Jump aboard the productivity ship at Ahoy! Berlin. Self-employed
hustlers can rent either short-term flexi-desks or a fixed
workplace if hunkering down for a few days. Staying on for longer?
Their “virtual office” service includes a personalised business
address and dedicated postbox for start-ups in need. At 4,500 sq m
with a capacity of 150 people, Ahoy! is spacious and prime
territory for networking opportunities. Forge new contacts in any
of the numerous comfy corners, at the foosball table or while
grabbing a bite to eat at the on-site café.

Each of the four St Oberholz spaces in Berlin are known for
having friendly, chatty atmospheres, so if you work best in
library-like silence, scroll on. Our favourite branch is that St
Oberholz Rosenthaler Platz, the largest (and most buzzy) café and
co-working space in Mitte. Refreshingly, visitors can pay per day
or per hour – perfect for those with meetings scheduled across the
city. Look out for St Oberholz Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz which is set to
open near to
Soho House in March this year.

Mindspace is known all over the world for its co-working spaces,
and with good reason. Each of its three Berlin sites (on
Krausenstraße, Friedrichstraße and Skalitzer Straße) are scattered
with art, well-stocked with refreshments and slap-bang in the city
centre. The day pass here is one of the most competitively priced
in Berlin and includes access to guest lectures and workshops.
Self-starters might squirm at Mindspace’s corporate credentials – a
gritty space, this is not – but members are occasionally treated to
discounts from Amazon and Microsoft.

There are two Betahaus co-working spaces – one in Neukölln and
another in Kreuzberg. The latter is really the alpha, but only
marginally so. Both have more than 300 desks, a garden and weekly
events (be it a “Crypto” conference on all things blockchain or an
evening of acoustic performances), but Kreuzberg is slightly more
capacious with 11 more private offices than Neukölln’s 25. It’s a
space for misfits, they say. The rambling design of each space
reflects the Betahaus mission “to try new things and make
mistakes”.

isn’t as anarchic as it sounds. The name is actually an acronym
for Kreative Arbeitsgemeinschaft Oberschöneweide, which means
“cooperative working space in Oberschöneweide”. The emphasis here
is on art and product design with metalworking, music production
and craft brewing counted among the subjects of its previous
workshops. The bright atrium of the warehouse it calls home is
staggered with mezzanine layers which lead on to tattoo studios and
metal workshops, as well as run-of-the-mill office spaces, too.
KAOS doesn’t offer flexi or day passes, but it’s a strong contender
for Berliners or regular visitors to the city – especially in
summer when its doors open directly onto the cooling riverbanks of
the Spree.