How Expanding Needs Have Changed the Concierge Desk
Rendering of the Lobby in the Brevard at East 54th Street
March 18, 2015 — At the Brevard, a co-op with more than 400 units on East 54th Street, Forbes-Ergas Design Associates relocated the concierge desk to a more central location and added several closets directly behind the desk. Although it looks like an elegant wood-paneled wall, the structure is actually quite functional, hiding the closets that contain packages, dry-cleaning, and even laundry bags, which can be stored within easy reach of the concierge.
Another issue is that the amount of information that can be provided to the concierge and to residents is expanding. Part of this comes from improved security monitors and cameras that can better cover the hallways, elevators, and other parts of the building. Monitors can be placed within the desk so that a concierge is sitting or standing behind or just over them.
Alongside these monitors are screens that record what packages arrive. Popular security systems like BuildingLink allow the concierge to post lists of which residents have packages awaiting them. This information can be made available to the residents' smartphones at any time. Indeed, such systems are often set up to automatically e-mail residents about incoming items.
Jason Gross, founder and CEO of Construction and Security Installations (CSI), a firm that specialized in security systems and general construction, says the new ones seem to be "50 percent desk and 50 percent tech." Gross adds that New York building staff are no longer sitting behind the desk and need a more ergonomic design to suit the new standing concierge. Moreover, a well-designed desk, he says, should be arranged with a security camera screen, lock box for tenant keys, necessary fire alarm equipment, intercom system, and package delivery software, just to name a few.
"When you have the electronics package — intercom, key management systems, telephone — and you have your basic layout, you marry the two. You want to integrate the design with the lobby, not only location-wise but design-wise," says Joel M. Ergas, a principal in Forbes-Ergas Design Associates, who adds, however, that with technology in a constant process of evolution, when he designs desks he'll "try not to do everything too built-in because changes are taking place so fast, and there should be room left over for future updates of the equipment."
All these changes and innovations mean any lobby that hasn't been remodeled in the last 15 to 20 years probably should be — quite apart from the need prompted by ordinary wear and tear.
The Final Result
Ultimately the most important matter to most residents will be the look of the lobby and the desk at its center. Jon Reiner, former board president of a beautiful Art Deco building on Riverside Drive, had conversations with countless residents and meetings with five different firms before his board eventually selected Sygrove Associates Design Group.
The choice was motivated, he says, by Sygrove's willingness "to let us reinvent 1922 [when the building was built]. Some architects might find that stultifying."
Reiner's Riverside Drive co-op had already worked to replicate period details in other areas of the building, such as the cornices, for example. Now they were able to use a mix of marble and wood to make the entranceway conform to the building's original Art Deco style. This also revealed the building's original marble floors and walls and leaded glass.
The whole process took two years. Completion required Reiner to stay on as board president longer than he had intended, something that larger, more expensive building projects did not. But it "satisfied our aesthetic ambitions while meeting the aims for building functionality."
And that was worth it.
Rendering courtesy of Forbes-Ergas Design Associates.
Adapted from "View from the Desk" by Jonathan Leaf (Habitat, March 2015).
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