Rabble + Rouser’s Creative Workshop

Name: rabble+rouser, Christina Schroeder, Principal and Founder
Location: Blake Street, Denver, Colorado
Size: 7,000 Square Feet
Years worked in: 3 years

There’s nothing quite like an old warehouse space embracing color. It bolsters creativity and just makes everything feel alive. At rabble+rouser, bright blue and orange feature walls keep a space that once served as a furniture workshop feeling new, vibrant, and fresh. They worked with Denver-based Xan Creative to turn this old warehouse into something entirely new, with sweet nods to the past.

rabble+rouser is a creative agency with a focus on telling the truth through stories. That ethos is evident in the space. There’s a familial vibe to the place, where all ideas are welcome, all colors are worth wearing once and laughter is a regular lunch time companion. There’s an equal amount of focus on honoring the past and what was there when the team moved in. An architectural feature in the front of the building gets repeated on an entry wall behind some lovely Eames rockers. An old sign in the kitchen got a simple letter change to harken back to the brand. The truth about rabble+rouser? They’re having a good time.

Our Style: Industrial Electic.

On Revitalizing the Space: My brother owns an urban design firm in Portland that specializes in revitalizing downtowns. As such, he thinks long term about buildings and neighborhoods. He gave us great advice on how to build out the space to make the building productive.

Inspiration: The neighborhood, the building, and previous owners.

Favorite Element: I love the lighted R sign in the lobby, an artifact left by the previous owners.

Biggest Challenge: Making a cinder block building interesting and inviting.

What Friends Say: They think it would be a great place to work.

Biggest Embarrassment: We purchased a custom table for our conference room, made out of bowling alley flooring, from a company in Canada. It is massive. It warped and is noticeable, and the company that made it ignores requests for help to fix it. It’s gotten to the point that it really is noticeable and is a problem since we host clients in that room. Lesson learned: buy local.

Proudest DIY: The building was previously occupied by a company that made neon signs, custom iron furniture, and other products for offices and hotels. They had a fun, creative spirit and left behind some fun artifacts that we have incorporated into our design. They basically used the building as a showroom to try out designs. One of the things they installed was an iron canopy over the front entrance. It creates an interesting pattern in the sunlight. We replicated that pattern on the wall in the lobby with some reclaimed walnut that we found behind the building.

Biggest Indulgence: The blue Eames molded rockers. They are not very practical for an office, but we love them.

Best Advice: Spring for the good chairs. You will never regret it.

Dream Sources: Most of our furniture was either custom made or from Design Within Reach, Room & Board, or IKEA.

Apple

Room & Board, Design within Reach, Ikea, CB2

YLighting, Schoolhouse Lighting, Crate & Barrel, CB2

Atlas, FLOR

Thanks, Christina and rabble+rouser crew!

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