There's a new type of office on North Queen Street, and it's flourishing.

The Candy Factory began with 15 designers, writers and small business owners looking for a communal space to work.

Now, one year later, the former Keppel candy plant has blossomed into a community of 40 professionals working alongside — and often with — one another on projects as diverse as videography, marketing, computer programming and talent recruitment.

The Candy Factory's lofty, warehouse-like expanse provides members with a creative environment where they can be productive in the company of like-minded others.

"It's all about the community,"  said Anne Kirby, The Candy Factory's founder. "It's about coming and being open, social and collaborative."

There are no cubicles, but instead an open array of desks, tables and couches for personal or group use. High ceilings expose brick and coiled pipes, and rich hardwood floors gleam underfoot. Everything exudes cool.

And there is substance to the style.

Its members enjoy bountiful wi-fi and hardwire ports, high-resolution color printing with fax and networked copying, a well-equipped kitchen and all the standard office supplies.

For private and online meetings there's a conference room equipped with a projector, Skype-ready Mac mini and seating for 10.

There are various membership levels and prices; premium members can even take a shower.

The Candy Factory's true strength comes not from its amenities, however, but from the cooperation and sense of unity between its members.

Many are in some creative line of work, and collaboration becomes almost inevitable when complementary skill sets are just a desk away.

Photographers provide other members with portraiture, marketers lend PR and one member — Dave "The Tax Guy" Shiley — even helps the others file their taxes. It's networking like you've never seen it.

"If we have a job come in for us," said Mark Reinmiller of Kinectiv Marketing, "we'll meet with other members who we think will benefit the client. When The Factory started just a year ago, those relationships hadn't been established yet.  But now those kinds of things are a regular occurrence."

When the project is big enough, The Candy Factory tackles it as a whole.

On large-scale design efforts such as Home of the Sparrow, a housing and support program for homeless and low-income women, members combine their disparate, highly developed resources toward a single goal.

Each member handles some component of the project, and they coordinate the effort in a work space they already share. The result is a sophisticated and versatile agency with none of the costly overhead.

"(Home of the Sparrow) was easy because there were so many of us right there in the same location," said Derek Lau, of aideM Media Solutions, who handled videography for the event. "Any changes that we needed to have done were done quickly."

The only problem The Candy Factory faces now is where and how to expand.

With a retention rate of almost 100 percent — Kirby says that its three lost members left for either geographic or economic reasons, and that sometimes they drop in for day passes — The Candy Factory is almost at capacity.

"(Expansion) is probably our biggest hurdle," Kirby said.

Adjacent portions of the building aren't suited to expansion. A dialogue with the building's ownership is under way, but the options seem limited, she said.

"We don't want to uproot. We've grown a home here," Kirby said.

In the meantime, The Candy Factory intends to ingratiate itself further with Lancaster's small business and artistic communities by continuing to host their events free of charge.

So far the venue has opened its doors to Habitat for Humanity,  Lancaster Vintage Flea Market, a wedding reception and the swiftly sold-out Homebrewers Ball, where local beer homebrewers competed against a backdrop of live music, a documentary short and catered finger food.

The Candy Factory also supports a consistent roster of local musicians and visual artists by holding concerts, film screenings and art showings without rental fees or commissions on sales.

"We want to be a place for working artists to be able to display," Kirby said, citing a shortage of accessible lower-level venues in town. "It's a community service, we feel. We want to be more of an incubator."

For more information on The Candy Factory, visit www.candyissweet.com for a media tour of the space or stop by 323 N. Queen St. and see it for yourself.

jpianka@lnpnews.com