Katie Timmerman.
Katie Timmerman, 31
Senior director of design at Convene
With competition between coworking chains notoriously cutthroat, one of the ways companies try to distinguish themselves is through design. That’s where you will find Katie Timmerman for the hybrid coworking company Convene.
Convene is one of those companies — like Industrious, Spaces and Knotel — that is fighting with WeWork for the growing market in workers who don’t want to be nailed down to a particular office, or companies that don’t want to be weighed down by a long-term lease. Having survived the changes wrought by the pandemic, Convene wants to get across to its actual and potential customers that it is here for the long haul.
Timmerman, in her four and a half years at Convene, has known the joy of working in some of the most uncertain times in the industry. Having just designed the company’s London flagship, at 22 Bishopsgate, she is among those declaring to the world that Convene is still here.
“I’ve always had a big interest in the more commercial side of things, while still keeping architecture and interiors in mind,” she said. “Convene really was my opportunity to get there. It’s really giving Convene their story in the built environment. It’s really exciting to be able to work with new trends and how work space and meetings are changing over time.”
After earning her master’s in 2015 in interior design at Florida State University, where she also studied as an undergraduate, Timmerman worked at Gensler and ZGF Architects before moving to Convene.
Now she is working on bringing Convene into San Francisco, designing the space that the company plans to open next year. —D.M.L.
