CoworksAnna Salai, Guindy · Chennai

Walk the floor

Eight stops, one lap, about six minutes if you stop for coffee. Start at reception, finish on the terrace. The dotted line is the route.

Reception & lounge

What you see: A pink two-seater that came from Meena's old office, a low table with yesterday's Hindu on it, and a rubber plant that has outgrown its pot twice.
What you hear: The lift chiming on the third floor. Somebody signing for a courier.
Worth knowing: Reception holds post and courier for every member, and the wall tablet books both rooms.

Stop 1 of 8 on the Guindy floor

What you see: Thirty-two white desks in pods of four, numbered 1 to 32. Seventeen of them have somebody at them this morning. Desks 5 to 8 get the good light until about two.
What you hear: Keyboards. A UPI success chime from somebody's phone. Not much talking — calls go to the booths.
Worth knowing: Any free desk is yours on a hot desk plan or a ₹450 day pass.

Stop 2 of 8 on the Guindy floor

What you see: Eight chairs around a sixteen-foot table, a projector that actually works, and a whiteboard nobody has wiped since the Thursday before last.
What you hear: Whatever is happening in there, muffled. The glass is good.
Worth knowing: Marina is ₹700 an hour, or free up to eight hours a month if you have a cabin.

Stop 3 of 8 on the Guindy floor

What you see: A twenty-foot counter, a filter coffee urn on from 8:15, three round tables, and a fridge with everybody's dabbas labelled in marker.
What you hear: The urn. Two people arguing about Salem versus Kumbakonam degree coffee.
Worth knowing: Filter coffee is on tap all day and is included in every plan, including the day pass.

Stop 4 of 8 on the Guindy floor

What you see: Two upright booths, dark inside, each with a stool, a shelf, a fan and a small light that turns red when the door is shut.
What you hear: Nothing from outside. That is the point.
Worth knowing: Twenty minutes at a time. Free for members and for anyone on a day pass.

Stop 5 of 8 on the Guindy floor

What you see: Cabin B, four desks, glass on two sides with packaging printouts taped to it. Kolam Studio's colour proofs are pinned up in rows.
What you hear: Four people talking normally, which you cannot hear from the floor.
Worth knowing: A cabin for four is ₹38,000 a month. Cabin A is free from 1 October.

Stop 6 of 8 on the Guindy floor

What you see: Twenty-four desks, 33 to 56, each one kept as somebody left it. Monitors, a plant, a helmet on a hook, a whole shelf of tax files at desk 52.
What you hear: Quieter than the hot desk bank. Most of these people are here every day.
Worth knowing: ₹9,800 a month gets you one of these, with 24×7 fob access.

Stop 7 of 8 on the Guindy floor

What you see: Two long benches, four planters, and the back of the Guindy flyover. On Friday everybody eats out here from one o'clock.
What you hear: Anna Salai, three floors down. Crows. Somebody on a call they should be taking in a booth.
Worth knowing: Open to everyone on the floor, smoke-free, and shaded until about 3:30.

Stop 8 of 8 on the Guindy floor

Meena is on the floor from 9 to 7 and will walk you around in ten minutes. Thursdays are the best day to visit — demo hour is at 6:30.