The trio behind shared workspace developer Qb Studios – Alex Brennan, Mike Fisher and Tom Harding – have an impressive track record of repurposing the old for the new, turning outdated commercial or industrial buildings into modern, flexible office environments. Alex tells Cityscape it’s like finding buried treasure.

What developments have Qb Studios already completed? It’s been a busy 4½ years. We have opened six locations since we started in Christchurch in 2014. In Christchurch we have opened in Southwark Street, St Asaph Street and Addington, and in Auckland we are in Ponsonby, Herne Bay and Newmarket. In the last year we have more than doubled in size, expanding our flagship locations in Auckland and Christchurch and opening a new, more intimate location in Newmarket.

What is in the pipeline? After a busy year we are looking forward to strengthening and nurturing the community of businesses that we already have in the Qb network. Growth will come naturally and organically from that. At the same time, we are planning some further expansion in Ponsonby in Auckland and also have some other opportunities in Christchurch and Queenstown, so there will be room to bring new businesses into the community.

Is there a single vision that lies behind the various developments? If so, what is the inspiration for that? We try to create workspaces that feel more like boutique hotels than offices. Our vision is to create environments that allow the people and businesses in them to flourish. We call them 'Curated workspaces', which means that, as managers, we have a light but careful touch. The businesses inside our developments are the real stars of the show – a wine glass should be clear and elegant because its real job is to bring out the best in the wine that it holds.

Do the various projects tie together in any way? We think a lot about the design of our spaces and I think that is a common thread that runs through all of our locations. While each building has a very different feeling, they have a unifying and unmistakably 'Qb' aesthetic. We also pay attention to all of the sensory aspects of our spaces – things like the music, artwork, plants and of course the smells – all with a view to making people feel good when they are in our locations. Members of one location can also make use of the facilities in our other spaces, which for some businesses can be a real benefit.

How do you see the developments fitting in to the vibe of the new Christchurch? Spaces like ours are like new 'town squares' where business and people work side by side. I think the idea of that is very appealing to people in Christchurch. A city that is being reborn has opportunity to be fresh, modern and stylish. I would hope that we contribute to that in our own way.

How did you all meet and get Qb Studios started? What are your backgrounds? We all come from quite different backgrounds. I was a barrister, Tom was a professional rugby player and Mike has a background as an art dealer. We met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, playing rugby after Mike and Tom had moved away from Christchurch post earthquake. We started out by developing a modular construction system with the aspiration to be able to build beautiful buildings, fast. We brought that system back to Christchurch to help with the rebuild and built a showcase in an old warehouse just outside the city. That was our first Qb Studios and was conceived as a place for businesses that were displaced after the quake to come back together in a village-like community environment. This coincided with a huge global shift in the way people work and a movement towards co-working style developments. We have been surfing that wave ever since.

What do you look for in a location? We like to find buried treasure. We particularly enjoy finding the hidden or forgotten character in old industrial buildings and revealing it by bringing them to life using designs that had never been imagined for them.

What type of tenant and culture are you aiming for? There is no one 'type' of business in Qb, but we find that the owners of the companies who move in tend to be forward-thinking and open to new ideas. Like any healthy village, we like to have a diverse range of companies in our communities. We have all sorts of businesses from the most earthy – geotechnical engineers – to the most abstract – businesses designing virtual reality products for Google. From trendy Kiwi popcorn companies to the largest beverage company in the world.  We like our culture to be friendly and welcoming and we do what we can to create an environment where this manifests organically. Our aim is to bring out the best in the people and businesses in our spaces.

Your focus seems to be on renovating and repurposing old commercial and industrial buildings in areas in need of a bit of love – what is the motivation for that? The best things come from properly balancing the old and the new. Too much of one and things become stale and too much of the other and they become chaotic. We find beauty that has been forgotten, undervalued or not properly revealed and we add new energy and creative energy to invigorate it and bring it to life. In our Christchurch location on St Asaph Street we have developed this idea by joining a complete new building onto an older industrial warehouse building. Yin and yang!

Do you have any thoughts or views on the future of office working spaces? Is flexibility the most important goal now? I think that is certainly getting more important. We are living in a time of fast change, so businesses and people need to be able to adapt quickly. Simplicity is another important factor. Life is increasingly complex so it is very appealing to move into a fully furnished space and reduce the hassle involved in running your own office by driving all of the property management into a single monthly bill. It frees up time and allows poeple to concentrate on their core business – or whatever else they enjoy doing! Finally, technology has the ability to both connect and to isolate, so bringing companies back together in a village-like environment can be like cold water to a thirsty soul.

What are the challenges/opportunities for development within the city? One of the challenges is magnetising more people back into the city. The delay in the completion of some of the anchor projects hasn’t helped the key developers, who have been the driving force behind the rebuild of the CBD. Once we see the completion of the remaining anchor projects, particularly the stadium, then Christchurch will have an exciting inner-city footprint to organically build around.

What does the future of the inner city look like to you? There are people doing some really exciting developments and pockets of the city bursting to life in innovative blooms. I think that over time these dots will join together to create a more coherent centre. This will take time, but that’s part of the fun!

qbstudios.co.nz