Coworking + Wellness: What to Know About Wellness Coworking Spaces

Does your ideal work environment include Ayurvedic elixirs, a 6:00 am sound bath, and a post-work Yin yoga session? If so, then wellness coworking may be for you.

Wellness coworking is one of the hottest niche coworking trends to hit the market in the last decade, thanks to popular NYC hotspots like The Well.

These spaces beautifully integrate wellness and work, promising greater productivity and focus in the process. And with the global wellness market now worth over $4.5 trillion, there is a lot to be gained from this emerging trend.

We’ve worked with a number of coworking wellness space clients here at Optix, including KoWorks in Sydney, Australia, and we’ve seen firsthand what makes these kinds of spaces successful.

In this article, we’ll use the insights we’ve gained from our clients to unpack everything there is to know about the Coworking + Wellness trend — including how well these spaces fare in the market (spoiler: very well) and some tips for integrating wellness related offerings into your coworking space.

What is a wellness coworking space?

Wellness coworking spaces, sometimes known as wellness-focused coworking spaces, are shared workspaces that incorporate health-oriented services and amenities into their offerings.

For wellness coworking spaces, supporting the well-being of members is a key differentiating factor.

Some wellness-focused workspaces are marketed as premium social clubs such as The Well, while others are community-driven spaces such as KoWorks. Both are growing in popularity as knowledge workers become increasingly interested in how to integrate well-being into their work lives.

What amenities are offered in a wellness coworking space?

Apart from the usual coworking product offerings like desks and private offices, wellness-focused coworking spaces include a handful of unique services and amenities designed to support the health and well-being of members.

These health-oriented services and amenities are either incorporated into the entire space at no extra charge (ie. using HEPA air filters) or offered as an add-on (ie. Registered Massage Therapist on-site).

Here are some coworking amenities that we see most often in wellness-oriented spaces.

Incorporated offerings in the space (included as part of the membership and incorporated into the cost):

• Standing desks
• Air-filtering plants
• Filtered water on tap
• Alpha wave soundtracks or soothing music
• Complimentary healthy food and drinks

Wellness offerings available at an additional cost:

• Morning yoga or fitness classes
• Registered massage therapist on-site
• Mental health counseling on-site
• Infrared sauna or cold plunge bookings
• Health and wellness-focused events
• Smoothie bar or vegan café on-site

Most spaces choose to include a mix of incorporated and add-on offerings for their members. 

At KoWorks, Founder Adam Hyman offers complimentary breathing and meditation classes for members. Members can book a cold plunge, a yoga class, or a session in an infrared sauna at an additional cost.

This offers some flexibility with how he charges for membership plans, and opens up additional revenue streams.

How do wellness coworking spaces benefit operators and members?

Every successful niche in the coworking industry mutually benefits operators and their members.

Entrepreneurs who start wellness workspaces are typically passionate about the intersection of wellness and work. They open these spaces because they truly believe in creating a place that helps people feel good during their work day.

As an owner/operator, creating a wellness-focused coworking space can help you:

• Differentiate yourself from other spaces
• Develop a community of like-minded individuals who share similar values
• Create additional revenue streams with add-on amenities
• Charge a premium price for memberships
• Create a space that is on-trend and in-demand
• Improve member retention

Offering health and wellness-oriented services helps your coworking members by supporting their physical and mental health and providing a space for better work-life balance.

It’s important to speak to these benefits when developing the messaging of your space. For Adam, the wellness piece is why people convert and why they choose KoWorks as their preferred place to work. Speaking to the benefits of coworking and wellness is critical to optimizing his coworking sales funnel.

What is the wellness and coworking business model?

Just like the typical coworking space business model, wellness spaces make money primarily by selling space in the form of desks, meeting rooms, and private offices, and selling community in the form of opportunities for connection.

One of the unique benefits to wellness spaces compared to other niches is you can typically charge a premium for your membership plans.

• “Wellness” has long been associated with “premium” from a market perspective. People are often willing to pay more for something associated with well-being. This can be reflected in your pricing strategy.
• Outfitting the space with plants, HEPA air filters, standing desks, and healthy snacks will cost you more up-front, which allows you to raise the cost of your membership plans, too.
• Memberships can come with complimentary access to exclusive coworking events and amenities, such as the case with KoWorks and their BreathWorks class. This cost is then factored into the cost of a membership (and then some).

Examples of wellness coworking spaces

Here at Optix coworking software, we help a number of wellness-focused coworking clients automate their business and build better communities. Below are three of our amazing clients who are succeeding with incorporating wellness into their coworking spaces.

KoWorks

KoWorks is a wellness-focused coworking space with three locations across New South Wales, Australia. Founded by Adam Hyman, their mission is to activate underutilized spaces and turn them into beautiful and vibrant coworking communities.

Adam offers a number of amenities to support the mental and physical well-being of his members including standing desks, saunas, cold plunges, yoga classes, and breathwork workshops. With these offerings, Adam was able to create a true point of differentiation between him and his competitors.

Learn how Adam grew from one to two locations in less than two years with Optix.

Wello Works

Wello Works offers wellness-focused amenities and community-driven coworking all under one roof. Located in Atlanta, the space includes infrared saunas, meditation pods, LED light therapy beds, and more, along with dedicated desks, private offices, and open coworking space.

Members have the option of purchasing the use of wellness amenities on their own, or purchasing a coworking membership that can unlock access to specific wellness amenities.

This Human Thing

This Human Thing is a space for therapists, counselors, and other holistic practitioners to practice out of in Canada. 

Because they believe in a holistic approach to supporting all humans, they also offer wellness opportunities for their members including ​​mindfulness events, healing workshops, yoga classes, and more.

What to know when opening a wellness coworking space

So you’re thinking of incorporating wellness offerings into your coworking space or opening a coworking wellness space? Here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Consider the local market

The operators who are succeeding are the ones who understand their local market inside and out. When choosing the location of your next coworking space, consider the market you’re entering and the need/interest for wellness related coworking offerings.

Do you live in a progressive city like Vancouver that is known for its healthy lifestyle? Then wellness coworking would be a perfect fit. Other cities, perhaps less so. As with any niche offering, consider your ICP and whether there is a high enough concentration of people in your area who would be interested in what you have to offer before going all in on wellness.

2. Include a robust mix of well-being offerings

Wellness offerings for coworking spaces exist on a spectrum. Adding plants to your space is easier than adding standing desks. Adding standing desks is easier than incorporating a new filtration system.

Offer a mix of health-oriented offerings in your space, ranging from air-filtering plants to on-site massages. Pay attention to what people use and enjoy, and do more of that as your community grows.

Some of the easier-to-implement wellness-focused amenities include:

• Offering healthy snack choices
• Creating a meditation room out of an unused private office or meeting room
• Adding a walking treadmill (trackpad) to the bottom of some of your standing desks
• Adding essential oil diffusers to your common rooms

3. Incorporate wellness into your marketing materials

One of the greatest benefits to offering wellness in your coworking space is it creates a point of differentiation. Lean into this in your marketing materials to set your space apart and to attract the right people to your community.

Adam found great success when he began including saunas and cold plunges into his marketing material. It made KoWorks stand out from the crowd, and it attracted his ideal client to his well-curated community.

4. Capitalize on wellness trends

Speaking of saunas and cold plunges, it’s worth paying attention to what’s hot in the world of wellness and capitalizing on those trends to attract more people to your community. Cold plunges are having a moment right now, thanks to the likes of influencers promoting their benefits online. This means people are more likely to seek out this service and therefore, more likely to find you. 

Offering something trendy may attract people to your space who otherwise wouldn’t be interested in coworking at all. It could become so successful that you choose to offer it to book independent of a coworking membership, similar to how Wello Works approaches wellness-related bookings.

5. Plan wellness-related events

Events are booming in popularity as members look for more intentional ways to connect with one another. According to one of the keynotes that our team attended at the 2024 GCUC conference in Salt Lake City, events, private offices, and meeting rooms are all the rage in coworking right now, with no signs of slowing down.

Consider offering wellness-related events including:

• Holding a monthly keynote where you invite wellness professionals to come and share their knowledge
• Organizing a weekly meet-up for those looking to achieve specific fitness goals
• Holding yoga or fitness classes in one of your larger meeting rooms
• Inviting members for a hike or spin class session after work hours

What you create should be informed by what your member’s needs are. You should also consider that if you will begin offering fitness classes on-site, then you will need to have a waiver incorporated into your coworking contracts or house rules.

Using coworking software to automate your wellness coworking space

The best coworking spaces are managed with the help of robust coworking space automation software.

Optix helps wellness-focused coworking owners and operators run their business by:

• Promoting wellness-oriented products to purchase online
• Enabling members to book a yoga class or meditation room on their phone
• Connecting members through a digital directory and messaging system
• Enabling members to reserve specific resources from their phone

Automating a wellness-oriented coworking space can be a big task. Using coworking software like Optix can make it easier for you to grow your business over time.

Want to see the product in action? Book a free demo with a member of our team today.