Fatboy Slim on the decks, fish and chips by the mountain, and a new creative hub for Kemptown
If you were wondering how to launch a new coworking space in Brighton without making it feel like a particularly earnest networking event, Yolk House may have found the answer.
Last night saw the launch of Rock Place East, Yolk House’s newest creative and coworking space in Kemptown, and the occasion was marked with Yolk House Fest, a day-long celebration that was about as Brighton as you could hope for.
There was beach volleyball. There were local DJs. There was a frankly astonishing amount of fish and chips from Little Jack Fullers on St James’ Street. There were bacon butties. There was enough booze to sink a ship. And, because apparently all of that wasn’t quite enough, Fatboy Slim was on the decks.
Not a bad way to open the doors.
But behind the party is something rather more substantial. Rock Place East sits opposite Yolk House’s existing Rock Place West and adds around 100 desks to the Yolk House community, taking its Brighton membership to around 175 people.
Designed for freelancers, founders and growing teams, the new space combines coworking with something closer to a members’ club. There are hot desks, private offices, meeting rooms, soundproofed phone booths and an events space for everything from corporate gatherings to networking nights.
And it certainly doesn’t look like your standard corporate coworking environment.
The interiors are deliberately eclectic, with vintage wallpaper, cult music album covers, hand-painted murals from local artists and plenty of comfy sofas. The thinking from co-founder Christian Mealing is simple: if you’re coming to Brighton, you probably don’t want to spend the day somewhere that could just as easily be in Reading, Manchester or Milton Keynes.
Quite right.
The idea is to create a space where work and community overlap, particularly for Brighton’s creative and digital marketing crowd. Co-founder Jim Lewcock also runs BLUE14, an angel investment syndicate, and says the community naturally creates opportunities for collaboration and investment between the businesses based within the hubs.
Rock Place East is also part of a bigger Yolk House plan to establish Kemptown as something of a creative and entrepreneurial hub, with the Brighton operation complementing its Farringdon space in London.
And there’s more to come.
Seven bohemian-style apartments are planned above Rock Place East for spring 2027, offering short and long-term accommodation aimed at digital nomads and conference or event visitors.
A launch with a purpose
While the launch party was very much about having a good time, Yolk House Fest was also raising money for Martlets Hospice, which provides essential support to people in Sussex affected by life-limiting illness.
Yolk House has raised more than £80,000 for Martlets over the past five years, and has pledged a further £50,000 this year. All ticket income from Yolk House Fest is going towards the charity.
It’s another example of the company trying to connect its business with the community around it. Since opening Rock Place West in 2020, Yolk House says it has invested more than £5 million into Kemptown, with the latest expansion also creating new local roles.
So yes, there was an awful lot of fish and chips.
But there was also a pretty clear message behind last night’s party. Rock Place East isn’t simply another place to plug in a laptop. It’s an attempt to create the kind of creative, slightly unconventional community that Brighton has always been good at.
And if Fatboy Slim, a beach volleyball tournament and enough chips to feed half of Kemptown are anything to go by, they’ve certainly started as they mean to continue.
Rock Place East
Kemptown, Brighton
Find out more about Yo House
