A new type of office which combines coworking with a gym, café/ bar and “premium” event space is to open in Plymouth this Spring.
Plymouth coworking specialist BLOCK is to open in the Grade 1 listed Melville building in the Royal William Yard in April 2022. The company said it aims to offer “unrivalled” workspace style while promoting community, wellbeing and collaborative working.
The space will feature office and collaborative workspaces, to inspire “creativity and productivity”, plus a “state-of-the-art” gym, café/ bar and event space in the 200-year-old building at the centre of historic former naval victualling yard.
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Plymouth's Royal William Yard in the news...
BLOCK Plymouth will offer 30 private cellular offices developed to a high-quality specification. The various coworking spaces give members the ability to work flexibly with plenty of networking and collaboration opportunities.
BLOCK coworking packages include 24-hour access, onsite gym membership, café and bar discounts, complimentary refreshments, regular member events and many other perks.
The company said it is also committed to ensuring a more sustainable, environmentally friendly and ethical workspace culture with strong core values agreed and assimilated by every member of its leadership team.
It said 30% of the cellular offices have already been signed up by “forward-thinking local businesses” and inquiries are now being taken for office and co-working spaces.
BLOCK is the vision of South West businessman Ben Cheriton, of Cheriton Group Ltd, who said: “Establishing a culture in a business is more important than ever. I feel that BLOCK supports businesses with that objective - placing wellbeing, connecting and collaborating at the heart of its workspace offering.
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“At BLOCK Plymouth, we provide a hybrid that allows people to work as they want to, instead of, or in addition to, home working. Spaces to collaborate, innovate, socialise and relax are more important than ever and with a café by day and cocktail bar by night, plus a place to work out, we are bringing something that does that and more.
“Royal William Yard is a stunning location, and we are thrilled to be creating a space that enables businesses to think differently about how and where they work."
In 2021 it was revealed that BLOCK will occupy the largest space ever leased by Urban Splash, with 17,000sq ft taken across two floors of the Melville building, where Phase 1 of an ambitious redevelopment project is coming to an end.
BLOCK’s neighbours will include Cornish-headquartered burger chain Hub Box, which is working on a 3,400sq ft restaurant on the ground floor.
The first phase of the restoration of Melville building is scheduled to be completed by mid-2022 with new occupiers lining up to join Hub Box. Cinema chain Everyman Media Group Plc is due to begin fitting out its triple screen boutique cinema in the building at Easter 2022. It means the cinema should be on schedule for the curtain to go up in late summer.
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Meanwhile, negotiations are ongoing with another restaurateur, offering a cuisine not already found in Plymouth, about opening in one of three ground-floor retail/hospitality units currently unclaimed. And a large professional services firm is in talks about moving into office space on the first and second floors of the block. It would neighbour BLOCK.
Emily Jones, commercial director at Urban Splash, which has overseen the evolution of the former victualling yard during the past 15 years, said: “Royal William Yard has been transformed from a derelict, disused former naval site into what is now a thriving, award-winning mixed-use destination. Melville is an iconic building, carefully and skilfully restored, and we have always had a clear vision for its potential. BLOCK is such an exciting new business and a first for Plymouth. With BLOCK's arrival imminent, it completes the picture, and we now offer space for every size business here at the Yard."