Hackspaces of China, part 2. Shenzhen, TechSpace, photo tour

Today is Friday, tomorrow is a weekend, someone will go on a holiday in nature, someone will be in the garage with a car, someone at home at the computer, and someone will spend them in hackspace assembling robots in the company of geeks).

In the last article, we began to talk about Chinese hackspaces, in this article we will take a short tour of TechSpace in Shenzhen (by the way Apple products are made in this city), see what they have interesting, plunge into the working atmosphere.
')


The founder's name is Shang Song. The idea to open Techspace was born in November 2012. In May 2013, he traveled to the United States at techshop.ws. In July 2013 I found the premises, in November 2013 Techspace opened in beta mode. Since January, they have taken into account the mistakes reformatted the tariff scale, taking into account the real needs of people (about tariffs at the end of the review).

TechSpace is located in a part of the building of one of the factories of the Hi-Tech Park district:


We must try very hard to find this gem [the entrance to hackspace] in the back streets of the working district.




Here is a map of the Hackspace room itself:


As you can see the room consists of the main zones:

1. Working Working Coch, which includes:
- storage (Personal Storage)
- work with radio electronics (Equipments Area)
- working with hardware (hardware developing)
- Presentation Wall
- carpentry work (Hand Tools)

2. Machine room
- CNC machines (CNC Area)
- Main Machine Room (Main Machines Area)
- additional room (Auxiliary Area)

3. Office space (on the second floor)

Let's start the tour

This is what we see if we look through glass doors from the street.


We go inside:


A small reception with a display of various gifts from guests of the hackspace:

Working hall

Next we get to the common working room.


Oscillographs, soldering irons, and further plotters are placed on the tables along the wall.


If we go to the plotter now and turn around, we see this picture.


This is a co-working area, we also see the second floor, from the left to the top (under which we went when we came in), to the far right - the entrance to the “Machine room”, to the far right - this is the entrance to the hackspace, to the left (not in the frame) staircase to the second floor.

Electric eyeliner is made quite conveniently - extension cords on top, which removes the "noodles" from the wires under your feet (access to the Internet via WiFi).

And we also see on the right a fragment of a stand with carpentry tools.

If we now go up the stairs and go up a bit, we will see the hall above


As we see, in addition to extension cords, the lighting is well thought out — above each table.

But the very staircase on which we stood before it


we see that the ventilation is thought out, and the air conditioner is at the top.

And here are our extension cords on top details


quite comfortable.

Life boils




Note that on the left is a recreation area and food (under the second floor) - water, TV, refrigerator. At the entrance there is an information zone (so far only yellow leaves are visible - we will take a closer look at them later).



Before entering the stairs we see storage boxes with a lock. On the left along the wall is a table with a 3D printer and computer.

Here is a 3d printer


fairly simple design, but quite reliable, a series of 3D printers UP - 3D Printer UP! Plus 2 .

Serious hackspace visitor


Well, let's move from the work area with the head to the work area with our hands.


As you can see, there is a convenient stand with the placement of all the tools (left), and many drawers for storing small items. We notice robots in the center.

But the table is closer


The robots are made on the basis of the MakeBlock designer, who can be interested to see here , the aluminum structural elements are quite reliable (you can only guess about the role of the rubber hammer).

Here is the rack with drawers


surprisingly, everything is quite neat and tidy, do they have someone on duty, and at the end of the day collect everything back from the tables in drawers and into their seats :)

If we turn to the right, we will see a table along the wall.


There is a lot of space - so that you can sit quietly, collect tools and make something interesting.

Soldering station (where without them)


A couple of oscilloscopes, and educational books, if anyone is interested in learning on their own


And here is the plotter itself (more precisely Vinyl Cutter )


with the remnants of Christmas decorations

But now we will visit the rest room that we saw in the past photos under the second floor


We see the right rack with books, you can take and comfortably accommodate in a chair.

In the refrigerator you can find water, Coca-Cola, beer. Nobody drinks beer, and Coca-Cola ends the fastest.

The Chinese are quite serious about food, they usually dine at 12-00, and dine at 18-30. There are many eateries and cafes near the hackspace. After dinner, it is customary to lie on the couch, sleep 30 minutes.

Having read and rested, look at the second floor


here you can work in a quieter atmosphere, looking at the people working below (this gives some new direction to thoughts). But now the hackspace is pretty empty, no one works on the second floor.

Office furniture is high quality enough


And we also note the culture of the Chinese - there is not a single gum from below)

Well, now fast forward to our computer room.

Engine room

The machine room consists of 3 rooms - central, left, right.

This is what the central hall looks like when we enter it from the Coworking Work Area:


We can count 4 devices (for working with wood), a window onto the nature with fresh air, and a good version with good grips.

Left and right partitions separating the zone (in the left side of the laser machine, in the right - CNC machine).

Small talk with the founder of Shang Song


In the left room is the laser cutter desired by all DIY artists. With a mandatory hood to the street. As you can see - the space is quite a lot, it is nice.


Here is our handsome closer (working area 900 * 600mm)


Well, let's engrave and cut something


That turned out to be a memory card


On the right side of the Machine Zone, there is an equally favorite CNC machine .
True, it is suitable only for the manufacture of printed circuit boards


Here is a drilling machine with a turning. Here they are handsome


Again, pay attention to the cleanliness of the floor - someone still cleans up the garbage in the evenings :)

Well, let's finish with the Machine Room, and go back to the beginning (who is interested in the list of equipment can be viewed here )

We returned to the information zone located in the reception area, consider in more detail what is written there


We see information about connecting to free wifi, Internet coordinates of the hackspace.

Advertising a variety of projects

Conditions

Now a little capitalism.

Annual membership:

Individual - 200 yuan (1.1 tr, at the rate of 1 yuan = 5.5 rubles)
Group of up to 5 people - 500 yuan (2.75 tr)

Gives the right to:
- Attend events
- Work in a common room 8 hours a week

Events are held about once a week. You can visit them without being a member, but then you need to leave one time from 20 to 100 yuan (110-550 rubles) as a donation.

Base membership is specifically made so limited in its ability to attract as many people as possible.

Once you are already a member, you can purchase additional packages of services.

Service packages:

DIY - 400 yuan for 10 visits (2.2 tr)
- Gives the right to work with all equipment during the visit

Startup - 900 yuan per month (4.95 TR)
- You can work in the common room every day
- Gives the right to work with the equipment

Office - 1500 yuan per month (8.25 tr.)
- You can work in a dedicated workplace on the second floor every day
- Gives the right to work with the equipment
- Gives the right to use office equipment

Plan to pay off in a year.

Impression

As a conclusion, we note that hackspace is very well thought out, made specifically for people to make working as comfortably as possible (spacious rooms, air conditioning, infrastructure), and everything needs equipment nearby.

I would like to wish them development (early payback), and there would be more such a level of hackers in other cities (in particular, in Russia).

Thank you targence for the photos provided.