More space - more storage?

Hey makers,

I’m a new member here, but I’m willing to get more involved, and during a conversation with @iMakeRobots during SHHH, I learned that there’s an opportunity to rent the room next door to ours.

I’m into woodworking and laser cutting, and I find it difficult to really develop woodworking projects in the space, for a few reasons :

  • lack of (work) space
  • lack of (personal) storage space
  • a feeling that noisy (dirty) tools are way too close to everyone else doing “quiet” work (and computers are sensitive to dust)

I realized this week how silly it is that I’m a member at VHS and yet actually using a friend’s company’s basement for basic woodworking, although he doesn’t have many tools and I actually bring my own (by bike).
I also find tricky to get lumber to VHS since I have to rent a car while the space is open, which is not easy to plan. This problem will obviously be solved with a potential future (wished) keyholder membership, but it adds to the frustration.

As for my conversation with Dan, he mentionned the empty space beside ours, pointing out that the main issue is the cost (obviously).
I’m wondering if anyone actually knows how much it would cost to rent that space, then we could find out how many of us would be interested in more storage and work space, and from there we could figure out possible costs and fees.

Maybe I’m overstepping, as a recent member (joined in june), but I’d be happy to spend some time gathering information, studying how this could work, discussing the pros and cons with more experienced members, and possibly setting up the project if it becomes feasible. And building shelvs and whatnot :slight_smile:

I may have totally missed a similar post, sorry if that’s the case.

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New member enthusiasm is great to see!

I’m pretty sure the space next to us has been leased; anybody know for sure? Either way, the best way to get involved in looking for more space is to join us all on Slack. To join, log into your membership page, click on ‘Get involved!’ in the left sidebar, then send yourself a Slack invitation. Once there, look for the #vhs-space-search channel.

2 Likes

Hey baptiste,

I think that room has been rented out because I keep hearing people doing
dance routines in the mornings.

Once you become a keyholder things become much easier. From about midnight
to mid day there is usually nobody, except for maybe Jack and I.

But in regards to storage, you could always reclaim some space by building
more+better shelves and organizing stuff. I’ve done that multiple times
just to clear space for other members.

The first time I did it was for VHS-ARC, I just cleaned and organized a
shit ton of monitors that we had and managed to clear up a full nokia bench
for them. The second time I did it was for the Lazer Cutter Committee, I
just cleared and area and doubled the storage area for lazer cutter
material back at the bunker.

Another option is dragging the tools into the loading bay and doing stuff
in there.

Best of luck!

2 Likes

Ok, thanks for the answers, too bad the other room is already leased.
I will keep my eyes open for storage improvements until we maybe find a bigger new place :slight_smile:

The problem is that the other unit costs more than the one we have, or we would have gone with that one in the first place, and they are not willing to budge at all on that so we’ve left it alone. They have been really cool about letting us borrow it for events in the past, but we’re not paying what they want for it. Especially when we have to move again in the next year or so.

OK so I understand that it’s more about what the next place is going to be, then.

More or less. This space was always intended to be short term, but at the time it was a necessary sacrifice. We are all very much looking forward to a new location :stuck_out_tongue: The down side of that is that perhaps some people are reluctant to put time into building improvements, knowing they won’t be around long. So if you are up for it, then by all means, build some shelves [and test that they are stable, please :stuck_out_tongue: ] or organizing racks, or whatever it is you have in mind. Anything that helps organize and store is appreciated when space is so tight.