Upon entering a Convene location, guests are warmly greeted and invited to grab a cup of coffee. “There’s a generous feeling of, ‘This is available, please partake, enjoy,’” says Brian Tolman, senior vice president of design and construction at New York-based Convene, which offers flexible work suites and full-service meeting and event space at venues across the city, as well as in Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Chicago. “You walk right into the center of where the action is.”
Such touchpoints illuminate Convene’s knack for bringing to life thoughtful, agile, evolved workplaces, many with a large footprint, a skill Tolman nurtured as former managing principal at the New York office of STUDIOS Architecture. While there, he transformed the corporate headquarters of companies like Bloomberg that shunned “cookie-cutter, trendy solutions.”
At Convene, Tolman amplifies the role of ambiguous “gray space” and that desirable, eclectic middle ground fusing hospitality, office, and residential elements. “Our [spaces] are in line with how we live our lives, not just how we’re told to work. We’re empowering with the hospitality spirit,” he explains.
Nourishing, energizing food menus along with free snacks and beverages exemplify Convene’s “sense of intentionality,” as do the furniture selections, including networking-friendly hightop tables and comfortable sofas that promote good posture.
Developing synergistic function and flow across all locations is critical to the brand’s vision, but a hyper-local vibe inspired by boutique and lifestyle hotels is just as much a priority as typology. Design partners in each city collaborate with Convene’s storytelling team to ensure that “the turn-of-the-century building in Lower Manhattan feels different from the modern skyscraper in Chicago,” Tolman says. Even standardized equipment, like door hardware, is clad and positioned in alternative variations.
The just-opened 16 West Adams Street in Chicago, for instance, features gridded walls and slipping planes that reflect the city’s mix of hard-edged highrises and lyrical abundance of water. In New York, 75 Rockefeller Plaza exudes a true private club atmosphere, highlighted by art from the likes of Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, and Dr. Seuss. Likewise, graffiti artist RISK painted a colorful mural for Convene at the Wells Fargo Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar dreamed up a large-scale piece for Convene CityView in Philadelphia.
As Convene expands its portfolio—at least 15 to 20 projects are slated for this year alone, with plans for London in 2020 sparking a likely international rollout—hybrid work and meeting areas complemented by one-of-a-kind details are the focus. By opening underused event rooms to the laptop crowd and letting local artists infuse the interiors with life, Tolman says, “we create a dynamic environment that’s animated all the time.”
