Creative space with focus on wage disparity

Co-working spaces are not a new concept in the city’s landscape but a space that excludes the well-heeled techie community is certainly a first!

The team behind ‘The Bohemian House (TBH)’, led by interior designer Shalini Prasad, has divided a 6000 sq ft space in Woodland’s Hotel on Richmond Circle into co-working spaces reserved for people in creative industries.

A cafe, a sustainable home decor store and courtyards equipped for creative workshops and events are the other components of the space, a converted old banquet hall in Woody’s.

Creative people only

Though registrations for the co-working space have not yet been opened, the team behind TBH is only looking at people from creative fields, says Varun Hemachandran, a member of the core team behind the novel project.

“Jewellery design, fashion design, writing — we want people from fields like these. The number of seats is limited so we are carefully curating the requests we get, figuring out the right mix of people to have in that space. But we don’t take in people from tech fields,” he says.

Addressing wage gap

Every occupant will pay a monthly fee per desk but a single woman need pay 20 percent lesser than a man, to represent the pay gap. “We are trying to ensure gender equality. On an average in India, women are paid 30 percent less for the same amount of work. We couldn’t give a 30 percent discount but we did the max we could,” says Varun, adding, “We give transgenders an even bigger discount. Some of our staff are also transgender.”

Sustainable concepts

Waste management, sustainable packaging, zero plastic, composting — the team at TBH has also ensured that they do their bit for the environment as well.

The official launch of the space is on April 28.

Contact 8447380380 for registrations.