“A third place” between work and fun opens in Southbank

O3, a membership-based cafe and workplace, officially opened on Queensbridge St in Southbank in February.

O3 is a community where people are energised for study and work. Unlike cafes and libraries, this space offers visitors cooperative areas, meeting and studying booths, coffee and refreshments, and a self-service convenience store.

The concept of this “third place” was successfully implemented in the flagship O3 space in Newmarket, Auckland. The founder and CEO, Luca Yang, began growing the O3 idea in Australia.

The story of O3 began when Luca was on the verge of dropping out of high school in Auckland.

During a leisurely trip in Beijing, a coffee shop in an alleyway he had casually walked into gave Luca the motivation to read, with its laid-back and comfortable vibe.

After returning to New Zealand, he went to a coffee shop every weekend to study and spend time with friends, which eventually became the inspiration of O3.

Luca believes that the world is not short of knowledge and teaching, and it lacks motivation. Therefore, an environment, built on “study, coffee and friends”, that can motivate people, is extremely important.

“People can accomplish great things when they are left free and motivated by their environment. Education shouldn’t be top-down instruction – it should be bottom-up exploration. The educator shouldn’t be obsessed over what we learn, but how we learn,” Luca said.

“My dream is to create a more motivated world. Never have I felt more motivated. The fire inside me glows a little brighter, and its embers trickle from my chest down towards all ten of my fingertips.”

The O3 space in Melbourne is located in Southbank and offers coffee shop services and learning areas. The membership system has three options for visitors: Brokie for $14.99/week, Ghost for $29.99, and Villain for $39.99/week. Students are the largest group among them.

As a productive and inclusive space, interesting collaborations and creative activities are also frequently encountered at O3.

“There’s been some people who do videography projects. They would ask to hire out a little corner in the room, and they set up a camera and a tripod, so they record and do some stuff there,” said Deklin, who works at O3.

Deklin added that O3 was a trendy little workspace cafe.

Sil van Os is from the Netherlands and has come to Melbourne for a trip. She told Southbank News O3 was added as a stop on her itinerary after seeing the space on TikTok, and that it offered a relaxed and efficient study experience.

“It’s the best place I’ve been for workspace, even if I compare it to places in the Netherlands,” Sil said.

The Auckland and Melbourne O3 spaces have gone viral, and the O3 spaces in Sydney and New York City are on the way. •