meeting up with Rory to discuss if and how Polycademy could use the space as its launchpad. A couple weeks ago, I attended a brief open house and was able to check out the premises. It requires a lot of refurbishment as some people have broken into it while it was abandoned and created some interesting artwork. The doors to this establishment is scheduled to be opened in 2013, that's the same time as Polycademy is starting classes.

Rory is currently taking in applications of interest for the renting of the coworking space. If you're an entrepreneur and looking for a place outside home, free of distractions but also good for networking, then you should contact Rory on LinkedIn. Check out his profile at our homepage.

A coworking place would be an ideal location for Polycademy, students would be able to mingle and see other entrepreneurs at work with their projects.

Here are some photos that I took (as you can see there's a lot of work to be done):

The location for Polycademy isn't confirmed, but this looks nice. Wait till you see it refurbished with a new bucket of paint!

Check it out on Google Maps here. Don't bother searching for it, it doesn't exist yet. Also you won't see it unless you zoom close enough to get the plane captured 45 degree angle shot.