Designers Courtney McLeod, Samantha Gore and Jennifer Levy, once members of the Fuigo coworking space, are gearing up to open a new space that encapsulates the community that Fuigo once nurtured.
Founded in 2016, Fuigo catered to interior designers in an 18,000 square foot office in New York’s Flatiron District and housed the city’s largest material lending library. As real estate prices increased, the business model became difficult to sustain.
“Everyone was more emotional than I think we would’ve expected,” said McLeod, founder of Right Meets Left Interior Design. “We all knew it wasn’t just about the beautiful space. It was really about the community and the support and being around all these other inspirational designers.”
In the meantime, Michael Adams, Adams ID designer and a longtime Fuigo studio member, found an under-construction unit on Park Avenue and started transforming it in a way that offered an open office environment, conference room and reserved desks once seen at Fuigo.
“It’s been amazing how 18 different principals can come together and make this happen,” said Adams. “We really pulled it together, and we really had to trust one another. That’s the power of community.”
Meanwhile, McLeod, Gore and Levy found an 850 square foot unit in Chelsea that they will share and are considering opening to other designers on a flex-desk basis. The studio, coined Atelier 20, will be ready to move into this month.
