Evi Silviawati, a 42-year-old mother, looked anxiously at her watch while her 11-year-old son Muhammad Haikal was still busy forming his three-dimensional paper design into various forms at the Historia Food and Bar restaurant in Kota Tua, West Jakarta, on Saturday afternoon.

'€œWe need to go home Haikal,'€ his mother said while Haikal, having shown little interest a moment earlier, now seemed to be totally occupied with his paper.

Evi said she and Haikal at first only wanted to see the historic city.

'€œWe usually only stroll around Fatahilla Square but somebody dragged me over here to join this workshop,'€ she said.

Evi said she supported Kota Tua become not only a historic site but also opening spaces to trigger the creativity of children and adults. '€œActivities like this are good for children,'€ she said.

The paper and cardboard workshop held on Saturday and Sunday was part of the Creative Room at Historia program held by organizer Kota Tua Creative Festival (KTCF), in cooperation with consultancy firm EMICK and Historia Food and Bar.

The program is the curtain raiser for KTCF'€™s next project, the creation of a co-working space on the second floor of the restaurant, in one of the historic city'€™s old buildings.

KTCF board member Windi Salomo said besides the workshop, the program comprised an architecture and design exhibition, music performances and a display of products by local designers. '€œThis is the continuation of last year'€™s program with a different theme and scale,'€ she said.

Windi said that compared to last year'€™s festival, the current event was smaller. '€œThe current program is more intimate and detailed. It is to show a concrete example of how a public space like a coffee shop can become a venue to do unique things while the effect can be lucrative for the cafe,'€ she said.

Windi said the current event'€™s highlight was introducing the idea of a co-working space.

'€œWe want to influence other places to do similar things,'€ she said, adding that KTCF had been discussing other possible projects with Jakarta Old Town Revitalization Corporation.

Aaman Sulchan of EMICK said that co-working spaces were a sustainable way to improve the economic situation at Kota Tua.

'€œIt is an effort to include in the function of a room, support for creative communities and startup companies that cannot yet afford to rent or own their own office or studio,'€ he said.

Aaman said the space, with a capacity of around 50 people, would accommodate various creative industry players like architects, performing and visual artists, photographers and designers.

He said that besides providing spaces, the place also enables people working on different but related projects to cooperate.

He aimed for the project to be carried out in early 2016. '€œWe still have to wait until the roof of the building is renovated,'€ he said, adding the team had received funding from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to renovate the roof.

Florian Heinzelmann, one of the architects who designed the co-working space, said the room would also be more ecological friendly by, for example, using the zero-waste furniture of one of the exhibition installations and taking energy-saving steps like using a natural cooling system.

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