Feasibility study to examine new co-working centre in Athlone town

A flagship digital hub and co-working facility to cater for 200 workers in a town centre location in Athlone could become a reality in the future, should a project being spearheaded by Athlone Chamber of Commerce progress.

The Chamber, which has a membership of over 200 businesses in the town, recently published tender documents to undertake a feasibility study into the provision of what's described as “Athlone Digital Hub and Co-working Centre” which is supported by €90,000 from the Just Transition Fund.

“This will be a project of scale. The ambition is to select the most advantageous building (two are put forward for assessment as part of this feasibility study) to realise over 20,000 square feet in a flagship project that will provide facilities for up to 200 digital and remote workers,” the recently-published tender documents indicate.

While led by Athlone Chamber, it is important that Athlone Digital Hub and Co-working Centre will be advanced by a collaboration between statutory agencies, community and private bodies to progress the initiative, the documents also stress, naming the collaborating partners in the Just Transition funded study as AIT, Westmeath County Council, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA.

A strong community focus that responds to community needs and provides “a welcoming and inclusive space” for example, to those displaced by job losses in Bord na Mona or ESB, or have to rebuild careers or have extra barriers to training and employment would also be crucial, the tender documents point out.

The feasibility study will examine ways to create a centre that caters for open plan workspaces, training and development facilities, and a variety of shared services to enable start-ups and micro-business to grow and prosper, according to Athlone Chamber.

“Co-working spaces – places where individuals can rent a desk of their own while sharing a range of other facilities with their co-tenants – is indicative of the changing nature of work.

For corporates to fully embrace blended work and become distributed organisations; well-appointed and strategically located co-working hubs need to be in place,” the tender documents for the study underline, adding that while it will appeal to start-up and growing businesses in the digital economy and provide working environment for remote workers, the Chamber is adamant that the centre needs to serve “a community in transition” and tackle the digital divide through training and employment opportunities for those who have lost their jobs in the Midlands.

In terms of eco-credentials, any new digital hub must operate to the “highest possible sustainability standards,” the tender documents says, while the design must “maximise opportunities for interaction, but reflecting learnings post Covid-19.”

The study process will be completed in four phases, the first of which is a needs analysis review, which will look at demand and ongoing viability of a remote working centre in Athlone. It will be followed by location and facility review and assessment which examine the technical and economic assessment of two town centre buildings in the running to be the home of the new facility.

Once phases one and two are completed and achieve a positive result, phase three will focus on developing a business case and a funding framework to complete the project, says Gerry McInerney, Athlone Chamber's CEO in a statement.

The proposed centre would be aligned to the recently published Government National Remote Work Strategy.

The closing date for tenders to conduct the feasibility study is March 10 next.