Live and work at The Hatchery Place

Besides earning rental income, sharing a living space with others who share a similar passion with you may be a good way to create vibrancy in the space as well as spark discourse and creativity among yourselves. This was the thought behind the birth of The Hatchery Place, a co-living space in Malaysia.

* More than just renting a place

Founded by Elaine Wong and her partner Kevin Yeoh, The Hatchery Place is a double-storey terraced house in USJ, Subang Jaya. The co-living space is equipped with co-working facilities.

The couple originally rented the house and turned it into their work studio — a working space and furniture-making space for Yeoh (downstairs), who worked as a freelance web designer, as well as an art studio for Wong (in the master bedroom upstairs) after they both quit their corporate jobs.

“After a while, we found that a lot of space is wasted with only two of us working in the 2,000 sq ft house with four bedrooms. We came across the idea of co-living and co-working, which inspired the setup of The Hatchery Place,” Wong tells EdgeProp.my.

Yeoh explains that there are two rooms on the second floor for accommodation, while downstairs are workstations, dining area, sofa area, as well as kitchen and pantry. WiFi service and beverages including fresh brew coffee are available while those who want to prepare their own meals can use the kitchen.

Unlike the usual concept of renting rooms and home-sharing, the couple maintains strict guidelines in choosing tenants and hot desk users who can contribute to the building of a co-working community where everyone could interact and exchange ideas.

“For every accommodation request, for instance, we will only choose those working on certain projects who want a place to stay and work, which means vacation makers and outstation travellers who are merely looking for accommodation are not our main customers,” says Wong.

Established in 2015, The Hatchery Place has hosted more than 20 guests from all over the world, including Brazil, France, New Zealand and Italy. A majority of them are from the creative industry, such as musicians and technopreneurs.

This story first appeared in EdgeProp.my pullout on April 27, 2018. Download EdgeProp.my pullout here for free.