Float Studio designs rentable offices for Meet in Place in New York

New York firm Float Studio has created neutral offices in Lower Manhattan for Meet in Place, a company that provides rooms to rent for meetings and other events.

The Meet in Place outpost in the Financial District (FiDi) follows the room rental platform's debut location in Tel Aviv, which opened in 2016.

Yaron Kopel and Michael Dorsman founded the company provide nomadic workers with spaces to host meetings, conferences and presentations, which can be booked when required without a membership.

Designed by local firm Float Studio, the New York location is found on the first floor of a building at Nassau and Fulton streets.

"We really strive for corner locations with a lot of windows, high ceilings and on second floors [or not so high up, for an intimate feel]," Kopel told Dezeen. "We have a few basic requirements that go with our concept. The atmosphere is very simple for us: we want to build places where we would like to go to meetings."

The interiors are kept minimal with white surfaces and wide, European white oak engineered floors. This pared-back approach draws attention to the property's original features, like large windows and high, curved ceiling design.

"The brick in the vaulted ceilings had been totally plastered over," Float Studio told Dezeen. "It ran throughout the space, but we chose to expose it only in the entrance and common area to keep the interior of the meeting rooms feeling as bright as possible."

A flight of stairs leads to a lobby and reception desk, with custom-designed furniture by Design Within Reach. A modular, dark brown sectional is paired with grey chairs and numerous small tables. Anchoring the room is a round rug, with potted plants and light fixtures added to soften the area.

Beyond, a glass-blocked interior wall conceals a large conference room with corner windows, bringing more natural light into the lounge area. Nearby is a hallway lined in light wood and doorways, with access to other units.

Office rooms are available in four sizes, or categories: grand conference rooms for up to 30 people; smaller conference rooms; lounge rooms with upholstered seating; and more intimate or personal-sized rooms. All are equipped with WiFi, screens, projectors, phones, drawing boards, USB ports, and coffee and water machines.

Larger offices are furnished with white oval conferences tables, and white ergonomic Trea chairs by Todd Bracher for Humanscale. Lighting designs are by Israeli designer Asaf Weinbroom, with digital art on the walls by Niio.

All of the rooms at Meet in Place are available to rent on an hourly basis and can be booked online up to half-an-hour beforehand. Users select their required room size, amount of people and number of hours.

The idea came from Kopel's struggle of finding a quiet place to work and hold meetings, while managing his own business. "I found myself sitting in coffee shops with no privacy [for working]," he said. "The coffee shop used to be a great place for one-on-one talk, but it's not built for that, especially when you are more than three people."

"Another [challenging] experience I found was booking meeting rooms in hotels, and the process is close to ridiculous," Kopel added. "You get an email from the salesperson, and it is a two-day process and crazy-expensive."

Kopel was previously chief innovation and design officer of SodaStream, designed with Yves Behar.

Behar has also since designed co-working spaces, launching Canopy with Amir Mortazavi in San Francisco. The most recent location features sage, grey and soft pink interiors, and a rooftop patio.

Meet in Place allows users to book rooms without a membership or annual fee – differing from other members' and co-working clubs like Soho House and The Wing.

In addition to the FiDi location, Meet in Place plans to open two more locations in the city this spring, as well as two in London.

Float Studio's other projects in New York City include mattress brand Casper's headquarters, where employees can have meetings or take naps on the company's beds.

Photography is by Tom Mannion.

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