This New Workspace Might Solve All Your Daycare Problems

A family-friendly co-working space is coming to a neighbourhood near you.

The city is short 17,000 child-care spaces, but Madeleine Shaw will tell you this problem runs deeper than daycares. “This isn’t just 17,000 children without care, it’s 17,000 adults who aren’t working to their full potential,” says the Vancouver-based co-founder of Lunapads, who has a daughter of her own. Shaw and her business partner often brought their little ones into the office and welcomed employees to do the same, but the struggle she saw among her peers working elsewhere led her to wonder: what are other creatives doing when faced with a similar situation?Enter Nestworks. Though co-working spaces have been popping up in major cities over the last few years, the millennial-focused offices aren’t really designed for the working parent. Shaw’s Nestworks aims to fill a gap in the market with a makerspace, R&D lab and licensed child-care facility all in one—which may be housed in a defunct elementary school. Similar projects exist elsewhere (Juggle Hub in Berlin, Third Door in London), setting a precedent of success as Nestworks’ board of directors recruits allies, researches user needs and scouts locations for this family-friendly co-working space set to open in roughly two years. “How are you supposed to socially innovate if you can’t even find a place to put your kids?” says Shaw.

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