SEASON 1 EPISODE 03:

Katrina Larkin:
From The Big Chill musical festival to creating Fora, the ‘pro-working’ space

This week on the SpaceCraft podcast, Dan Moscrop interviews Katrina Larkin, co-founder of Fora - a company providing flexible workspaces designed with hospitality in mind.

In the first few paragraphs, Dan and Katrina reminisce about the Big Chill festival that Katrina co-founded. They recall a specific incident involving the artist M.I.A. inviting the crowd on stage during her performance, which led to a "stage invasion" that Katrina and her team had to manage from a health and safety perspective.

They then discuss how Katrina's passion for the Big Chill festival was eventually replaced by her new venture, Fora. Fora is a company that provides flexible workspaces and amenities designed with hospitality in mind through innovative office design and architecture. Katrina explains how the concept for Fora emerged from research showing that people want more blurred lines between their work and social lives, as well as workspaces that reflect their brand and provide productivity.

Katrina describes the "house" design concept behind Fora's spaces, with different floors/areas dedicated to different purposes like food/beverage, wellness, meeting rooms, and outdoor spaces for an integrated work-life experience. She highlights their focus on exceptional service, design, and creating a sense of togetherness and community for residents through workplace branding.

The conversation covers how Fora selects architects and designers, Katrina's deep involvement in that process, and how they aim to make each Fora location feel distinctive through tailored interior design. They discuss upcoming Fora openings in various London neighborhoods and Katrina's ambitious vision for scaling the Fora experience across the city and beyond through expansion of their flexible workspace model.