Working in a Switch booth can be productive, but only when people stop peering in

• This reporter tried out two Switch booths at Northpoint and Century Square, which provided privacy within a shopping mall
• However, the novelty of the booth drew curious onlookers, which made it distracting
• REinvent, the firm behind the booths, said it is looking to expand into hotels and other spaces

SINGAPORE — She had an English test coming up, so 17-year-old Georgia Mutch headed down to what has become a trendy work-study spot of late: A Switch booth.

The GEMS World Academy student has been using the one at Northpoint City in Yishun because of its “conducive environment that costs cheaper than Starbucks”.

Outfitted with a table, a chair, wifi, a power socket and other amenities, the booths are part of workspace-on-demand platform Switch by property technology company REinvent.

Users simply need to download the Switch app, go to any Switch booth or its co-working partners such as JustCo, and check in using the application. Users are then charged by the minute with a minimum charge of S$1.

There are one-seater and four-seater booths, which costs S$3.60 and S$7.20 per hour respectively in an ongoing promotion, something which National University of Singapore student Emily Lai feels is “very affordable”.

“It’s nice to get a change of environment instead of studying at home as there are fewer places we can study at because of Covid-19,” said the 23-year old, who was studying with her classmate Amanda Yee, 25, at a four-seater booth.

Ms Yee said: “It’s a bit cramped for the two of us as we have our laptop and notes, and the table is a bit small… but it's very productive to work in although it is distracting sometimes when people peep into the booth.”

The Yishun outlet has six booths, of which four are one-seaters. Mr Alex Lim, a 38-year-old engineer, was trying out the one-seater for the first time to get some personal space while working out of the office.

“I feel like it’s easier to concentrate as I can get my own personal space as compared to working at Starbucks. Nowadays, cafes are also more strict about working due to Covid-19 restrictions, so I’ll probably come back to use the booths in the future.”

As people raved about the booths, this reporter decided to give it a go and checked into a one-seater pod at Northpoint recently.

Despite its small size, the Switch booth was much more comfortable than expected, fitted with a work desk large enough for me to sprawl my notes out, and without the worry of looking like a mess in public.

Though it was not entirely soundproof, it did block out most of the outside noise, which made me feel like I had some privacy without feeling claustrophobic.

This was the biggest benefit for me as instead of incessant drilling noises from my neighbour’s ongoing renovation, I heard my favourite songs coming out from the built-in Bluetooth speakers.

While I had a great time there, my experience at Century Square was anything but.

Located at the mall’s Basement One, the booths were placed along a crowded walkway and near an escalator.

I could hear the bustling crowd walking by to grab dinner. The novelty of the booth also drew curious stares that distracted me from my work.

As I was typing away, I could hear people exclaim loudly “someone is working here”. Others attempted to enter the booth by pushing the door, and some even banged the door for reasons I could not comprehend.

Within one hour, 18 people had peeped through the privacy film and another four attempted to enter the booth. Three children attempted to push my booth.

I heard one man telling his son outside my booth: “I’ll lock you in here if you misbehave.” Another had unintentionally locked me inside my booth by standing directly outside the door, making it impossible for me to make a quick toilet trip.

By that point, I couldn’t decide if I was an animal at a zoo or was being incarcerated.

I will probably find myself going back to a Switch booth to work in the future — though after the novelty factor has died down.

Mr Dominic Penaloza, the chief executive officer and co-founder of REinvent, the company behind Switch, said the booths were a work-in-progress before Covid-19, but the lockdown and ongoing restrictions made people more open to working outside the office.

“Shopping malls are just the beginning, and we hope to expand to other locations in the near future, like residential complexes, hotels, co-living spaces, even traditional office building spaces,” he said. “We’re in discussion with various space providers.”