What does your ideal nomad live/work space look like?

Question

So, long story short, we’re going to be building a place from scratch near a beach in the southeast atlantic coast of the US and we expect to have lots of fellow techie and entrepreneur guests, so we’re gathering their suggestions and designing for them, to start with. However, that’s only a few dozen opinions. Since we would like to expand the circle and host host other digital nomads, individually or in small groups… your opinions would be fantastic to have as well. Be assured that they will be a part of the “wish list” that goes to the architects.
So if you were building a space from scratch can you tell us these sorts of things:

How would you describe your ideal nomad setup?
What features have you absolutely loved in the past?
What have you disliked or even hated in other “nomad pads” in your travels?
What are your deal breakers for “would never stay there”?
What are your “nice to haves”?
How should it be set up to accommodate both individuals and
groups?
If “features” were to be built over time, what would you
want to see built first? (i.e. would it kill anyone if surfboard
storage racks were not built the first year? or whatever…)
Do you prefer shared rooms or individual rooms or a mix?
If shared, are there ways to make that more comfortable? Such as “partial walls” or screens? Or do you not care at all?
Is there anything that would “blow your mind” or really make your
stay great… what’s on your “wish list”? (ok, within reason,
there’s a sensible budget, lol)
Do eco features matter to you? Would you enjoy your stay more if you knew your power was solar?
Are there any “house rules” that are “must haves” for you? Is there any way we can build things to specifically help/encourage adherence to those? (e.g. “there was always a battle for outlets so do this…” “here’s a picture of X place I stayed, they put the damn hotub right next to my room, it sucked, move it 30 feet away please!”)
Anything we’ve missed?

Please be as specific as you wish, since we won’t be retrofitting an existing space… we’ve got the freedom to make it as close to “ideal” as budget and time allow.
Your suggestions will matter, a lot.

levelsio · Accepted Answer

Priority for me would be super fast and super stable internet. That means consistent 10ms ping to Google, 300ms ping to the other side of the world (e.g. max light speed), 500-1000 mbps download and 100-200 mbps upload (e.g. future proof gigabit connections straight into a backbone). Those look like crazy numbers but they’re not. If I want to upload 100GB on a 200mbps connection, that will still take me 1 hour. There’s plenty of people with over 100GB of media assets to work with (e.g. 3d animators, video people).
To give an example, I’m flying to Korea this February to upload 3 TB of data (my backups). There’s hardly any other places in the world where that is possible. It’s still gonna take a week.
All seating and desks should be highly ergonomic (e.g. something like Aeron chairs) and also lots of standing desks.
There should be an in-house healthy food cafeteria (like http://hubud.org) has.
I’d want different packages from shared to individual to luxury rooms. If shared, I’d look at capsule hotels in Tokyo as an example. They are tiny but private.
House rules should be silent rooms for working, and common sense whispering in the rest of the space (like http://hubbathailand.com).
I think eco does matter for more and more people in the future, again see what http://hubud.org has done for that (hint:  their space is made out of bamboo).
I think you can cater to low-cost nomads, up to middle class dev’s, up to dev’s who want to use your space kind of as a retreat some time of the year and are willing to pay more.

matthiasezeitler · Answer

Not to be a nitpicker, but uploading 1 GB over 200 MBit takes about 1 minute not several hours.
Most people dont upload/download constantly. We have a 100 MBit connection in Salzburg for about 40 coworkers. The connection is never saturated and mostly idling, even though people use it a lot.
So yes, fast internet is the basis of any good coworking space, but let’s stay with what’s actually available at reasonable rates in the specific location.
To build a brand new location, I would suggest to start with building the community before building the actual location. Try to get real commitments (=money) from people, not only ideas. In my experience lots of people have ideas about how to build the perfect space, but only few of them are actually going to help you pay the rent. Find those first, then build the space around their requirements.

cee · Answer

It should provide a way to make decent coffee, decent wifi and wired ethernet, a space with a locking door, and somewhere comfortable to sit in front of a laptop that isn’t going to alert the local chiropractor of my presence.
… among other things.

rand0mn0mad · Answer

No chiropractor alerting – Got it!  We’re fans of comfortable chairs too.
Thank you

levelsio · Answer

MatthiasEZeitler:

Not to be a nitpicker, but uploading 1 GB over 200 MBit takes about 1 minute not several hours.[/quote]
Sorry I meant 1TB 
[quote=“MatthiasEZeitler, post:3, topic:789”]Most people don’t upload/download constantly. We have a 100 MBit connection in Salzburg for about 40 coworkers. The connection is never saturated and mostly idling, even though people use it a lot.

The reason most remote workers are developers and designers and not visual effects, video, film, post-production is literally that speeds are not fast enough. If you want to be future proof, you make sure that speed is there.
[quote=“MatthiasEZeitler, post:3, topic:789”]
To build a brand new location, I would suggest to start with building the community before building the actual location.[/quote]
Yes, definitely. Build it and they will come doesn’t work anymore.

rand0mn0mad · Answer

Thank you. Much appreciated.

cee · Answer

I forgot that it needs a printer (fairly obvious).
So many travel documents, gov docs, etc still need to be printed out and trying to do that while wandering is - interesting. I’ve been forced to buy a cheap printer in more than one location…

kmander · Answer

Strike the right balance between making it an open office that efficiently uses space and fosters community, and giving people some distraction-free space. I feel 90% of coworking spaces fail miserably at this.

rand0mn0mad · Answer

Great links. Were considering some sort of capsule hotel idea for part of it. So glad to see that.

miles · Answer

New here, I like your idea and even though I’m a few months late to this thread, I figured I throw out some ideas…
How would you describe your ideal nomad setup? - Separate master bed and full bath patio with table and desk. Suite would be carpeted with walk in closet that was quiet enough to record audio in, even when others are in the house.
What features have you absolutely loved in the past? Daily maid service who does everything from dishes to laundry and all cleaning… I stay focused on working and the space stays conducive to working!  Also, a nice space to record audio/video… Carpeted walk in closets have worked wonders for recording audio tracks for video sales letters and info-products in the past. A recording studio with lighting and a green screen would be quite cool.
What have you disliked or even hated in other “nomad pads” in your travels?  Poorly thought out workspaces.  Usually I’m moving beds out and tables in to create offices… Then stacking nightstands on the tables when I want to stand and work… lol.
What are your deal breakers for “would never stay there”?  Not having a private suite and full bathroom to ourselves… Wife and I work/travel together, so privacy is very important.
What are your “nice to haves”?  A cook who can shop and make a couple meals per day… Fun outdoor activities and nature time nearby… A lake/ocean to SUP with SUPs on hand, surf break, hiking trails, walking distance to coffee shop / restaurant.
How should it be set up to accommodate both individuals and groups?  Wings with suites and a center area to gather around the kitchen/living area/patio…
If “features” were to be built over time, what would you want to see built first? Comfortable quiet space, comfortable work space, and local staff for cleaning/cooking.
Is there anything that would “blow your mind” or really make your stay great… what’s on your “wish list”? - Sandy bottom surf break with consistent waves, no crowds and plenty of peaks for everyone to ride!  …lol.  Still searching for this one, myself!
Do eco features matter to you? Would you enjoy your stay more if you knew your power was solar? - Yes, but I think eco friendly flooring, furniture, bamboo sheets/bedding/towels would be even better.

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