A new, women-only coworking office in RiNo brings a sense of place to the workspace.BY KATHRYN O'SHEA-EVANS • 5280 HOME DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020
If Her Name Was Charley—better known as Charley Co.—has anything to do with it, the age of dull Office Space–esque workplaces (greige, sterile, and filled with cubicles) is nearing an end. The women-only coworking space kick-started by Denver entrepreneur Bryn Carter is the exact opposite of meh, with saturated colors and sculptural shapes at every turn. Opened in July in the Source, Charley Co. looks like something director Wes Anderson might dream up—if he were a she (note the on-site salon and mother’s room).Bryn Carter, founder of Charley Co., in an open-seating alcove members use for privacy. Photo by Emily Minton RedfieldIn fact, the design of the 5,200-square-foot, two-story interior was devised by the lady-led team at Davis Partnership Architects, and Abigail Plonkey, chief experience curator at local creative agency Maximalist. “I was drawn to the fact that Bryn didn’t want it to be this really frilly, feminine space, but more of a feminist space,” Plonkey says. “It’s much more about empowerment and edge.” With that in mind, the designers sourced finishes and artwork that would inspire female entrepreneurs in particular, and took care to commission local female artists—including Lindee Zimmer, Ashley Joon, and Kirileigh Jones—to create showstopping murals on interior walls.