The lobby of Fosbury & Son's Amsterdam branch inside a 19th-century hospital

The founders of Fosbury & Sons explain to Dezeen how their fast-growing roster of spaces offer a more "grown-up" and personalised take on co-working than those of leading competitors like WeWork.

Established in 2016 by Stijn Geeraets, Maarten Van Gool and Serge Hannecart, Fosbury & Sons has opened a series of co-working spaces across the Belgian cities of Antwerp and Brussels.

The company has recently gone international and opened a canal-side branch in Amsterdam, where Dezeen was given the chance to interview Geeraets and Van Gool.

A further three locations will launch by the end of this year – a success that the two co-founders put down to their strong "dialogue" with each property's setting and occupants.

"What you see at WeWork is good and I think we can exist next to each other, but if you're in a WeWork, the spaces in Amsterdam kind of look the same in Berlin," Geeraets and Van Gool told Dezeen.

"Every [Fosbury & Sons] location looks different. It's based on the original building, it's based on the city we're in. So it gets personality from the building and the people working in it."

"It's an exercise in being humble and open to what the city and location gives us, instead of forcing yourself into a framework. And understanding the needs of the other party – therefore you need to listen," they added.

"WeWork is a lot of shouting. When people shout, they are not listening."