Dubai's first Work From Park space opens at Al Barsha Pond Park
Free outdoor and rooftop desks plus an indoor co-working space from AED 50 a day opened on 2 November at Al Barsha Pond Park, run by Letswork for Dubai Municipality.
Dubai now has a place to bring a laptop to the park and actually get work done. The first Work From Park site opened at Al Barsha Pond Park on Monday, 2 November, turning a corner of one of the city's busiest neighbourhood parks into a mix of free outdoor desks and a paid, air-conditioned co-working space.
The site is made up of five modular buildings set around the park. Three of them hold the workspaces: an open co-working area for up to 30 people, two meeting rooms that each seat nine, and private suites rented by the month. The other two hold a café and toilets. Dubai Municipality runs the scheme with the workspace company Letswork, which operates the site day to day, while Group AMANA built it using its DuBox modular system. Construction took less than three months, about half of it on site, to keep disruption to park visitors low.
The outdoor seating under the pergola and the desks on the rooftops are free and need no booking; the rules for using them are shown on QR codes around the site. Indoors, a co-working day pass costs AED 50 and includes a coffee. Meeting rooms start from AED 200 an hour, and many groups book them for the whole day. Letswork lists high-speed Wi-Fi, a prayer room, water and paid parking.
The idea was first announced by Dubai Municipality in April, with an opening then expected in May. It is part of the city's plan to make its public parks more useful in daily life. The municipality says it will collect feedback from visitors at Al Barsha before it picks the next park, and the builder describes this first site as a pilot that can be repeated elsewhere.
If you work remotely, freelance or simply need a quiet hour away from home, you can now use the outdoor and rooftop desks at Al Barsha Pond Park for free, with no booking. For a desk indoors, buy a AED 50 day pass on the Letswork app or website, or walk in. Letswork's listing gives the hours as 8am to 8pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm at weekends. Meeting rooms and monthly offices are booked through the same app, or by WhatsApp on 04 581 3652. Parking at the park is paid, and the jogging track and nearby mall restaurants are a short walk away.