The Workspace Design Show 2025 in London wrapped up yesterday, and it was the place to be for workspace inspiration on interior design trends and workspace management. It was also a great opportunity for UK-based offices to find partners and connect with providers.
While the main panels focused on general workspace environment and design, we unsurprisingly found ourselves wrapped up in the coworking bubble. Bernie J Mitchell from the London Coworking Assembly was a stellar host and organizer with the help of Kofi Oppong and the entire Urban MBA team.
AI for Everyday Coworking Tasks
AI was a big topic at the event, but in the coworking bubble, the focus was on actionable and practical applications for everyday coworking operations.
The workshop, led by Kofi and Bernie, who shared their up-to-date best practices for integrating AI into workspace management.
The best part of the talk was the hands-on session where we got to share our experience with AI tools and actively help each other in the current struggles we are facing in automating our day-to-day.
Here is a list of the AI tools we discussed and their advantages:
General:
- ChatGPT - Best overall, depending on whether you ask Kofi or Bernie
- Claude - Most ethical company, great citing and in-depth research
- NotebookLM - An amazing tool that creates podcasts from text to boost engagement
- Midjourney and Canva Magic Studio - Great for graphic design
- Synthesia, Google Veo 2 - Fast video creation
Kofi and Bernie believe that AI still has its limitations, but it will fundamentally change the way people work and live their lives, and it is vital for everyone to adapt fast.
Inclusive Space Design: Supporting Neurodiversity in Coworking Spaces
The second day of the event kicked off with another incredibly interactive session by Amy Morgan from 360 Workspace. Amy explained the basics of modern workspace design and how catering to different needs is crucial for the future of (co)work.
Her points were also strongly shared in the “Activating the senses to transform the workplace experience, and creating a more holistic and engaging workspace” panel talk from the main event.
Neurodiversity is often treated as a broad category, but this year’s discussions emphasized strongly on individual needs over a one-size-fits-all approach. Speakers stressed that true inclusion means designing for different working styles rather than treating neurodivergence as a separate category.
In the second part of the discussion, we had a lot of fun creating this inclusive workspace mock-up as part of a contest. (This “space” is obviously powered by Cobot, as you can see in the picture 😉)
Unreasonable Hospitality, Tasty Lunch, and Storytelling!
After a short walk from the Workspace Design venue to Urban MBA and an incredibly tasty lunch, we entered into the last session of the day, led by Sonya Whittam and Julie Firth from STORY22. Sonya and Julie presented us with their ideology:
Storytelling attracts clients,
Unreasonable hospitality keeps them.
At Cobot we strongly believe in the Unreasonable Hospitality idea - create customer satisfaction by being unreasonably hospitable and always going above-and-beyond with the care you give your clients. Here are the main points of how you can do that:
- Identify key moments in a member’s journey, like their very first day, a work anniversary or even tackling a tough deadline, and sprinkle in extra care. A thoughtful gesture, no matter how small, could show them they are truly valued.
- Encourage your team to connect authentically with members. Remembering names, preferences, or celebrating personal milestones fosters a sense of belonging and makes members feel seen.
- Create unexpected moments of delight - whether it's a surprise thank-you note or an exclusive member event. These moments turn ordinary days into something special and show members they’re valued.
- Identify repeating patterns between customer touchpoints and plan on how to act each time they occur.
Let your staff take ownership of what they’re passionate about, whether it’s organizing events, curating a welcoming atmosphere, or providing tech support. When your team feels empowered, their enthusiasm and care shine through in every interaction.
Here’s something else for you. Story22 provided us with free audio copies of Unreasonable Hospitality” and “Building a Story Brand”. Check them out here:
Building a Story Brand, by Donald Miller
Unreasonable Hospitality, by Will Guidara
Final Thoughts: What This Means for Coworking Spaces
The coworking gathering during the Workspace Design Show 2025 reinforced that the future of coworking is human-centered, inclusive, and experience-driven. Whether it’s through hospitality, practical AI applications, or member-first design choices, coworking spaces that prioritize people over aesthetics will continue to thrive.
One more time, huge thanks to the London Coworking Assembly and Bernie J Mitchell for bringing coworking to the forefront of these conversations.
Continue the Conversation
Let’s keep the discussion going! What design choices have made the biggest impact in your coworking space? Share your thoughts with us on LinkedIn or Instagram.
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