A lot has happened in the five months since Tommaso Biasiolo became the Outreach and Admin Coordinator for ‘the Nook’ in Cortes Island’s Village Commons. The Grand Opening was on June 27, 2025, but there are still small projects to complete. Two special small rooms need to soundproofed; the Nook’s kitchen has not been installed. The original vision was to create a space where nonprofits can work and hold their meetings, but these spaces are now available for individuals as well.
Cortes Currents: Tomasso described the Village Commons as consisting of of the Pavilion, the Nook and two large C-cans.
Tommaso Biasiolo: “When I started, they just started to build the ‘Pavilion,’ a community event space where people can book the space. They can rent audio systems and they can use the space for music, concerts or a dance party. Seeing that growing from nothing was a pretty interesting experience. I see this beautiful place coming slowly up.”
Cortes Currents: Anyone wanting to rent the pavilion can find the necessary forms on the Cortes Foundation website. Tommaso is in charge of the Nook.
Tommaso Biasiolo: “These ideas came out from some research that’s been done in 2021, mainly talking to associations of nonprofits on Cortes. Many of them were asking for a space to work away from family, away from the house because working there sometimes is challenging. So having a break and somewhere to go where they could get work done.”
“We have the ‘Nook Work.’ That’s the co-working space where you can book the desk for you to work on.”
“In the beginning it was for social profits, a fter building we decided to expand it to individuals as well. So it became a little bit more broad spectrum than what was at the beginning. The main vision is to have people be inspired by each other and work together. For me, there is inspiration when I have somebody else that works with me in there.”
“I see them working and when I work it becomes an energetic thing. Almost like we’re working for different things in the same state of mind. It’s not common to have places like this for people to work, especially we who work from home remotely. I found it pretty cool.”
“ There has been this vision of creating A meeting space because most association were meeting in people’s houses and having their board meetings in there. So, from the beginning, there has been this vision of creating a space for social profit on Cortes Island to have a space to work and to meet.”
“The ‘Nook Meet’ is for up to eight or 10 people. We have a TV in here. we have a camera installed during COVID for hybrid meetings. So people, if they’re not here, they can meet.”
“Then we have ‘the Pod’ which is the most private place.”
Cortes Currents: Some Cortesians probably still remember the Pod from the days when it was a little portable booth used by CCEDA. It will not be needed at the Nook much longer. The two small soundproofed rooms will take over this role.
I thought the Pod was going back to CCEDA?
Tommaso Biasiolo: “Not yet, I’m actually the chair of CCEDA. We’re working together on that (laughter). At the moment it is staying with the foundation because we don’t have an actual plan for it. We will figure out what’s going to happen with it later after the summer.”
“ It feels good to be part of something that is going to make the community better.”
“It’s going to create connection between the community and people from outside that come here for holiday and they need a space to work. That’s part of why we opened this to individuals—to create that social enterprise.”
“So people from the outside can book the space and pay for it. That money goes back into the community and into the Nook.”
Cortes Currents: Are people using the Nook and the Pavilion?
Tommaso Biasiolo: “The marketing has not been fully done, but I have a few people using it at the moment.”
“In the Pavilion, we are doing the Friday music series at the moment. That’s being used every weekend.”
“The work space and the meeting space. The Cortes Foundation is using the space three or four times a week. Bruce Haden (the architect) is coming in pretty often. The Cortes Academy coming in, Jemma Hicken from the radio is coming in to do some work in there. A few individuals from outside Cortes, that we know, have been booking the place in the last couple weeks. So we’re slowly getting rolling.”
“At the moment we are happy with the control that we have. We don’t want to get too busy, too fast because the booking system needs to be tested and be sure it works properly.”
Cortes Currents: When do you expect the final bits of construction to be finished?
Tommaso Biasiolo: “I am not sure. I know that Manda Aufochs Gillespie (Executive Director of the Cortes Foundation) is talking to Matt, and she’s talking to a few trades people in order to figure that out. She’s in charge of that. I’m not, and I don’t have the details.”
Cortes Currents: ‘Where’s your office?
Tommaso Biasiolo: “Part time home and part time here.”
Cortes Currents: Are you here seven days a week?
Tommaso Biasiolo: “No, mostly half days, sometimes four days a week.”
Cortes Currents: What do you expect to happen as the place gets busier? Will you be here more days a week? Will it evolve into something where you might not even have an uptake at all?
Tommaso Biasiolo: “It’s already mostly self-managed. When you book, you get a code, you can come in and leave, just lock the door. As long as the booking system works properly, I don’t need to be here.”
“I come here too because I live in a tiny house. It’s nice to have a space that is not a tiny house to work.”
“We’re going to have at least one or two seats always available for a foundation and then the rest we book up. So we’re keeping control of how many people can book what. That’s really controllable from the back end. When it’s full, it’s full—we keep one seat for us.”
Cortes Currents: How can people book a space at the Nook?
Tommaso Biasiolo: “If you are at home and you’re struggling to find some mental space to do some work, come and check it out.”
“Book a session online. You can email [email protected]. Our rates are reasonable. The first booking, we can make complimentary so people can try it. After that we can talk about it and see if there’s anything else that we can do for you.”
“There’s many options. We have two hours for a booking. We have full day booking for the desk. We have monitors available. We have drawers with keys that you can keep your stuff in if you want to. We have a weekly rate. We have a monthly rate now as well. You can leave your things in there if you wish.”
“We have a 50% discount for the nonprofits. So if you’re a nonprofit and you want to book for your staff or for meeting rooms, write [email protected] and I can send you the 50% off code and you can book for that anytime, all year round for any service.”
Cortes Currents: Aren’t most of your customers non-profits?
Tommaso Biasiolo: “At the moment it is half and half, we see how that evolves.”
“You can find the rates on the website https://cortesfoundation.ca/the-nook/.”
“Those rates are until October 31st. And then we’re going to take all the feedback and decide how it’s gonna look for the winter, for next summer.”
“We’re still adjusting, testing a few things and seeing if the prices are good or low enough, are they too high? What do we need to do to make it more accessible for more people? We had to start for summer, so we decided on some rates we thought were fair and we’ll go from there.”
Links of Interest:
- Make a booking in the Nook, or book the Pod
- Book the Pavilion or room in Mansons Hall
- Village Commons Page on the Cortes Foundation website
- Articles about, or mentioning, the Nook
- Articles about, or mentioning, the Village commons
- Articles about, or mentioning, the Friendship Pole in the Village Commons
All undesignated photos by Roy L Hales
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