Founded in 2008, Roam offers shared workspaces, private offices, both small and large conference rooms, and in-house coffee bars for a variety of business professionals. In the last 11 years the business has expanded to 6 locations around the Atlanta area, and this upcoming Lenox location will be the second in Buckhead. “This location will be the largest Roam location to date and will provide an interesting alternative to more predictable work and meeting venues,” said Roam Chief Executive Officer Peyton Day.
Day, whose father Cecil B. Day was the founder of the Days Inn hotel chain, has grown up with an innate understanding of hospitality and an inclination to entrepreneurship. “We believe that a business can inspire people, that’s what my dad believed,” said Day. “By partnering with people who are doing creative things we can change the world.” Peyton had always imagined he would work under his father in the hotel business but unfortunately Cecil passed away when he was only 17 and he never got the chance. Instead, Peyton has incorporated what he learned about people, the value of work, and the joy of supporting others in his ventures with Roam.
“We talk about inspiring environments, emotional connections, and remarkable experiences. This is what makes us different; we try to personalize the experiences and connect with people. We hope people will come in and say ‘wow.’” The idea behind Roam, a coworking space that is local to Atlanta and competing with larger international corporate entities such as WeWork, came from an interaction Peyton had with a few former IBM employees. These five employees who were affected by the decision to scale back the size of the IBM headquarters on Northside Parkway, now the North Atlanta High School, were instructed to work from home instead. It didn’t take long before they found themselves feeling lonely and trying to get their work done in coffee shops around town. “They said, ‘there’s got to be a better way.’”
Together the team came up with a concept of a coffee shop surrounded by meeting space, and brought Peyton on as hospitality consultant in 2010. “I fell in love with it,” recalls Peyton. The plans became even more ambitious when Peyton partnered with David Salyers, former VP of Marketing at Chick-fil-A. David and Peyton bought operating control of the company in 2011.
“The lion’s share of our success goes to my partner and the talented team of leaders we have assembled at Roam,” Peyton continued. “Our vision is to renew and inspire how the world does business. Most people think of work as a j-o-b, as drudgery, as something that’s a means to a paycheck. But we really think that work can be fun, meaningful, and purposeful.”
The goal of Roam is to provide more flexible office solutions for a modern workforce. The space at Lenox will be a mixture of coworking spaces, elevated meeting spaces that can accommodate up to 250 participants at a time, and more than 30 private offices. Wifi and audio/visual needs are all handled by the company so the entrepreneurs, non-profits, and Fortune 500 companies who use the space can focus on more important things like growing their businesses. Roam even partners with local companies to provide catering for meetings which is yet another element of a full-service coworking experience that aims to keep it local, and personal, for all their members.
Architect Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio and general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie will work together to create an inspiring work environment at EDENS Lenox Marketplace. Roam’s coworking spaces typically include a mix of industrial elements and exposed wood complemented by compelling typographic wall art and plush seating. Check out this gallery of renderings to see what you can expect from Roam at Lenox when it opens in April of 2020.
