"We don't pay rent, but we pay them in social value... To date, I think we've provided £2.5 million to Islington Council in social value."

Space4 doesn't pay rent.

Instead, they deliver something harder to measure but infinitely more valuable: £2.5 million in social value to Islington Council through the creation of jobs, the launch of businesses, and the sparking of connections over Wednesday lunches.

This isn't corporate social responsibility theatre. It's what happens when a worker-owned cooperative decides that neighbourhood economic development matters more than profit margins.

Natasha Natarajan didn't plan to help run this experiment. She came to research cooperatives for her master's degree, using Space4 and Outlandish as her case study.

Three years later, she's co-director of both the tech agency and the physical space—one half of a female leadership team that has "complete independence and control over what we do here."

As she notes with characteristic understatement: "It definitely feels special that we're two women of colour even doing that in Space4."

Along with colleague Maddy, Natasha navigates the daily challenge of tracking the untrackable. How do you assign monetary value to the job someone gets three months after a kitchen conversation?

How do you measure the impact of 15 people eating lunch together every Wednesday? How do you prove that a second-floor space invisible from the street has become the beating heart of Finsbury Park's tech-for-good ecosystem?

Born as "a centre point, a hub for the tech worker co-op movement," Space4 now serves as home to Founders and Coders' free coding bootcamp, 26 tech cooperatives, and what Natasha calls their "virtual membership"—people who may never rent a desk but see Space4 as their intellectual and social home.

This conversation explores how cooperative values are translated into daily practice, how Space4 overcomes the challenge of being invisible from the street through intentional neighbourhood engagement, and what eight years of consistent impact reveal about building economic democracy at the neighbourhood scale.

⏱ Timeline Highlights

[01:17 ] "I am known for being the Events and Partnerships Coordinator at Space4, but I'd rather be known for my DIY projects at home"

[02:30 ] The research that became reality: "I was doing research for my master's about cooperatives... I ended up using Space4 and Outlandish as my case study"

[03:51 ] Complete autonomy: "We have complete independence and control over what we do here"

[04:15 ] The significance of female leadership: "It definitely feels special that we're two women of colour even doing that in Space4"

[05:35 ] The Founders and Coders partnership origin: "We got that deal by having Founders & Coders as one of our anchor tenants"

[06:04 ] £2.5 million delivered: "To date, I think we've provided £2.5 million to Islington Council in social value"

[07:20 ] The TOMS framework challenge: "It basically assigns monetary value to particular things... It's very difficult for us to capture everything"

[08:45 ] Real-time value capture: "We're just sitting at our desk and we see two people meeting... That is social value"

[09:40 ] Culture over explanation: "I think it would almost feel a bit trite... We demonstrate it through doing what we do"

[11:40 ] Wednesday's ritual: "Even if you don't sign up for the actual food, people come just to sit together"

[13:01 ] Opening the doors: "We sell about five places every Wednesday for just members of the general public"

[15:40 ] The invisibility challenge: "From the ground floor, you really can't tell that we're there"

[17:52 ] Neighbourhood celebrity: "I walk down Finsbury Park and people wave at me so much that I feel like a minor celebrity"

[19:49 ] Cross-pollination success: "There's been so much cross-pollination between Founders and Coders and the tech businesses in our space"

[21:19 ] The Discord job board: "It's amazing how many people actually look and apply and get those jobs"

[23:20 ] Monthly structured networking: "That's actually created a lot of work for people, freelancers in particular"

[26:31 ] The origin story: "That's why Space4 was born, to be a centre point, a hub for the tech worker co-op movement"

[27:51 ] Three-layer community: "Space4 has the desk users... the co-tech, co-op community... [and] people who come here for events. That's our virtual membership"

🎯 Thematic Breakdown

The Origin Story That Explains Everything

Space4 wasn't born as a coworking space. It was born as infrastructure for a movement.

"Outlandish Co-op... realised that there are other tech worker cooperatives in the country, but we weren't talking enough to each other."

So, they co-founded Co-Tech, now comprising 26 worker cooperatives, and created Space4 as their physical home.

This origin as movement infrastructure, rather than a commercial venture, shapes everything: the cooperative ownership, the social value model, and the careful curation of events "at the intersection of social impact co-ops and tech."

Polly, the founding manager, set the template. Now Natasha and Maddy carry it forward, understanding that they're stewarding something bigger than a workspace.

The £2.5 Million Question: Measuring the Unmeasurable

The TOMS framework assigns monetary value to social outcomes. Jobs created. Business support hours. Skills developed. But as Natasha admits, capturing informal value exchange is "definitely a challenge."

"Sometimes we're literally just sitting at our desk and we see two people meeting in a meeting room and we're like, Oh, what's that about? That is social value. We record it."

The real value often reveals itself months later—someone mentions they got a job, a project launches, a business pivots based on lunchtime advice.

Maddy tracks it all monthly for the council, but both know they capture maybe half of what happens.

This isn't a bug; it's a feature.

The most valuable exchanges resist measurement because they're organic, informal, and unexpected. The framework lends them legitimacy with the council, but the real work takes place in the unmeasured spaces.

Wednesday Lunch: The Heartbeat of Economic Democracy

"It's a spreadsheet that gets spread around in our internal Discord."

This mundane detail reveals sophisticated community infrastructure. Wednesday lunch isn't catered; someone from the space organises it. They buy from independent local restaurants. Fifteen people gather.

"It's effectively a networking session, but we call it Community Lunch." The reframe matters. Networking sounds like an obligation. Lunch sounds like community.

Opening five spots to the public via Eventbrite creates porosity. Members bring potential clients.

Strangers become regulars.

The boundary between inside and outside softens.

As Bernie notes, bringing someone to Wednesday lunch shows them "the full experience" better than any tour could. It's Space4 at its best: informal, productive, and genuinely communal.

The Invisibility Advantage

"There's a massive black gate or a very discreet grey door to get into our space. You can't pass it and be curious about it."

This architectural challenge has become a strategic advantage. Without foot traffic, every member is intentional. Without visibility, they work harder to connect with the neighbourhood.

The solution? Become the neighbourhood's best customer first.

"As a business, as Outlandish, we also have a team lunch on Tuesday, and we visit the local businesses." Wednesday lunches support independent restaurants. Events draw from the voluntary sector.

"I walk down Finsbury Park and people wave at me so much that I feel like a minor celebrity."

Not because of marketing, but because of consistent presence, regular customers, and genuine connections.

The Three-Layer Community Model

Natasha articulates something crucial: Space4 isn't one community but three overlapping ones.

First, the desk users—70-90 members at human scale, where "people will ask who you are if they haven't seen you before."

Second, the Co-Tech network comprises 26 cooperatives that view Space4 as a movement headquarters.

Third, the "virtual membership"—people who attend events, never rent desks, but "see this as a destination to come to for interesting events at the intersection of social impact co-ops and tech."

This model recognises that community value isn't just about desk rental. It's about creating multiple ways to belong, contribute, and benefit.

Infrastructure for Freelance Survival

"Being self-employed is so difficult. You're running a whole business by yourself, all the different departments at the same time."

Natasha's freelance background shapes her approach.

She knows the isolation, the endless decisions, the time haemorrhaged, wondering whether to use FreeAgent or QuickBooks.

The monthly "give us gain style of referrals" sessions have "created a lot of work for people, freelancers in particular."

The Discord job board connects members to opportunities. The free trial day lets culture explain itself through experience.

These aren't perks; they're survival infrastructure for the 4.8 million self-employed workers navigating the UK economy.

Why This Model Matters: A Blueprint for Economic Democracy

Eight years in, Space4 has proven something important: you can build sustainable economic infrastructure that serves neighbourhood needs rather than ext