It started with a vision to create a co-working space with state-of-the-art audio, video equipment, software, and studio space to attract independent videographers, webinar producers, podcasters, photographers and collaborators.
When this 18-year marketing agency owner was looking for the right team to transform her business environment, she entrusted e4b with furnishing her Cleveland Work Lab co-working space and production center. The vision became a reality after the purchase of the 7,000-square-foot iconic space, a vintage steel warehouse building renovated to keep some of the original details, including brickwork.
What began with a tour of e4b’s Cleveland showroom to look at panels, turned into e4b furnishing the privates offices, conference rooms, café, waiting areas, collaborative spaces, work stations, training room, and shared space with a variety of furniture.
The designer chose lines from Allsteel, Gunlocke, and Allemuir featuring Allsteel-Stride, Allsteel-Approach, Allsteel-Involve, and Allemuir-Caspar open tables. The historic building was inspiring to our designer and gave way to creating a totally unique space. e4b worked with Vocon Architect, who brought in e4b in the early stages, which fostered a collaborative relationship between their firm, the client, and our designer. This stimulated an abundance of creativity, which resulted in a fun and interactive studio space FOR creatives.
A typical project challenge for the e4b team is designing a space before construction is completed, and in some cases like this project, before construction is planned or started. This project is a testimony to the designer adapting to new approaches when the original plans were switched with a more ‘natural’ design inspired by the way the renovations of the historical elements came together. Even the finishes changed along the way because of the new findings.
The owner had a vision, but in the Cleveland area, nothing like this had existed before. This type of project, a co-working/collaborative creative office, is just taking off. “As a team we had to do a lot of research on how to create this kind of space. You have to figure out what it’s going to look like after construction, how to install and keep the technology easily accessible and functional, lighting, noise, how to get wires through six layers of sheetrock, how to install a floor to ceiling Infinity room. It was all new. A lot of revisions and a lot renderings. We ended up with a gorgeous space by listening their needs as they changed and adding in our own recommendations and advice.” – e4b Project Design
The space features a 3,000 SF production studio with a collection of video and audio equipment in the editing bay, and cameras and video recording and processing equipment. It also has a studio with Barbizon LED lighting and a 25-foot infinity cyclorama for professional video production, several conference rooms and a separate podcast studio.