Discover how Newbridge Business Centre transformed a Victorian building into a modern workspace, offering flexibility and ending commute fatigue in Kildare.
In the heart of Newbridge, County Kildare, a Victorian building that once served as a drapery shop and later housed the town’s post office has found new purpose as a beacon for Ireland’s changing work culture.
Newbridge Business Centre, housed in Charlotte House where renowned scientist Dame Kathleen Lonsdale was born in 1903, represents more than just another co-working space. It’s a solution to one of modern Ireland’s most pressing challenges: the daily grind of commuting.
“The individuals, the employees, they have commuter fatigue. They don’t want to travel on squashed trains and packed motorways”
“Why ever would you sit on a train for an hour and a half before you start work?” asks Martin Cooper, the former electrical engineer who transformed the historic building into a state-of-the-art workspace. “In years to come, when our kids are our age and our grandkids, they’ll look at us like we’ve got four heads.”
Cooper’s observation strikes at the heart of a fundamental shift in how and where people work.
Just two years after opening, his business centre is 80% full, with waiting lists for office space and expansion plans already in the works. The success story offers insights into how businesses and workers are adapting to post-pandemic realities.
Beyond the daily grind
The centre’s rapid growth reflects what Cooper calls a perfect storm of workplace evolution. Companies want their staff to collaborate in person, but employees are suffering from what he terms “commuter fatigue” – the exhaustion that comes from packed trains and congested motorways.
“Companies want their staff to be in the same space so that they can co-create, they can transfer that knowledge between senior and more junior members of staff,” Cooper explains. “But the individuals, the employees, they have commuter fatigue. They don’t want to travel on squashed trains and packed motorways.”
The centre’s location, a four-minute walk from Newbridge train station, exemplifies this new approach. Local professionals can start their day at the centre, then hop on a 22-minute train to Dublin’s IFSC for meetings, returning before the evening rush. Some clients from Dublin have discovered they can reach Newbridge faster than certain parts of the capital.
“A person came in to see us, and he lived in Harold’s Cross, and their offices were in Sandyford,” Cooper recalls. “He said he got to us in Newbridge faster than he could get to Sandyford.”
The infrastructure advantage
Newbridge Business Centre founder Martin Cooper
The centre’s success isn’t accidental. Cooper, drawing on his engineering background, has created what he calls “a veritable bastion of cybersecurity” with fibre-connected systems and secure wireless networks throughout the building.
This technological foundation addresses a critical need for businesses requiring enterprise-level security and connectivity.
“We have secure firewalls, and that is at a very high standard,” explains Andriu Mac Lochlainn, an Executive Financial Planner with Fairstone Ireland, who uses the centre as his Kildare base. “That can be a downfall of a lot of ad hoc business centres that aren’t developed, but this is built for purpose.”
The building houses 60 desk spaces within 18 private office suites, meeting rooms, teleconferencing facilities, a podcasting studio, and a rooftop terrace.
More importantly, it offers flexibility that traditional office leases cannot match. Companies can expand or contract their space as needed, with licence agreements ranging from 12 to 36 months.
A community approach
What sets Newbridge Business Centre apart from larger co-working chains is its emphasis on personal service and community building.
Diana Coogan, Customer Care Manager at Accora, highlights this as a key differentiator: “With Sinead and Susan, it feels like we have our own personal reception, which is a massive bonus for us if we have clients calling for meetings.”
The centre regularly hosts networking events, from pizza and prosecco parties to seasonal celebrations. These gatherings serve a practical purpose beyond socialising – they address what Cooper identifies as “work from home burnout.”
“People are isolated, working from home all the time, and it causes psychological challenges, causes anguish, it causes anxiety,” Cooper observes. “When people are isolated in that way, they struggle.”
Learning and development in the new world of work
For Mac Lochlainn, the centre provides something that pure remote work cannot: proximity to colleagues and informal learning opportunities. He advocates for young professionals to spend time in office environments, particularly early in their careers.
“You cannot learn in the same manner remotely as you can by living it, hearing conversations, being involved,” he argues. “When you’re standing beside someone, and you might just have a quick question, that question isn’t strong enough for someone to ring and set up a Teams meeting.”
This sentiment reflects broader concerns about the long-term impacts of remote work on professional development and workplace culture.
The bigger picture
The contrast highlights the importance of location, service, and genuine market demand in creating successful workspaces. Newbridge’s position – 30,000 residents, excellent transport links, and proximity to Dublin – provides natural advantages that not all locations can replicate.
As the centre approaches capacity, Cooper is exploring expansion options. The success has validated his belief that the future of work lies not in a binary choice between office and home, but in flexible, well-located spaces that serve both individual and collaborative needs.
“We don’t have to commute and you don’t have to stay at home,” Cooper summarises. “There is another option.”
For businesses like Accora and Fairstone, the centre represents more than just office space – it’s a platform for growth.
As Mac Lochlainn puts it: “The flexibility is key, and having Newbridge Business Centre allows me that flexibility.”
The transformation of Charlotte House from Victorian-era post office to modern workspace mirrors Ireland’s own evolution in thinking about work and place.
In an era where technology enables work from anywhere, Newbridge Business Centre demonstrates that sometimes the best solution isn’t the most obvious one – it’s about finding the right balance between connection and convenience, tradition and innovation.
Top image: Susan Keogh, operations manager; Martin Cooper, founder and CEO; and Sinead Smyth, marketing manager, Newbridge Business Centre
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