The Petridish story so far...

The former Ross & Glendinning textile manufacturing building was a Victorian factory dating back to 1864. The past few decades were hard on the building, with a restoration in desperate need.

Petridish is now a fully refurbished, 100% earthquake strengthened commercial building, an achievement that spanned 10 years by local husband and wife team, Jason and Kate Lindsey. The creation of this thriving community of businesses, that is Dunedin’s most successful co-working space, started as a speculative purchase of a heritage building, and no inkling then of what it would become.

The idea of setting up a co-working space came soon after, starting with the fit-out of the second floor and having a few small businesses take up residency in the space that looked out across the city to the Otago Peninsula. Now, with 5 levels of restoration complete, Petridish currently has around 50 offices, plus individual desks, and houses between 60-70 businesses.

where coworking space meets community

The name ‘Petridish’ plays off the idea of Culture and Growth.

The members are who make our community what it is - friendly, helpful, collaborative, inspiring and inclusive. They are from a diverse range of industries at different stages of their business journey from start-ups to established companies. Some have head offices based overseas or elsewhere in New Zealand, and Petridish makes the perfect home for a local team or remote worker to set up office and feel part of a thriving office culture.

The levels within Petridish cater to different community needs, from vibrant collaborative spaces to quiet zones and a professional penthouse setting.

Petridish also offers a number of different sized meeting rooms available both for members and for public hire, all fully equipped for video conferencing.