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Coterie Worklounge founders Leah Richmond and Su-Zette Sparks selected B+H Architects to design their ‘worklounge’ concept. The flagship space in downtown Seattle offers its users a sophisticated space to host business meetings and events, work or socialise.
Richmond and Sparks were driven by their experience as consultants specialising in workplace trends. The two looked to create a unique mixed-use space that reflects their shared vision for the future of the workspace.
“So much current workplace design is focused on tech users and the millennial cohort. We’re ignoring a huge section of the workforce made up of lawyers, bankers, consultants and other business people (both ahead of and behind the millennial cohort) who appreciate the comfort and sophistication of a more upscale environment,” explains Joslyn Balzarini, Senior Design Architect at B+H Architects.
Richmond and Sparks originally envisioned a ‘Mad Men’ inspired worklounge and when B+H Architects visited the space and “looked at its bones (a building built in the 60s that was renovated in the 90s for a private bank) we took our cue from a few of the existing high end features”.
“The showstopping chandelier in particular was a jumping off point for the design language. However, the concept was very much about blending the best of business club, co-working space, restaurant and bar and in the end it was the qualities of the space we sought that inspired us, rather than a particular era,” says Balzarini.
Members of Coterie Worklounge are given access to a variety of lounge spaces, meeting rooms and flexible work zones, as well as extensive business services. Coterie Worklounge has proudly placed itself as part of a new breed of co-working spaces that provide an alternative open plan office design to corporate professionals, with a focus on style and design and combining desk and meeting spaces with a restaurant and bar.
“The real luxury of Coterie is the wide choice of different environments to support different needs and purposes throughout the day,” Balzarini concludes. “Members can choose to work on a variety of surfaces ranging from caster base upholstered café chairs to communal tables, bar stools and tables, lounge furniture, banquette seating or more traditional task furniture. There are spaces to focus and concentrate, places that encourage collaboration, nooks where members can read a book or relax with a martini and social spaces where they can eat, drink and network.”
