Meet Paddy Kluts from Mountain Club

People Behind the Space: Mountain Club

Mountain Club is a members club with a vibrant coworking hubs based within two locations in Queenstown. These spaces have become sought-after locations for small businesses, entrepreneurs and freelancers looking to connect with like-minded professionals, enjoy bespoke events and redefine their working week for the better.

We had a chat with Mountain Club CEO Paddy Kluts, to understand the ethos behind this unique space and the team that makes it possible.

Mountain Club CEO Paddy Kluts 

1. Tell us a bit about the Mountain Club vision?

    

Mountain Club was set up with a goal to connect like-minded people within the Queenstown Lakes Region. We are fortunate enough to live in a beautiful part of the world, in bringing the right people together we add another layer to the growing ecosystem. 

I believe that Queenstown needs a base for people to connect over and above the amazing things we get to explore. That base creates the opportunity for more long-standing relationships which I find to be very important. Our need for in-person connections is more important now than ever. In succeeding in creating this environment for the long term I think the region will benefit from more high contributing people being attracted here.

1. What makes Mountain Club unique to other coworking spaces? 

We are unique because of our home. Living the mountain life means that your fellow coworkers skin (hike up with skis/snowboard) up the mountain in the AM, go for mountain bike laps from your workspace for lunch, enjoy a lake dip after a run, and come back to your members bar for a cocktail on the balcony.

Our aim at Mountain Club is to create workspaces for hyperfocus, creativity and collaboration. We all work in very different ways and throughout a range of times so we can enjoy the reasons why we made the decision to move here.

View of Queenstown from the deck at Mountain Club 5 Mile

Tell us a bit about the social events you host?

Our wellness schedule includes yoga and pilates 3 times per week, and mountain biking or skiing weekly.

Our Beach St Terrace Bar allows us to bring everyone together with a wide range of social events. Our region has so many top-quality producers, and we love showcasing them every fortnight at our members' tasting evenings.

Every month we hold our ‘Conversation Series’ which allows our members to lead a conversation on a given topic then open the discussion to the group. I find this a great way to explore new ideas that we may otherwise miss out on. 

We love that our diverse member base has a commonality and they come together in no better way than the parties that we throw at the Beach St Terrace Bar, be it to end summer or winter, or to celebrate amazing local community events like LUMA or the local Movember movement. These are nights to get excited for.

Can you describe the community and types of businesses within the space? 

Mountain Club has a variety of sizes of businesses. The local businesses based here have usually been SMEs,  but we are now seeing an increase in large firms who either set up their headquarters or a satellite office with us. Over 60% of our businesses are generating revenue outside of the Queenstown region; I see this as a direct result of the WFH movement that was accelerated through COVID. A lot of high value talent is being attracted to Queenstown and with that comes a thriving startup and investment ecosystem.

1. Mountain Club 5 Mile Workspace in Queenstown 

1. 1. If you could pick any three people in the world to work in the space, who would it be and why? 

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I feel pretty lucky to hang out and work with some amazing people already! But, seeing my Dad use the space would be very cool. He was a larger than life character that had a superpower to fill any room he was in. Then, in following his passion I would say I would love to see how musicians create their work that influences us all. Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) would be in that for sure, with a session on our piano. Then I will go with a classic, John Toogood from Shihad, an absolute rockstar who has influenced a lot of Kiwis from my generation. His stories and how he incorporates them into his work would be great to see first-hand.

Do you have any tips for those thinking about setting up their own coworking space?

Create a space that your members would want to invite their friends to and be proud of, it’s really cool seeing friends visit and say “you really work here?”. It confuses me that people run offices just for their businesses, and none of their staff want to spend any more time than they have to there. I believe that that type of environment kills any creativity or progression.

Mountain Club Beach Street

Are there any exciting plans in the pipeline for Mountain Club?

Katie has been leading our Events & Experiences offering for our members throughout 2023. This allows us to personally tailor and extend the Mountain Club service outside of our four walls. Queenstown has a beautiful offering with a lot of exciting opportunities to push the boundaries when curating events with a high-performing team or your next holiday. In this pipeline, there are some really cool projects that will be coming to life!

Explore the Mountain Club spaces here!

View Mountain Club 5 Mile

View Mountain Club Beach Street