Ten years before the pandemic, in 2010, Lisbon witnessed the birth of an innovative workspace. At Coworklisboa, located on the 4th floor of one of the buildings of Lx Factory in Alcântara, entrepreneurship and networking went hand in hand, marking the beginning of the coworking movement in Portugal. The space closed at the end of 2019, months before COVID 'pushed' people into remote work, and in the meantime, several companies ventured into this world of flexible work. 'Making people happy at work' is the mission of those who manage these spaces, which promote work-life balance. The demand from both Portuguese and foreign individuals, as well as companies, is high, as are the occupancy rates. Idealista/news sought to find out why and discover some of the secrets of these flexible offices.
“Fortunately, there has been increasing competition. I won't say cooperation, but there is a healthy spirit among the companies that exist in this market. And that’s good, because we are increasingly demystifying and deconstructing a bit what this whole story is about the office, flexible work, and flexible workstations,” says Martim de Botton, CEO of LACS.LACS, specifically LACS Conde d'Óbidos, is one of the spaces visited by our report – the others being IDEA Spaces Saldanha and Fintech House from the SITIO network – which aims to understand the added value of these workspaces and what they “offer” to professionals and companies, especially at a time when some organizations seem determined to bring workers back to the offices, even if it's on a hybrid basis. We also have the perspective of the occupants, which can be consulted at this link. 
The secrets of LACS Conde d'ÓbidosThe importance of flexibility and work-life balanceHow much does it cost to work at LACS Conde d'Óbidos?The secrets of IDEA Spaces SaldanhaThe importance of happiness at workAnother IDEA Spaces in Lisbon and partnerships with universitiesThe secrets of the Fintech House, from the SITIO networkWell-being at work, a concern that 'no longer has a return'Coliving is (also) in the sights'How people live in houses is also changing'
The secrets of LACS Conde d'ÓbidosOverlooking the Tagus River (from the terrace), LACS Conde d'Óbidos, according to Martim de Botton, was born in 2018 in the old bathhouse of the dockworkers of the Port of Lisbon with the intention of housing companies related to creative industries, startups, and small incubators of multinational companies that were already in Portugal. Following that, four more spaces opened: in Cascais, in Anjos, the building that housed the Labor Court of Lisbon, on Avenida 24 de Julho, also in the capital, and in Porto."Our policy is to open in entire buildings, that is, we are tenants. And we try to be in buildings that have some history, preserving it. The growth of LACS has been done in a sustainable and consistent manner, growing with the clients and according to the demand in the market," he notes, stressing that the company currently has one partner and the capital is 100% national.
A growth, moreover, sustained by high demand: "In the last two years, we have doubled the size of LACS. We had about 15,000 square meters (m2) under management and now we have over 30,000 m2. By 2025, we had assumed that the strategy would be to consolidate the operation, because the growth was achieved more quickly than expected, but perhaps things are not going to be like that anymore, because fortunately the demand remains very high. Initially, in 2025, we will have at least one more opening." Regarding the occupancy rate, it averages around 90% across the five buildings. There are over 3,000 people and about 300 companies. "It's a very large universe and over 50% are foreigners. It's a very interesting community," adds Martim de Botton.
The importance of flexibility and work-life balanceAccording to the CEO of LACS, the future of the job market definitely involves this business model. "What was a trend three, four, five years ago is now a tendency. We believe that flexible workspaces are a new work model that is here to stay. That's why we want to continue investing; we see not only domestic companies wanting to move to spaces like LACS but also many multinationals starting to look for this type of solution." Among the tenants are, for example, law firms, consulting firms, and accountants. "Companies that five years ago it was unthinkable for them to be in a space like LACS now see it as a solution."Flexibility is the key word. It was already important before the pandemic, but it gained strength in the post-pandemic era, with the balance between personal and professional life being crucial. "People are here fundamentally to work, but there are also various activities around, part of which is "a part that we value very much, the work-life balance." An idea also conveyed by Diogo Fabiana, Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) and partner of IDEA Spaces, and by Miguel Ricardo, General Manager of SITIO; Diogo Fabiana: "The future of work involves these types of spaces that promote connection, collaboration, and, above all, work-life balance and happiness. People need to understand what your motivations, expectations, and needs are. We do this for companies as a vehicle for organizational culture." Miguel Ricardo: "The core of companies is to provide a service or sell a product, and ours is to ensure that people have all the conditions to work and feel happy in the workplace. The market is evolving in this direction, meaning having an extra layer of service that makes employees feel more motivated and happy, because with remote work, we have another issue:"
If a person does not wear the company's shirt for which they work, they can very quickly change. "In the post-pandemic period, we had companies, large multinationals, coming to speak with us, saying: 'Help us transform our office so we can bring people back.'" Martim de Botton, CEO of LACS. As a matter of curiosity, and due to the fact that modern, innovative, and attractive workplaces are at stake – with meeting rooms in various environments, open spaces filled with natural light where people can work and interact, and events to promote networking and leisure moments – Martim de Botton reveals that these labor market trends are here to stay. He explains: "It's funny that in the post-pandemic period, we had companies, large multinationals, coming to talk to us, saying: 'Help us transform our office so we can bring people back.'"
The trend today is comfort, having attractive spaces that allow for different work zones and, above all, enable this ecosystem of various people and companies working in the same place. This benefits not only the companies, because there is a clear creation of synergies, but also the people, because there is LACS Anjosgreater contact with professionals from other companies and with people from other nationalities," he adds.
How much does it cost to work at LACS Conde d'Óbidos? Prices range from 120 euros per month (a coworking model, a hotdesk model, where the person sits wherever there is space) to 200 to 250 euros per month (a fixdesk model, where the person already has their desk with their belongings and can stay there all the time). In the case of Private Studios, the price depends on the size of the company."The fact that we have five spaces allows people to be at each of them. I have an office in Cascais and tomorrow I will have a meeting in Porto, so I use the LACS Porto space. This mobility is one of the great advantages we offer," concludes the CEO of LACS.
The secrets of IDEA Spaces SaldanhaIDEA Spaces Saldanha, a 10-story building located in the heart of Lisbon – has a lounge bar, more than 34 private offices, over 500 dedicated workspaces, 18 meeting and event rooms, a cinema, and an 800 m2 terrace, where the dream of installing a swimming pool remains alive – is another of the spaces visited by idealista/news. Right at the entrance, there is an impressive mural honoring the 'Resistance' experienced during the pandemic.This is a space that was born precisely in 2020, during the height of COVID, being the third opened by the company, which ventured into the flexible work market years earlier, in 2014, with a building in Parque das Nações. In between, it opened doors in the Sotto Mayor Palace, in the Picoas area, and more recently in São Sebastião, near Eduardo VII Park.In 2014, IDEA was founded to work with talents, either from individuals or the companies themselves. However, in 2015 and 2016, with the arrival of Web Summit in the national market, we began to shift towards something completely different, which is our purpose, to make people happy at work,” begins Diogo Fabiana, CIO and partner of IDEA Spaces, emphasizing that it is a company that is and will always be 100% Portuguese. This is the story of IDEA Spaces, told in the first person: “We started in Parque das Nações with a small space, and at this moment we already have two floors, about 1,400 m2. When we realized that the demand for flex office was growing, we began to expand to Palácio Sotto Mayor, where we wanted to offer something differentiated.It is a space with a very unique vibe, and then we also started to build each space with an identity, with its own personality. Then we opened in Saldanha, right in the middle of Covid, when we couldn’t hold events or host guests. It was [also] the pandemic that increased the demand for more flexible spaces, with more environments and diversity. Finally, the natural growth took us to São Sebastião, where there is a rooftop with spectacular views, allowing us to have a complementary offering.The importance of happiness at workThe message about the importance of balance between personal and professional life is also conveyed by Diogo Fabiana, who reinforces the idea that the future of the job market lies in spaces that promote connection, collaboration, work-life balance, and happiness.We consider ourselves a vehicle for organizational culture. We work on the happiness of people in the personal, social, and professional spheres, particularly in the discipline of empathy. This is what we want to bring to companies, because people cannot be forced to return to the office. We don’t want people to come to IDEA out of obligation; that will not be beneficial for productivity and company culture. What we want to create is experiences,” he states. The truth is that flex office is a concept that is gaining ground in Portugal, making it important to stand out. But how? “We are very loyal to the initial principle, which is people. We design spaces and experiences with a focus on people, making people happy.
When there are numerous spaces and we have competitors doing an excellent job, much more focused on comfort, ergonomics, and accessibility, we are focused on people's happiness,” he insists, anticipating that the trend of investing in flex offices is arriving in the traditional office market: “Large companies will start to look at their own offices and will transform them into coworking spaces with the premises that we offer.” "We design spaces, experiences, looking at people, making people happy. (...) Large companies will start to look at their own offices and will transform them into coworking spaces with the premises that we offer" Diogo Fabiana, CIO and partner at IDEA Spaces.With an occupancy rate of 97%, 98% across all four spaces, this is a product that has been increasingly sought after, says Diogo Fabiana: "We have companies with 100, 120 employees, but there are still people who want to come not because they don't want to be alone at home, that myth has passed, but because they want to be in an environment of collaboration, sharing, and connection."There are already over 4,000 members and around 380 companies, with demand from occupants being quite balanced among the national public, traditional companies, and digital nomads.Another IDEA Spaces in Lisbon and partnerships with universities A scenario that opens the door to more opportunities, as well as to targeting another audience, university students, and another market niche, coliving."We are focused on consolidating our activities in Lisbon, where we will soon have another location. Obviously, we want to expand to Porto, to the north of the country, and also explore places like Braga and Aveiro, which have a very active entrepreneurial ecosystem. And then look, who knows, at the international market," says the CIO and partner of IDEA Spaces. "By the end of the year, we will have a new location in Lisbon and the plan is to open another one in Portugal by the end of 2026," he adds, pointing to an investment in the range of two to three million euros.The radar also includes the establishment of partnerships with universities. "This is the ecosystem we want to create. We do not want to focus on a single segment. The proximity to the universities that we aim to establish this year is to bring people who have just finished their degrees into the job market, thus connecting two major areas, the professional market and academia."IDEA Spaces is also targeting coliving, which it considers an extension of coworking. "There are members desperate for homes, for housing," Diogo Fabiana laments. "Coliving would be complementary to our product. [But] as long as this housing crisis continues, it will be very complicated for us to invest in that area because it is difficult to find solutions to build that product. But we are looking at it closely and are attentive to partnerships that could lead us to offer this to our members," he analyzes.Regarding prices, there are various types of products available in IDEA Spaces, ranging from 160 to 400 euros, depending on what is sought and the desired modality. Private offices are the most expensive product, with the price depending on their size.Flexible workspacesMiguel Ricardo, General Manager of SITIOCredits: Gonçalo Lopes | idealista/newsThe secrets of Fintech House, part of the SITIO network.SITIO Fintech House, located on Avenida Duque de Loulé in Lisbon, emerges from the partnership between the flexible workspace network SITIO and the Portugal Fintech Association, hosting several startups in the sector. It is another coworking space visited by idealista/news. A ten-story building that supports professionals and innovators in the field, it is one of the 12 spaces in the network operating in Lisbon, Porto, Guimarães, Aveiro, and Vila Nova de Gaia."This is the 11th year of SITIO's existence," says Miguel Ricardo, General Manager of SITIO. "We have been here for a little bit since the beginnings of coworking, which started almost as author coworking spaces in Portugal, at least SITIO. This happened 11 years ago and, in the meantime, the spaces have been growing and becoming more and more competent. The sector is, in essence, professionalizing itself. In the past, hardly anyone talked about hybrid or remote models. Everyone would go to the office every day and no one thought about it. Now, people are beginning to have a different perspective on what these workspaces are."Well-being at work, a concern that "no longer has a return"Miguel Ricardo shares the vision left by Martim de Botton and Diogo Fabiana regarding the importance of work-life balance, also emphasizing that the job market is evolving in a way that makes "company employees feel more motivated and happy.""The effort that companies are making, globally, to bring people back to the office, or at least to offer better conditions and have a greater concern for their well-being within the workspaces, no longer has a return. It will continue because people, employees, the way they look at the balance between professional and personal life has also changed since the pandemic. We value things that we maybe didn't value as much in the past," he points out.The effort that companies are making to bring people back to the office, or at least to offer better conditions and have a greater concern for their well-being within workspaces, no longer has any return. It will continue because people's views, the employees’ perspective on the balance between professional and personal life, have also changed since the pandemic.” Miguel Ricardo, General Manager of SITIO.The story of SITIO dates back to 2014, the year when the company's first space was born, in Alvalade (Lisbon), a neighborhood where the SITIO AI hub recently opened its doors in November of last year, which has a partnership with the Unicorn Factory Lisbon, that supports entrepreneurs in founding, scaling, and internationalizing startups.The flexible workspace network currently has six locations in Lisbon, three in Porto, one in Aveiro, one in Guimarães, and one in Vila Nova de Gaia, its latest in the country – more geared towards gaming enthusiasts. There are 12 spaces in five cities, totaling about 20,000 m2 of area and 2,000 workstations. "We are experiencing an occupancy rate of about 80%, 85%, which means we have around 1,800 employees working daily in the SITIOs," reveals Miguel Ricardo, emphasizing that the majority (about 70%) of the employees are Portuguese or companies with Portuguese capital. The SITIO also feels that the demand for this work model is accelerating, which is why the opening of new spaces is on the table. "We are always looking for expansion opportunities. It is part of our DNA. We have grown very rapidly and are considering an opportunity in Lisbon that is likely to happen. Then we have other options in the pipeline, but none yet "completely closed," comments the General Manager. The manager adds, moreover, that the SITIO network wants to continue growing, particularly in the innovation segment. "This is important for us because it also differentiates us from other flexible office spaces. Obviously, our spaces are open, at least those that are agnostic, those that don’t have a specific vertical [like the SITIO Fintech House and the SITIO AI hub], and are open to all types of companies. But we especially create events for this innovation segment. So there is still a lot to be done, so we will continue to open spaces." 
Coliving is also on the radar Coliving is also on the radar of the flexible workspaces network SITIO, confirms Miguel Ricardo: "When SITIO was born, it was born with the aspect of coworking and coliving, but we focused on coworking, to be relevant in something we decided to be relevant in coworking. Coliving was something we left a bit pending for the future. In other words, we have some coliving units in Lisbon, but not to the extent and with the service we want to have. We see SITIO having a large unit in the medium term, an entire building with one third coworking and two thirds coliving, or 50/50, in which there is a layer of services shared by both."The prices charged to occupants vary greatly by city, emphasizes the responsible person, noting that a large part of the network's costs is also related to the properties themselves. But to give an idea, they range between 200 and 270 euros per workstation in Lisbon, between 200 and 220 euros in Porto, between 120 and 170 euros in Guimarães, and between 150 and 180 euros in Aveiro.
The way people live in houses is also changing. Addressing the housing crisis currently experienced in Portugal, or the crisis of access to housing, Miguel Ricardo believes that 'the way people live in houses is also changing', and that flexible workspaces can, in a way, help address the lack of houses. 'Perhaps we don't need such large houses. We need to have what we need at the moment we need it. We believe in a space where we have coliving with coworking in the same building and can provide a complete service to the person,' he states.An opinion somewhat shared by Martim de Botton, CEO of LACS, who believes that "housing and offices can go a little hand in hand." "Flexible offices can offer services that we can forgo having at home. The client, when they enter, only has to worry about swiping their card on the door reader and from there, everything is taken care of; they don’t have to worry about cleaning, internet, electricity, or water. They have everything they need to work in perfect conditions, and that adds a lot of value," he concludes.