Inside Recess Creative’s move to Playhouse Square and the reinvention behind it.
Recess Creative has a new home at the Idea Center in Cleveland’s Playhouse Square district.
But for founder Chris Jungjohann, the move represents more than a change of address. It’s an opportunity to reenergize the agency, create more room for what’s next, and establish Recess as part of one of Cleveland’s most creative neighborhoods.
We sat down with Chris to talk about why Recess moved, what the new space makes possible, and how changing your surroundings can sometimes help you reinvent yourself.
Why Move Now?
“When we moved into our last office in 2023, we were coming off three years of being a totally remote agency, which was something we never really expected to become,” Chris says. “But we felt strongly that people still needed to come together.”
That led Recess to its current hybrid schedule, with the team working remotely on Mondays and Fridays and gathering in the office Tuesday through Thursday.
The original lease was intentionally short. Recess committed to three years, giving the agency an easy way out if the hybrid experiment didn’t work.
It worked.
But when renewal time arrived, a significant rent increase forced Chris and the leadership team to take a closer look at what Recess needed from its next space.
“The old office was great, but it wasn’t perfect. It didn’t have everything we needed to keep building Recess and Buds & Pals,” Chris says. “A real estate agent I’d gotten to know suggested we take a look around and see what else was out there.”
That search led them to the Idea Center at Playhouse Square.
Rearranging the Room
The move reminded Chris of something almost everyone does as a kid.
“When you’re ten years old, one day you wake up and decide you’re going to rearrange your entire room,” he says. “You move the bed over here, put your desk on the other side, stand back, puff your chest out, and suddenly you feel like a whole new person. You’ve completely reinvented yourself inside a 10-by-10 box.”
That’s what the move to Playhouse Square has felt like.
“It’s an opportunity to refresh our brand, pick up some new energy, and put an anchor in a part of Cleveland where we hadn’t spent much time before,” Chris says. “It’s a reinvention. A reenergizing.”
The new office feels familiar enough to still be Recess, but different enough to reflect how much the agency has grown.
A Space Built for What’s Next
The previous office was primarily open concept, with plenty of shared space but limited privacy. The Idea Center offers a different balance, with individual and shared offices, more breakout areas, a larger production studio, and a podcast studio currently in development.
The new footprint gives the team more flexibility in how they work while opening the door to larger productions, client meetings, community events, and creative collaborations.
“It allows us to show up in a more professional and immersive way,” Chris says. “We have more spaces for people to collaborate, more room for production, and the ability to bring people together in ways we couldn’t before.”
Once he compared the two spaces and what each could make possible, the decision became fairly simple.
“If both spaces were going to cost roughly the same amount, there really wasn’t an upside to staying. The new space gave us so much more opportunity.”
Finding Our Place in Playhouse Square
Moving from the Gateway District to Playhouse Square meant trading one kind of Cleveland energy for another.
“I miss being right next to the ballpark a little bit, but we’re still only a five minute walk away,” Chris says. “Playhouse Square is much more arts-centered and creatively driven. It feels more connected to the kind of company we are and the kind of work we want to do.”
That connection has already started creating new conversations. Organizations and businesses within the district have reached out about potential collaborations, and Chris sees an opportunity for Recess to become a meaningful part of the neighborhood.
“The district before was bars and baseball. Now we’re in the middle of arts and theater,” he says. “I would love for Recess to become a flagship creative company in Playhouse Square.”
That vision extends beyond simply landing new work.
“If we can partner with organizations here, support the district creatively, and give back to people who are passionate about the arts, theater, and creative education, that connects directly to what we’re trying to build across Recess, Buds & Pals, and Super Average.”
A More Grown-Up Recess
The response to the new office has been overwhelmingly positive.
“We had our first official client meeting here recently, and they were impressed,” Chris says. “The phrase we keep hearing is that it feels like a more grown-up version of Recess. Like we leveled up.”
The transition has required some adjustment. Moving a team into a new environment means establishing new rhythms, figuring out how people use the space, and inevitably discovering a few quirks.
But the overall feeling has been one of renewed energy.
“Internally, the reaction has been incredibly positive,” Chris says. “You can feel that something is different. It still feels like us, but it also feels like we’re ready for whatever comes next.”
The Goal for Year One
Chris has set a clear target for Recess’s first year in the district: bring at least one Playhouse Square organization onto the agency’s client roster and do meaningful work together.
“If we can land one client in the Square and be doing work that matters for them by the end of the year, that’s a big dub for me,” he says.
It’s a modest goal on paper, but it represents something bigger. Recess doesn’t simply want to occupy space in the Idea Center. The agency wants to become part of the creative ecosystem surrounding it.
Put Yourself Out There
For other Cleveland business owners considering a move or a significant change, Chris’s advice is straightforward: explore the possibility, do the research, and be willing to act.
“Go out there and put yourself out there. If you’re interested in making a bold move, take a look at what’s possible,” he says. “Do the research, put in the work, and get it done.”
That mindset has helped carry Recess through nearly 17 years of growth, reinvention, and more than a few uncertain moments.
“People ask how we’ve made it this far, and honestly, I don’t always know either,” Chris says. “We just kept putting our heads down and doing the work. I always figured, if these other people can do it, why can’t I?”
The move to Playhouse Square is a milestone, but it isn’t an arrival. It’s a new starting point.
Recess now has a space that reflects how far the agency has come and gives its team more room to imagine what comes next.
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Recess Creative is now located inside the Idea Center at Playhouse Square. We look forward to welcoming our clients, collaborators, friends, and Cleveland’s creative community into our new home.