Wollongong's "office of the future" is taking shape in one of its oldest buildings, rising up amid scratched, unvarnished floorboards; op shop-style sofas and a ceiling set at 19th-century height.
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Wollongong designer Jordan Gillman has leased part of the historic Lang's Corner building and is transforming it into Corner Table, the city's first "co-working" space.
Co-working involves people working independently in a shared space, to make use of the social and collaborative benefits.
The practice is common in major cities and often attracts freelancers who might otherwise have worked alone at home.
"Working from home, you find yourself going to the cafe just to be around the noise," said Mr Gillman, 30, himself a freelance designer who spent four years working out of his home office.
"I think the best work happens when you're getting a bit of interaction with other people.
"There's no doubt that fantastic ideas come out of a place where somebody's talking about X, then someone else says Y, then something completely different comes out."
Corner Table will run as a side project to Mr Gillman's freelance design business Jordesign.
He is hopeful co-working will take root in Wollongong, and eliminate the need for area creatives to travel to Sydney for work.
"I would love to see a shift where large numbers of people who commute to Sydney are able to work remotely down here," he said.
Six people - designers, programmers and a PhD candidate among them - are taking out a $300 monthly gold membership with Corner Table, which includes a permanent desk, access to a bathroom, kitchenette and Wi-Fi.
Another 12 people have expressed interest in less costly arrangements including a shared desk or a hot desk, accessible for three days a week or five days a month.
The cheapest membership costs $50 and buys the user two days access a month.
Earlier this year Sydney's Wynyard Park was converted into a shared outdoor office space to promote "co-worker" spaces for entrepreneurs, after more than 10 of the spaces opened in the city.
Then, event organiser Caroline McLaren from Hub Sydney said that co-working offices were the workplaces of the future.
"People want the flexibility to work when they want, where they want and with whom they want," he said.
