KNACKERIET - "Best Office Space in Sweden" award winner
KNACKERIET is a members' club and coworking space in Stockholm. We strive to create a community of nice startups, interesting entrepreneurs and fun individuals.
Our 50 to 60 members share two-and-a-half floors in a historical building near the Main Square in the Stockholm Old Town. Our building connects to the courtyard Cepheusgården - a large, lush and secret garden in the Old Town. In the summertime it's a small paradise.
What makes Knackeriet special?
It is true that Knackeriet is a place to work. But just as much it is a community of fun and talented people who enjoy spending time together and learning from each other. We have grassroots organized events of all types: a lunchtime running crew, a beginners sailing club (seasoned sailors can borrow our boat themselves), a summertime swimming club ("Knackeriets Badsällskap") and more. Some members occasionally organize events around squash, tennis, cross-country skiing, cross-country skating, virtual reality, and watching popular TV-series. We had a book club, but it needs revitalizing! Some people at Knackeriet also organize some of Stockholm's coolest conferences, that we try to attend. A female coding community hangs out at Knackeriet every other thursday.
We also have weekly events like our popular Wednesday Breakfasts. And yearly events like a two-day Archipelago Offsite and a two-day Skiing Offsite in the Swedish mountains. There's also a yearly Crayfish party, a Summer party, a Christmas party and a Lucia celebration. And once a year we leave town onboard M/S Enköping, the worlds' oldest passenger ship still in traffic, for our Christmas Table dinner. There are also other types of events and parties organized by our members: book release parties, product release parties, and other events.
Our neighbourhood is the oldest in Stockholm. Commerce and entrepreneurship has been going on right here for more than 800 years. Back then, most of what we now call the "Old Town" was still under water.
Our building is a national heritage of the highest classification in Sweden, a so called "Statligt Byggnadsminne". The oldest parts of the building is from 1420.
Our building became the office for the Royal Numbers Lottery - "Nummerlotteriet" in 1771. The Numbers Lottery was founded by King Gustav III, who also founded the Opera and the Swedish Academy.
King Gustav III made an unbloody coup d'état in 1771. The iconic poet Carl Michael Bellman supported the king in his songs and writings. A few years later the king appointed Bellman as the secretary for the Number Lottery. Bellman officially worked here from 1776 until his death in 1795 - though he probably spent most of his time in bars and brothels.
Our largest meeting room, the Bellman Room, has interior from around 1780-1790. The hand painted wallpaper is from the 1930's. Many of our books with Bellmans' poems and writings are from 1840.
History of our Garden
Our large beautiful garden "Cepheusgården" is the flowering oasis of the Old Town. In mid-april the Magnolia tree blossoms, an event that signals the arrival of summer in Stockholm.
The history of our garden is richly intertwined with the history of Stockholm. In 1930 the Old Town was considered a real slum and there were serious plans to demolish the entire Old Town.
Some people opposed this. As an experiment, the buildings in the Cepheus neighbourhood were bought up and and carefully restored and sanitized. Under the guidance of architect Albin Stark, thirteen buildings were torn down to give the remaining buildings more light. Our beautiful garden was created.
As this experiment was considered successful, it was decided that the rest of the Old Town would be saved from demolition.
Becoming a Member
As a KNACKERIET member you can choose between flexible seating, fixed desk, or to get your own room/s. If you are a struggling entrepreneur we can offer some discounts. Membership includes access to Knackeriet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Please note that we do not have drop-in or day-passes. We prefer members that remain for at least a few months, preferably longer.
If you would like to become a member, please apply for membership by sending us an email at [email protected] or use the contact form below. Don't forget to tell us about yourself and/or your team, and include links to current or previous work.
Knackeriet is an intimate community and the membership committee meets monthly to admit new members when space is available.
It has nothing to do with the zombie movie "the Knackery". According to the english dictionary, the noun knack [næk] is
A skilful, ingenious, or resourceful way of doing something
A particular talent or aptitude, especially an intuitive one
In Swedish, knack-knack-knack is also the sound you make when you're working on a laptop. Like most of us here at Knackeriet do.
Opening Hours
Mon
0:01 - 23:59
Tue
0:01 - 23:59
Wed
0:01 - 23:59
Thu
0:01 - 23:59
Fri
0:01 - 23:59
Sat
0:01 - 23:59
Sun
0:01 - 23:59
The Background
Knackeriet was founded by the web entrepreneur Ted Valentin in 2014. After being a digital nomad for many years, he wanted to create the ideal work place. The goal of Knackeriet is not to grow like a hotel chain with franchises in Lisbon, Madrid, Hamburg, Istanbul or Singapore. Rather, Knackeriet is inspired by small and friendly boutique hotels with guests who do not want to move out.
