A former Newtown institution has quietly shape‑shifted into a Ghibli‑tinged, app‑powered study cafe that pays you in snacks to stick around.
Gould’s Book Arcade at on King Street has been reimagined as O3 Space Sydney, a 24/7 work area filled with vintage furniture, old paperbacks and glowing screens. Designed as a welcoming space for students, freelancers and night owls, it blends work, study, gaming and relaxation under one roof.
Where Gould’s once stacked second‑hand titles floor‑to‑ceiling, O3 now layers in mood lighting, beanbags and an “infinity castle” aesthetic with a torii gate and its spirit guardian, Tomo, suspended overhead. Old books line the shelves, while mismatched vintage seating fills both levels, creating a warm, welcoming space for Newtown’s late-night crowd.
Coworking, but make it social
A unique feature of the establishment is that O3 runs on its own app. Guests have to download O3 Space via the App Store or Google Play, check in, scan through turnstiles and track their time inside. Three hours of free access are bundled with the purchase of a drink or food, with free hours resetting every Monday in the early morning.
Instead of charging by the minute, O3 turns time into currency. Every hour spent inside can earn digital tokens, which you redeem for food and drinks—with sandwiches, cheesecakes, matcha and cold brews.
The menu also offers affordable comfort food, handy for long sessions or group study nights. O3 Wings sit at around $10, Crab Rangoon at $8, Calamari at $9, with other small plates such as Chicken Satay ($8) and Thai Basil Mussels ($10) offering more substantial bites without blowing the student budget.
While plenty of coworking spots focus on productivity, O3 nudges visitors toward connection too. Inside the app, you can discover profiles of other people currently in the space, turning quiet study sessions into a soft‑launched social network for Newtown’s student and creative community.
It’s an intriguing proposition in a suburb already dense with bars and venues, with the introduction of a place where meeting someone over a last-minute cram sesh is just as likely as over a beer.
With couches, beanbags, more structured desk setups and 24/7 access, the space feels pitched equally at busy students, night‑shift creatives and remote workers chasing a change of scene.
A growing network beyond Sydney
O3 Space Sydney is the brand’s first outpost in the city, joining two venues already operating in Melbourne and another in Auckland. The Newtown opening extends the network up the east coast, offering locals a new kind of “third place” that sits somewhere between a library, a cafe and a game.
For anyone who knew Gould’s Book Arcade, stepping into O3 feels both familiar and uncanny, since the bones of the old bookshop are still visible, now wrapped in a digital layer that counts your minutes and trades them for snacks.
The new space is an example that beloved spaces can evolve into something new, especially in a city where late‑night study spots are still thin on the ground.
Sydney’s O3 Space is located at 32 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042.
