UP Office’s new coworking space officially opened in Riga
Last week, the new UP Office coworking space opened its doors in central Riga. It will welcome freelance professionals and business idea creators to its premises, bringing them together with experienced experts and thereby promoting the development of both domestic and international entrepreneurship. To mark the official opening, a number of like-minded people and cooperation partners gathered at the office for an informal introduction to the coworking space’s thoughtfully designed environment, the founders’ vision and specialists from various fields who are ready to work with UP Office members to discover each person’s potential and support them in implementing ambitious business ideas.
At the beginning of the ceremonial opening event, the guests were addressed by the authors and creators of the UP Office concept, Andris Urbāns and Agnese Žagata, who shared their business vision and the path that led them to establishing the coworking space, as well as outlining their plans for future development. The idea of opening such an office arose at the end of the summer, when, after regularly meeting with like-minded friends and acquaintances for a year, the two realised that their circle of peers was growing and that their existing premises were becoming too small for everyone. Realising that the best way to implement their business ideas was to work shoulder to shoulder with other enterprising professionals, Agnese and Andris decided to establish their own coworking office.
The word “up” in the name of the new coworking space is an abbreviation of the phrase “urban professional” and, translated from English, signifies upward movement; it also symbolically incorporates the surname of the founder, Andris Urbāns. In order to emphasise even more strongly the environment created for dynamic, creative and inspiring work, the design of the coworking space is based on the principles of the ancient Eastern teaching of feng shui. It incorporates zoning, different colour schemes for the walls, and sources of natural energy in the form of houseplants and the elements of water, fire, earth, stones and metal. In addition, under the guidance of professional experts, knowledge of feng shui is also planned to be applied when analysing the personality traits of UP Office members, in order to determine the preferred field of work for each person, identify the most suitable team members and predict the most successful dates for launching business projects.
“UP Office is founded on the vision of combining ancient traditions with modern technologies and knowledge, applying them to unlocking the potential of business idea creators and freelance professionals and promoting cooperation among them. These premises will welcome both self-employed people interested in taking part in various creative projects and offering their services to others, and entrepreneurs with new or well-established business ideas who want to meet like-minded people and bring their ideas to a new level. In opening UP Office, we ourselves are doing many things for the first time and learning as we go through the process, so we are open to various initiatives and cooperation ideas that will enable us to create value for others while realising our own potential,” says UP Office founder, entrepreneur and business consultant Andris Urbāns.
During the continuation of the opening event, experts from a number of fields were also introduced to the guests - classical feng shui practitioner Linda Meškova, astrologer Jānis Bēniķis, enneagram instructor Inta Santa, and mindfulness trainer Inese Millere, who used real-life examples to explain the sciences applied and methods practised to make business dreams a reality. This was immediately followed by the unofficial part of the celebration, featuring an enthralling performance by magicians Dantes and Dace Pecolli and an interactive game of metaphorical methods led by Agita Šmitiņa, which continued with inspiring conversations and lively celebrations throughout the evening.
Together with experts, trainers and coaches from various fields, UP Office plans to hold a range of events and open evenings focused on business and personal growth every week. The team’s future goal is to open UP coworking and cooperation centres in other parts of the world as well, promoting development at every level and for all age groups—from discovering children’s potential and developing their talents at an early age to implementing the most ambitious business ideas internationally, offering Latvian entrepreneurs extensive opportunities beyond Latvia.
Everyone interested is invited to visit the new UP Office premises every Friday until 20 December and, by making an appointment in advance, to try out the office environment free of charge on any working day in order to choose the cooperation model best suited to them.
