I'm sure every freelancer or startup in this city would love to have a tiny bit of work space in gorgeous 401 Richmond. As of February 1st, there will be a different and definitely more affordable solution, right across the street. The Indoor Playground is a coworking space that aims to serve as an alternative to the classic office, the home office and the coffee shop. In fact, this environment is set up to facilitate collaboration between its tenants by bringing innovators closer to each other.

In contrast to shared office space arrangements, the Indoor Playground does not offer fixed desk rentals, but instead it provides its tenants with access to various work and collaboration environments (desks, meeting spaces and work areas) in flexible packages (full-time or part-time, as well as evenings and weekends). Further, the space will also welcome entrepreneurs who are visiting Toronto and are looking for a temporary work environment, thus allowing for a diverse group of people to share the space at different times. The ultimate goal, says one of its founders, Mark Dowds, is to foster innovation and cooperation.

There are several similar cafe-like coworking spaces throughout North America (including Charlottetown) and I'm glad Toronto is also on board. Physical arrangements like this one can and will supplement the social cooperation facilitated by that dreadfully meaningless acronym, Web 2.0.

The Indoor Playground will hold an open house this Friday, January 12. Details here.