On the afternoon of the 3rd, at Fastfive Seongsu Yeonmujang branch in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. Walking down the sunken stairs that link the ground level to the basement, the dark green floor, exposed pipes on the ceiling, and plants placed throughout caught the eye. Beneath the void (open space) that connects the two floors sat a cylindrical canteen resembling a rooftop water tank. It felt less like a basement office than like moving a building's rooftop indoors.
Coworking office corporations Fastfive unveiled the Seongsu Yeonmujang branch to the public for the first time that day. Unlike existing coworking offices that only members and tenant companies could enter, this was the first showroom event arranged so outside visitors could tour the space themselves. Over two days on the 3rd and 4th, the company opened the space to CEOs, HR and general affairs staff, office workers, freelancers, and real estate agents. There were 201 advance reservations, and by 3 p.m. that day, 71 people had visited the site.
Kim Hyo-jin, Fastfive marketing group manager, said, "Coworking offices have been hard for outsiders to freely see because of security issues," and added, "We planned our first showroom event to create a place where people can see and experience the space directly."
The Seongsu Yeonmujang branch was built on the first and second basement floors of a new building. There are 244 total work seats. It consists of private one-person rooms and offices for three to 10 people, as well as open desks where multiple users share tables. Depending on the size of the corporations and contract terms, multiple rooms can be combined or the interior layout can be changed.
The core concept of the space is "underground rooftop." Rather than hiding that it is underground, it brought rooftop features indoors. It applied green, borrowed from rooftop waterproof paint, to the floor and used pipes seen on building exteriors as art elements. The central canteen was produced by reinterpreting FRP (fiber-reinforced plastic), a material mainly used for rooftop water tanks.
An installation work using clothes donated by members to evoke rooftop clotheslines and graphics expressing splashing and spreading water were also placed. The artworks in the space were planned in-house by Fastfive's creative team.
Shin Jeong-won, Fastfive office development group space planning team leader, said, "The essence of an office is not in making a space that is only pretty," and added, "Our goal is to design a work culture where focus, collaboration, rest, and exchange flow naturally."
The lounge on the second basement floor mixes tables for solo work, seats where several people face each other, and sofas that can be used for both rest and work. On the first basement floor, you can look down on the lounge below through the void, and along the wall are one-person focus booths shielded from outside view.
Meeting rooms vary in size depending on the number of users. Normally they are divided into four-person and eight-person rooms, but if both spaces are booked together, the central automatic door opens, turning them into a 12-person room. Even without pressing a separate switch, the door moves automatically in linkage with the Internet of Things (IoT) reservation system.
Private offices allow individual heating and cooling. Walls are connected up to the building slab to strengthen noise blocking between offices. Contracts are available in minimum one-week units.
Tenant companies can also use lounges and meeting spaces at other Fastfive branches, and the Seongsu Yeonmujang branch lounge is open to users of the membership service "Five Spot."
Fastfive also plans to offer event benefits available only to tenant companies at the Seongsu Yeonmujang branch. If a tenant corporation needs a larger space and has to move offices within the Yeonmujang branch, it will be allowed to sign a new contract without a separate penalty.
The showroom was arranged to directly promote the space to potential tenant companies and real estate agents ahead of Fastfive's branch expansion. Including the Seongsu Yeonmujang branch, Fastfive has 64 branches in total. In the Seongsu area, it has secured five branches including Yeonmujang, and it plans to open an additional branch near Ttukseom Station in mid-Sep.
It is also expanding its openings from traditional central business districts such as Gangnam, Yeoksam, Seolleung, Jongno, and City Hall to new areas and the greater Seoul area. In the second half of this year, it plans to open the Gangdong branch near Amsa Station in Gangdong-gu and the Seocho 3rd branch at the Seocho Station intersection in Seocho-gu, and it is preparing to open the Yangjae branch as well.
Manager Kim Hyo-jin said, "In areas where we already have branches, we are adding one or two more, and we are simultaneously moving into areas where we did not have branches," and added, "We plan to expand first with a focus on Seoul and the greater Seoul area rather than outside the capital region."
Fastfive has set a goal of increasing the number of branches to 100 by year-end. However, the company said the number of additional openings expected within the year is about 10. Adding the planned openings to the current 64 branches puts the total in the mid-70s, and the actual year-end branch count will vary depending on securing additional buildings and construction schedules.
It is also diversifying its opening model from a master lease that rents entire buildings to consignment operations and revenue-sharing models. In addition to leasing buildings directly and subleasing them, Fastfive is also operating spaces on behalf of landlords or signing agreements to share rental revenue with landlords.
Beyond running coworking offices, it is expanding businesses that increase building value. It proposes improvements to common areas of older buildings—such as lobbies, restrooms, stairs, and exterior signs—to landlords, and provides planning for new buildings and remodeling consulting. By bringing in coworking offices, it aims to increase on-site population and retail demand within buildings and expand its business scope to building operation and development.
Team leader Shin Jeong-won said, "Coworking offices have a high density of people active within buildings, which, from a landlord's perspective, has the advantage of activating internal retail," and added, "Because buildings can be operated stably over a long period, related requests continue."