Office Design Meets Hospitality In This San Francisco Locale

The Cove’s primary selling point is not its hidden podcast room, multiposture work lounges, private fitness suites, or Wolfgang Puck–operated eateries. It’s the vibe. Cushman & Wakefield executive managing director J.D. Lumpkin, who served as client rep on the project, knew design would be the differentiator for the 29,000-square-foot staffed amenity zone, accessible to all tenants of the 525 Market Street office building in San Francisco’s Financial District neighborhood. “Most developers think of an amenity as a line item, whereas I looked at it as a moment and a feeling,” Lumpkin recalls.

The thesis behind the “on-site off-site” space, which serves as workplace extension, clubby gathering hub, wellness destination, and bookable event venue, was that, “If we enrich the workday experience of every employee, then everybody wins: Employees will be happier and more productive, companies will want to stay in the building, it will help them achieve their return-to-office objectives, and leasing will go up,” Lumpkin explains. Brad Zizmor, cofounder of Architecture Plus Information, which oversaw design of everything from the interiors and the staff uniforms to the logo and sales brochure, agrees: “It’s an inspirational space to have your best day at work.” Zizmor praises his client for being a true partner: “J.D. dug in with all four limbs. He believes people respond to environments that have a perspective and a personality, teeth and history and quirkiness—and that these things really matter and are good business.”

Both parties describe their teams’ close collaboration as key to the building’s success, with Lumpkin providing deep knowledge of San Francisco’s history and what would read as authentic to the local audience, and A+I contributing its holistic approach—and knowing when to push the client just out of his comfort zone, for instance, seizing the opportunity to amp up the color quotient (see the blue-on-blue game room, the green wood–paneled Twin Peaks conference area, etc.). “At every turn, we took the appropriate amount of risk, and those ended up being the design hallmarks, the ‘wow’ moments,” Lumpkin says. Zizmor credits his client with weighing in on “literally everything,” from the commissioned artwork to the two-tone seating upholstery. “I sat through hundreds of hours of design meetings, and that isn’t even technically my job,” Lumpkin admits. “That pays off when I tour people through the space: I remember all the little decisions and exactly why we did them.”

Architecture Plus Information Sets The Tone For The Cove

Amenities Define Where—And How—Work Gets Done