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Louisville's Vault: A home office away from home
<br />Da Vinci Institute's coworlung facility takes over former bank space
<br />By John Aguilar Cecil learned that the hard way, as
<br />Camera Staff Writer he tried to conduct business with cli-
<br />LOUISVILLE Five kids, a wife eels and administrative law judges
<br />and two dogs make for a very nice while chaos unfolded around him at
<br />home. but they don't make for a very his Rock Creek house in Superior.
<br />nice home office. "When you try to use your resi-
<br />7' elecommtmications attorney Erik dence as a primary place of business el Ts in-house leg department in C See VAULT, 8A
<br />lzi. Si£ T 9 ��wd�iiin r �37. aa. i7 1s1ir�MMrCrF�s'. 6" a: s�S' I S' LII .7���'.1�3-- w.«��ti+� i•a. "t,. stir.-' iknFGT3�29.i513]T�I��uw7i.1�..
<br />Vatilt is part of rising coworking trend
<br />Cesio"edjr ,n L4
<br />needed.
<br />"I took nut my credit card
<br />nd told them to show me the
<br />Icaec," he said.
<br />Rising trend:
<br />Coworking
<br />Cecil. 45. is now one of
<br />.Lint two, dozen :,Immeys. en•
<br />trepreneurs pod snitwate coil•
<br />seers who ramp out at the
<br />Vault. so [tamed because it oc-
<br />cupies what was up until
<br />Last sooner a brunch of
<br />VaBeyBank
<br />The Vault, started up in
<br />June by the founders ul the Da
<br />Vinci Institute after fie bank
<br />moved out of its building
<br />311 E. South Boulder Roa
<br />represents what may be
<br />modern -day antidote to th
<br />isWLvion of tetecomrnutirtg.
<br />"More and more people
<br />working from home," said
<br />deacrilaal futurist Tom Frey
<br />Da Vinci's executive direclo
<br />When they work [ram home
<br />they Mel isolated and the
<br />snot craving conversation with
<br />bite-minded people.'
<br />Known in the industry as
<br />cnwnrking facility. the Vuul
<br />reous workspace to mobil
<br />professionals looking for any
<br />thing from a secure office
<br />temporary desk space to nnth
<br />ing more than a vibrant place
<br />W hang out and exchange
<br />ideas. It incorporates elements
<br />of a traditional office and a
<br />sual college dormitory, infus
<br />ing a communal seuaihility
<br />into the work atmosphere fl
<br />encourages people to mingle
<br />.nd talk.
<br />the Vault isn't do: tally cow
<br />takluit facility around Buul-
<br />der has nue called the Candy
<br />Shop, which is ]"carat in a
<br />building near Boulder High
<br />that ionnerls housed a porn
<br />mole but Frey said the
<br />Vault is the only one in east-
<br />ern Boulder County.
<br />Ted Waller, an Internet en-
<br />ee:preneur and media market-
<br />ing specialist from Lafayette
<br />who spent years working out
<br />of his home and quickly grew
<br />tired of it, said he relishes the
<br />nt
<br />professional caaradene a
<br />place like the Vault provides
<br />1 always learn something
<br />from these interactions, and
<br />wouldn't have had these inter.
<br />:tenons in my house." he said.
<br />"One of the great Brings about
<br />rnwerking in &polder County
<br />is that this is a hotbed of erttre.-
<br />prencu>rs,"
<br />Just minutes before.'Nahler
<br />"More and more people are working from
<br />home. When they work from home, they feel
<br />isolated and they start craving conversation
<br />with like-minded people."
<br />could he found seated at a t'
<br />ble, quietly chatting with an
<br />other laptop -rating entrepre-
<br />neur who had dropped in.
<br />Wahier is what the Vaul
<br />calls a nomad. He can crui-
<br />no the building, which is
<br />open 24 hours a day and ac-
<br />ecsslble by a eroded keypad.
<br />and kick up [tin heel's w any
<br />number of open desks in-
<br />cluding the teller stations
<br />Mime Valley Batik customers
<br />used In make deposits.
<br />Workspaces have power
<br />strips. lacks for highspeed la-
<br />at
<br />d,
<br />a
<br />tellies and a Air signal sam-
<br />are rates the entire budding. CnI•
<br />se If. fee and light enackk came free
<br />with is membership.
<br />r. The Valk provides space
<br />for a wide variety of pmit:s
<br />y sioanls a certified public ac-
<br />cown
<br />count. a patent attorney. 0
<br />graphic artist a podcnster, a
<br />a software developer and
<br />t charges berwcee $250 and
<br />e X450 a mouth. depending on
<br />the type of space the client
<br />to wants. Alt leases nun mend[ -In.
<br />month.
<br />If ntemhert need m meet
<br />with clients, they can retreat
<br />to one of several ranall confer
<br />w- once rooms througbout the
<br />5,500.aquarefoot building.
<br />That includes the bank's vault.
<br />1 where extra privavy' cow be
<br />found behind its 2,000-pound
<br />steel fortified door.
<br />`1 didn't yr.= to have busl-
<br />ness meetings in my house,"
<br />said Wabler, dressed in flip
<br />flops, a Hawaiian shirt and
<br />leans. I'd have to find a coffee
<br />shop, but that wasn't always
<br />good because you [night want
<br />to talk about things you don't
<br />want to snake public.
<br />Wadden
<br />en cnes in to the
<br />Vault fate to six days a week
<br />and spends lour to five hums
<br />each visit.
<br />"Unless you've worked from
<br />home, you don't realize how
<br />limiting working from home
<br />is," he said.
<br />Rich Morrow, owver ui
<br />cloud computing lion Qui-
<br />cloud, agreed dun working out
<br />of his house got old fast He
<br />rented an office at the Vault
<br />sit weeks ago.
<br />k's quiet when you want n
<br />to be. and there's opportunity
<br />for social interaction when you
<br />Tom Frey
<br />De tone, ins oade's ooteueeo director
<br />a get lived of being by yourself"
<br />he said.
<br />1980s charm
<br />L For the modem professional
<br />se seeking a sleek, gleaming
<br />work cnviromuent with the lat-
<br />est style of desks and chairs,
<br />lighting sod office -place trap-
<br />pings, due Vault will surely tlis-
<br />algioinL it has a decidedly
<br />early -1980s decor. with plenty
<br />of auk furniture and squared-
<br />off paneling throughout.
<br />And signs that this was once
<br />a banking institution are ev-
<br />erywhere, from the gold-col-
<br />ored FDIC labels left in place
<br />at the teller stations to the
<br />rows of safe-deposit boxes in
<br />the vault to the drive- through
<br />window that no longer sees
<br />any traffic.
<br />Deb Frey, Tom's wife and
<br />the "mayor" of the Vault. said
<br />the look of the place waspart-
<br />ly purposeful and partly rimed.
<br />cal. Foregoing a total revamp
<br />kept the overhead low and al-
<br />lowed her to offer member-
<br />ships at a reasonable puce,
<br />she staid.
<br />Plus, there's something mil
<br />and real about having a black
<br />pbstie "funds availability poli-
<br />cy' placard glued to the side et
<br />your workspace.
<br />"lt's retroe:hic, but it's also
<br />serviceable and condonable,"
<br />said Frey, reloxitag in a
<br />llayeor okl armchair inside
<br />the dimly itt bank vault
<br />Cecil the telecom attorney,
<br />said he's quire aware fhal his
<br />office duesub exude the plush.
<br />ness of a CEO's digs. He often
<br />fords himself vacuuming his
<br />own carpel and frying tu ig-
<br />nore the rattle of the aging air
<br />conditioning unit behind his
<br />bookshelf.
<br />But he said the Vault's
<br />sparse aesthetics allow lfini to
<br />keep his costs down and [mike
<br />him more competitive and
<br />appear more down -to -earth to
<br />potential clients.
<br />1 have low overhead, and 1
<br />can leverage the power of the
<br />Internet here' he said, adding
<br />with a broad smile "My ell.
<br />erns don't pay hie for my
<br />tastes in furnhurc"
<br />Contact Comm SIad9Veiter
<br />Jahn Aguilar of 303-473 -1389
<br />or agailarjgdoilycamera.eam.
<br />and you have a conference call, you
<br />can't have dogs barking and you
<br />can't have the kids screaming," he
<br />said
<br />Cecil, who started up his own law
<br />practice after being laid off from Lev-
<br />December 2008, looked for office
<br />space in Boulder but was turned of
<br />by the high rents.
<br />What he eventually found a sun
<br />filled, if somewhat dated, office at the
<br />Da Vinci Institute think tank in Louis-
<br />ville wasn't even on his radar. But
<br />for $450 a month, it was just what he
<br />Mw. L.mnawplCamere
<br />Ted Wahta, loft, ann Dave Taylor take advantage of the worksoace In the vault at Imo Dc vine, Instaeta
<br />to towbviue last weal.
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