Community Workshop Space in Melbourne

[GarageMelbourne]

Hi, My name is Ben and I thought I'd make a post to see if anyone else is interested in a project I'm starting up.

 

For some time now I've been wanting to start a restoration project, but since I live in an apartment I have absolutely nowhere to do so. After talking about it with some friends, it would seem like there are many others in the same situation as me. This has gotten my excited about starting a community workshop where people cant rent a space to work on their vehicle, meet other people and possibly have access to communal tools and equipment. This would most likely be on the Melbourne CBD fringe - around South Melbourne or Port Melbourne.

 

If something like this appeals to you, I'd love to hear from you. I've made up a short survey to try and get a better idea for what might work best - you can access it from this link: http://goo.gl/MAO726 or email me through the forums with any questions or suggestions.

 

Thanks,

Ben

[Tit]

Friends and I have been talking about something similar as a business.  Like a 'Zen Garage'...

 

Challenges we came up with were around insurance (ie. untrained people spannering on your premises), people clogging up the work-bays with abandoned cars or long-term projects and theft/loss of tools and equipment.  I'm sure there's a model that works, it would just require some thrashing out.

 

I suspect you'd need some kind of super-vision of the workshop.

 

If you're talking about splitting rent and doing recreational non-profit mechanical/resto work then that might be a different thing.

[OZ930]

From my foggy memory, somebody in Newcastle set a workshop up in exactly the same way as you have proposed. They had two mechanics to offer professional advice.  So on top of insurances there would be wages to cover.

 

I don't know whether it is still operating.

[smule]

_{Good call, gave this some thought a while ago and putting insurance concerns aside my train of thought when along the lines of...}

 

_{Leasing a warehouse, establishing multiple bay's rented out in half day blocks with a combination of two / four poster hoists, power output, airline and no tools.. strictly BYO tools.. catering for waste disposal through a couple of 1 tonne shuttles.. could be managed by an onsite supervisor or mechanic with negligble cost in exchange for a "no charge exclusive bay for him/her".. Thought process could also be extended to sanding bays, paint booth etc..}

 

_{And then i snapped out of my day dream and continued the day in my office job...grrrrr}

[webrest]

IMHO You are talking about nightmares that could only be imagined in your wildest dreams.

I wish it could work but I can't see any way that it could be achieved as an ongoing peaceful arrangement.

Far too many differing work patterns, types of project, personalities etc. 

Think of the implications when that messy worker in the space next to you is welding and grinding when you are trying to quietly and cleanly assemble an engine.

I can only imagine the amount of litigation and argument when inner city lawyers and IT people go bad

Forget it, rent your own space or buy your own factory.

If you can't afford to do that, shock horror, move to the suburbs where you can have your own garage.

The amount of time spent travelling and missing your morning skim milk decaf latte will feel like a Swedish massage compared to the holocaust you are proposing for yourself.

 

Dave

[GarageMelbourne]

Thanks Smule and Tit, good to hear there's some like-minded people out there. If you ever go through with it, or think any more about it I'd love to hear about it.

[Tit]

I like the idea. Perhaps restricting the type of work to one day such as oil changes, suspension work etc?

Might need to spread the income streams like having a cafe and/or small swag shop. The Zen model of building a brand around car meets and culture as well would help.

Could set up some arrangements with parts suppliers and vendors as well...

[GarageMelbourne]

I like the cafe and shop idea, Tit, and I absolutely agree about augmenting the income stream through other ways. I've been doing a lot of brainstorming with some friends who a re really positive about it, and I'm pretty confident that most issues could be worked around - especially if the whole thing is kept relatively small-scale.

 

Security would be important, and it's relatively easy to have great security camera's and swipe access set up so there's evidence if someone is doing something dodgy. It would also be important for everyone's security to make sure you're not flippant with who comes in to the place, as well as making sure all members pay a bond and provide licence details, as well as be responsible for their own insurance.

 

It would also be a big help for anyone involved to approach the idea with a positive frame-of-mind. The majority of people are more honest than some people give them credit for, especially if you limit their ability to do something dodgy - not everyone out there is bitter enough to scam other peoples stuff and start problems.