The fact that the kids are separate from the work area should have been outlined clearly in the article. After reading the headline and the text, my thoughts were "this sounds horrible and I'd want to jump off a bridge if I worked there."
Now that I know the kids are kept away from the work environment, I can definitely see the benefits. Who watches over the kids while they're in the daycare? A rotating schedule between the parents?
Hah yeah, if the work & daycare sections weren't separate, I would've jumped off a bridge too!
Re: watching over kids: it's like a regular daycare, so they have dedicated staff to take care of the kids. (Which also means the daycare costs extra, on top of the fees for the co-working space itself.)
Are there significant advantages over just picking a childcare facility close to your place of work? Obviously distance comes into it, but I feel that otherwise you're potentially picking the best combo-childcare-workspace rather than the best childcare facility and best workspace.
When I first started reading the article, I thought they were going to suggest working from home with the child around your legs. Ha! Good luck with that!
Presumably it means you can see your child in a five-minute coffee break several times in the work day, and feel less like you're shipping your child off for other people to take care of most of the waking day.
I never did that, but I have known people who have had their children in day care centers close by, and were happy to have them there, may have looked in at lunch, etc.
On the other hand, I knew a woman with an office right upstairs from the rooms where our children were; she got fed up with the management and moved her daughter to another facility--not very far, but not lunchtime walking distance.
The proximity alone is a huge advantage. And I would think that the parents are more organized (ie they all work in the same office) would be beneficial. Above some minimum bar, I'm not sure what the "best" looks like (for <= 36 months).
We compared a few childcare places and while all seemed adequate, the one we went with has a kitchen with some instructional component (e.g., children often see how the food is prepared and get some practice), chickens and vegetable garden, has orchestra-level musicians visit for music days, etc. It's a purpose built facility rather than a retro-fitted house too.
My child is there only two days a week, so I have no issue with not being able to drop in to play during lunch breaks.
Now that I know the kids are kept away from the work environment, I can definitely see the benefits. Who watches over the kids while they're in the daycare? A rotating schedule between the parents?