Steve and Bryan Lewis unintentionally wore identical shirts to work on Monday -- part of an identical-twin-mind-link the brothers share. That connection is what stirred them to found
Fusionary Media in 1995. They brought on a third partner, Jack Baty, and now the 13-person multi-media corporation has moved into a newly renovated urban loft at 220 Grandville Ave. SW, Grand Rapids.
The new digs used to be the game room at
Hopson Flats, a student housing building next door. The game room was underused, so Fusionary jumped at the opportunity to renovate it to fit its employees' collaborative work style and moved from 820 Monroe North last Friday.
"We added a horseshoe shaped mezzanine along three walls which has three private offices, a catwalk, and a secondary meeting space with a
Steelcase Walkstation, seating area and a TV," says Steve Lewis. "We also installed a spiral staircase, which will soon have a slide that wraps the outside edge of the staircase."
The mezzanine overlooks an open main floor work area with a combination of individual workspaces and a comfy media area with a projector for team collaborations and meetings. The layout includes a glass-walled conference room and a full kitchen/cafeteria space for employees.
Lewis says the huge projection screen, televisions and Apple TV will make it easy to present work to clients. He says the space also provides enough room to host web developers groups and other events.
"We looked at probably 30 different spaces," Lewis says, "and this side of town has done what we thought the north side of town would do. We gave up free parking, but there's so much more energy here being right across from Founders and next door to The Rapid. I think this new space is revitalizing us."
Design:
Fuller Design
Construction management:
Fusion Properties
Source: Steve Lewis, Fusionary
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
Photos: Jack Baty
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