Work takes up roughly a third of our lives, yet office environments have not always kept pace with how people live through those hours.

Office planning has traditionally prioritised efficiency, density and headcount, often treating people as occupants rather than bodies and minds moving through space each day.

Work happens inside. Life is pushed to the margins.

For The Commons, a co-working operator with 19 sites across Melbourne and Sydney, this gap is now being designed back into the building.

▲ Co-founders Cliff Ho and Tom Ye inside The Commons, the co-working operator expanding its wellness-integrated model across Melbourne and Sydney.

Co-founded by Cliff Ho and Tom Ye, the business secured investment from Melbourne developer Riverlee in 2018, supporting its expansion from a small local operator into a national network.

The Commons launched in Melbourne in 2016 with its first site in South Melbourne, entering a market dominated by conventional office leasing models built around long-term tenants and fixed layouts.

Flexibility was the initial drawcard, but early use followed a familiar pattern.

Members arrived in the morning, worked through the day and left in the evening.

“When we launched The Commons 10 years ago, the workplace was largely built around a very rigid model, long leases, static offices and buildings designed primarily for large corporations,” Ho tells The Urban Developer.

▲ The Commons Collins Street in Melbourne, a CBD workspace combining private offices, shared areas and hospitality-led interiors.

“What we wanted to build instead was a workplace centred around community and flexibility… people weren’t simply renting space, they were joining an ecosystem of people, ideas and opportunities.”

This focus on community began to shift how space was used.

Members stayed for more than work, with interaction, events and shared environments becoming part of the draw.

“Traditional offices optimise for efficiency and hierarchy. Co-working, at its best, optimises for connection and creativity,” Ho says.

▲ Shared workspace and cafe inside The Commons Collins Street, Melbourne.

Over time, behaviour evolved further and the workspace stopped acting as a fixed destination, becoming one part of a broader day.

“People weren’t just coming for desks,” Ho says. “They were coming for the environment, the hospitality, the events, the atmosphere and the people around them.”

Building wellness into the workplace

The shift is now visible in built form through The Commons’ Richmond site at Cremorne.

The 5000sq m building accommodates around 400 members, with roughly half the floorplate dedicated to workspace and the remainder to a full-scale health club (pictured below).

Rather than treating co-working and wellness as separate uses, both were planned together from the outset, allowing the building to support more of the day within a single location.

Members have access to a gym floor, group fitness classes and a bathhouse, including hot and cold plunge pools (pictured at top) and recovery spaces, alongside meeting rooms, open workspaces and shared areas.

Use moves between both across the day.

“It creates a much more natural rhythm,” Ho says. “Members might start with a workout, grab coffee, work for a few hours, then take a class before their next meeting.”

The design supports shorter, more frequent visits rather than a fixed eight-hour block.

“There are 30-minute classes at lunchtime so members can train without disrupting their workday, and we offer a laundry service where activewear is washed, folded and returned to members’ lockers within 24 hours,” Ho says.

A rendering of The Commons Richmond in Cremorne, combining co-working space with a health club and bathhouse.

▲ A rendering of The Commons Richmond at Cremorne, combining co-working space with a health club and bathhouse.

“Small details like that remove friction, which makes it much easier to integrate wellness into the everyday rhythm of work.”

The Commons’ Sydney footprint began with its Chippendale site in 2019 and now spans the CBD and city fringe, including George Street, York Street, Martin Place and Surry Hills.

Across these locations, workspace is layered with hospitality, events and end-of-trip facilities, supporting more flexible use patterns.

Covid accelerates the reset

Behaviour had already begun to shift before Covid. The pandemic accelerated it.

Attendance patterns broke quickly as work became more flexible and distributed and the expectation of spending a full day in the office lost relevance.

“The entire world began questioning whether offices would exist at all,” Ho says.

▲ Lounge and bar area inside The Commons Martin Place in Sydney’s CBD.

What emerged was not the disappearance of offices, but a change in purpose.

“What that period ultimately revealed… was people still deeply value places to gather. Humans are social by nature.”

Use became more intentional. Visits shortened, frequency became uneven, and time in the workspace was shaped by need rather than routine.

From observation to integration

“It started with a behavioural observation,” Ho says. “Throughout the day, many members were leaving the building to go to the gym or attend fitness classes… work and wellness were already part of the same daily routine.”

Shared workspace inside The Commons Richmond in Cremorne, designed to support flexible, movement-based use across the working day.

▲ Shared workspace inside Richmond in Cremorne, designed to support flexible, movement-based use across the working day.

The implication was operational. Work began competing on how well a space supported time rather than desk provision alone.

“That insight made us realise the workplace of the future wouldn’t simply be an office product. It would be a lifestyle environment built around work,” Ho says.

“Wellness moved from a nice amenity into something central to the model.”

Making the model stack up

The shift changes how co-working performs.

“Members tend to visit more frequently and stay longer because the building supports more aspects of their life,” Ho says.

▲ Shared workspace inside The Commons Richmond in Cremorne, designed to support flexible, movement-based use across the working day.

This level of engagement supports retention and diversifies revenue.

“From a commercial perspective it allows us to offer multiple membership layers within the same ecosystem.”

Workspace becomes one part of a broader environment rather than the sole product.

Why developers are backing it

For developers, the model addresses a long-standing issue with flexible workspace.

Short-term licences and variable occupancy have made co-working difficult to underwrite, but integration changes the dynamic.

“Developers like Riverlee think in terms of precincts and long-term city building,” Ho says.

Workspace drives weekday activity, while wellness extends use beyond standard office hours.

Together, both increase dwell time and activation across the building, creating a more consistent pattern of use across the day and across the week.

▲ The Commons Richmond in Cremorne, where workspace is designed to capture more of the day.

Where it works and what comes next

The model remains location-dependent.

“It works best in dense urban locations where people value having multiple aspects of their day in one place,” Ho says. “Not every workspace needs a health club.”

The Commons is extending the concept, with a second integrated site opening in South Yarra.

Looking ahead, Ho sees the model continuing to evolve.

“We see The Commons evolving into a broader lifestyle membership… where work, wellbeing and community exist together.”

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