Workplace was founded in 2002 by Miles Thurlow and Paul Moss (d.2019) as an artist-led curatorial project in the Northeast of England. In 2005 Workplace opened its first gallery in Gateshead and ran a programme there until 2018. The gallery relaunched in October 2020 in London and is now based at 50 Mortimer Street in Fitzrovia, with, since 2023, a second gallery space in Newcastle.

In 2017 the gallery set up Workplace Foundation to engage meaningfully with the community surrounding the gallery and to support emerging and under-represented artists. Workplace Foundation is a registered charity and is focused on supporting equality and diversity, environmental sustainability, and arts education. It is supported by the commercial gallery, trusts and foundations, and by the generous support of individual patrons and benefactors.