Ziferblat, Shoreditch

When I found out I was going to study in London almost a year ago (how times flies), one of the first things I did was google 'cool things to do in London'. After quite a long time researching and making a mental list (in my defence, it was summer and I didn't have much else to do) I came across Ziferblat and was instantly attracted to the whole idea.

Ziferblat (translates to dial/clock face in German) is basically a house in Shoreditch, inside of which everything is free- you pay for the time and space there, rather than the stuff inside. It's something like 5p per minute and is basically a big free space for you to do whatever you want.

From the outside, it doesn't give much away. In fact, I didn't really notice the door to get in, it just looked like any other office building on the street. 

Once you get inside and up the stairs, you are greeted at a reception area by a lovely woman who explains how everything works, and clocks you in so you're free to explore. She kindly offered to show us around, but we were content discovering things for ourselves.

The main room was an array of so many things- musical instruments, sofas, newspapers, tables, a book case, a case full of games, and interestingly, a cabinet full of.... clocks. They encourage guests to take a clock with them (they were all different) 
and keep it until they leave.

 

They also had a few smaller rooms, like this secret hideaway, which inside had a desk, a laptop, a mirror and lots of random things on the shelves like games and stationery. It's such a nice room if you want some peace and space to yourself. Previous guests had left their drawings and writing on the walls, which was really cool to read.

There was also a kitchen, with a fridge filled with food, cupboards with a huge selection of teas and coffees, and a table with bread, jam, biscuits and cakes. I like that the teas all were labelled with explanations- I had the rose hip tea, which apparently is good for your stomach. They also have their own coffee, which I didn't drink but apparently is really nice.

After having a look round the place, we decided to sit on the sofas in the main room and spend some time relaxing with the games they had. We started with some interestingly decorated jenga, each of the blocks with dares or inspirational quotes. 

And we couldn't not play a bit of chess. I'm as bad as a remember I was. But it was nice to relax in a different environment than home or uni. There was so much to do and the environment was so friendly, it made it easy to speak to the other guests too.

There were also a couple of people there working- I imagine if coffee shops are a place where you like to study, this is a pretty good quiet alternative. 

We ended up spending an hour at Ziferblat, which was £3, and to be honest we could've stayed quite easily for another hour! There are Ziferblat spaces in other cities like Manchester and Liverpool as well as London, so if you've got a spare hour then I'd recommend checking it out (you can even bring your dog).

That's all for now! 

Hope you're enjoying the heat ☀