5 Design Details That Elevate This Atlanta Coworking Space

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5 Design Details That Elevate This Atlanta Coworking Space

Atlanta’s newest coworking space for women by women is as serious about style as it is business. When co-founders Martine Resnick–former brand marketer for Bumble and bumble–and Eileen Lee–former COO of nonprofit startup Venture for America–went seeking a “third space” between home and office but were unable to find one tailored to their tastes, they decided to create their own. Enter The Lola.

Guarded by a pair of towering hot-pink crepe myrtles, their 5,000-square-foot, two-story suite debuted July 19 at the Old Fourth Ward’s Southern Dairies, just a stone’s throw from mixed-used mecca Ponce City Market.

“We wanted our space to feel aspirational and luxurious, but also approachable and welcoming,” says Resnick, who teamed up with architect Cara Cummins of TaC Studios and interior designer and art advisor Kristen V. Cahill for details that are “feminine, not girly; sophisticated, not stuffy; and contemporary, not trendy.”

Here are five things to love about the members’-only space:

5 Design Details That Elevate This Atlanta Coworking Space

5 Design Details That Elevate This Atlanta Coworking Space

5 Design Details That Elevate This Atlanta Coworking Space

5 Design Details That Elevate This Atlanta Coworking Space

5 Design Details That Elevate This Atlanta Coworking Space

1. Surroundings to ignite that creative spark.

Expanding on Resnick and Lee’s vision, Cahill zeroed in on wallpapers by British maker Cole & Son. Downstairs, the brand’s Hummingbirds motif in Duck Egg creates an iconic vignette above a green velvet banquette while, upstairs, the company’s collaboration with Punch Shabalala of Ardmore Ceramics (a procession of leopards linked by their tails) covers two walls of the beauty room, where members can get primped by The Lola’s resident makeup artist for after-work events.

2. Did we mention the space is all about empowerment?

Serving as ongoing art curator for The Lola, Cahill selected several works by female-identifying artists: including luminescent neons by Madora Frey, contemporary mosaics by former Conde Nast photo editor Jaime Keiter and ethereal ombre paintings by Kristin Mitchell like the one on the main floor, Flying Sword, featuring an arrow at its center.

3. There’s not a bad seat in the house.

To complement The Lola’s eye-catching variety of plush sofas and chairs–upholstered in jewel-toned performance fabrics by Kravet and Maharam–local workshop Lamon Luther constructed a series of large-format library tables and smaller round ones from white oak, customizing them with gray washes and black-dipped legs.

4. You’ll want to ditch that sad desk lunch.

As a femme accent for the open-format kitchen–which boasts a graphic wall of coffee cups and sextet of sapphire velvet counter stools–the bar was laid with a single continuous slab of Etowah marble. This regionally renowned stone, colloquially known as “Georgia pink” marble, provides a fetching foil for mint green walls and Hague Blue cabinetry with scalloped details.

5. The details really pull everything together.

Atlanta stylist Giana Shorthouse was brought in for finishing touches. She tackled everything from bookshelf styling and tableware to throw pillows, decorative vessels and potted plants. Whenever the need for fresh florals arises, The Lola founding member Valerie Crisostomo, of One Soul Events, is at the ready to create whimsical new arrangements.

PHOTOS: MALI AZIMA