Published
07.04.2023
Sustainable, sociable, and flexible coworking at the new NOI Techpark Brunico
The NOI Techpark Brunico will not only be a workplace for research teams, start-ups, and companies, but also for a dynamic community of creatives and freelancers. Take a first look inside the Brunico innovation hub’s coworking spaces.
For architect Alexander Gatterer, the deciding factor was avoiding having to drive 70 kilometres three times a week from his home in Perca to his workplace on the outskirts of Bressanone. Michaela Zingerle, manager of Bikehotels Südtirol, prefers to have people around her on a daily basis rather than working alone in her home office. Philipp Zedler, a website programmer who specialises in social and sustainability issues, loves “being surrounded by nice, interesting people who work with computers like me.”
These are just a few of the diverse group of professionals who will be moving into NOI Techpark Brunico’s public coworking space, which has 14 permanent and 4 flexible workstations. Collaboration and curiosity, community and shared knowledge, meaning and sustainability, openness and accessibility, passion and commitment make up the long list of values at the new coworking site at NOI Brunico. Since 2018 and thanks to the Sviluppo Città Brunico association, the Municipality of Brunico has been a member of South Tyrol’s largest coworking network Startbase, which now has six locations between Malles and Brunico. Startbase comprises a variety of organisations, often cooperatives and associations, which provide offices and workstations on a daily or monthly basis, including the necessary infrastructure, such as high-speed internet, printers, and meeting rooms, on uniform terms across South Tyrol.
Until it moves to NOI Techpark, the Brunico Startbase will be located in Piazza Municipio. Ten permanent and four flexible workstations are available in a 160-square-metre coworking space, sitting harmoniously alongside the Sviluppo Città Brunico association. “Demand has been high from the outset,” states Marion Niederkofler, director of Sviluppo Città Brunico. There’s always a waiting list, particularly for permanent workstations, so the move to a larger space at NOI comes at the right time. “The good thing is that you get people from a wide variety of sectors here. As well as many freelancers, we also get employees who don’t want to commute every day and who work here for at least half the week”.
Brunico Startbase particularly attracts people with a similar motto to Michaela Zingerle’s: “My work is where my laptop is.” During the pandemic, some people discovered that it was possible to work from home, but other got fed up with sitting in a freezing cold room at a kitchen table, amidst chaotic family life and with nobody to talk to. “I could easily work from home, but I come here twice a week for a full day and three times a week for half a day, because the people are good company and there’s a nice atmosphere,” says Zingerle, the most recent addition to the group of permanent professionals.
The rest of the varied group agree with her and enjoy coffee break catch-ups and social events such as curling or trips to Christmas markets. “There’s a really great feel to the space,” confirms Manuel Faccini. The civil engineer from Val Pusteria moved his business to South Tyrol for personal reasons after having worked in Germany for a few years. Initially focusing on local businesses, he has now returned to his former German employer and is part of an international team working on exciting projects in the transportation sector. “Apart from one or two meetings, I work remotely from Brunico,” Faccini explains. This ideal combination means he works five minutes from home, while enjoying the conditions associated with working for an international employer. Philipp Zedler, who left his home country of Germany and settled in Val Pusteria for love, shares this perspective. “I’m essentially a physicist, but I’ve made my career here programming websites for international clients,” he says. “I’ve worked in coworking spaces in Berlin, so I was really pleased to find one in Brunico, too. It offers everything I need, it’s affordable and it has a friendly atmosphere.”
The professionals using the Brunico Startbase are sure to bring that positive vibe to the new coworking space at NOI Techpark, which is a short distance from the old location. Shared with NOI start-ups, automotive companies and research teams from the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, the new Brunico Startbase is sure to generate plenty of exciting stories and new connections.