TUESDAY MAY 18, 2021

The Upfront

Leaders of West Michigan’s big three furniture makers forecast the post-pandemic workplace

As business leaders across industries grapple with their approach to the workplace in a post-pandemic era, The Economic Club of Grand Rapids provided insight on the topic from some of the most influential players in office furniture. Our thanks to mibiz.com for reporting on the event.

In a rare event, the CEOs of West Michigan’s big three furniture makers — Haworth Inc., Herman Miller Inc. and Steelcase Inc. — shared a virtual stage on Monday afternoon to offer their insights into the post-pandemic workplace and the effects COVID-19 has had on the industry.

Moderated by Deirdre Jimenez, president and CEO of the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association (BIFMA), the event covered recent industry trends as well as topics including sustainability, environmental responsibility and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

A year of pivoting

Prior to the pandemic, the commercial furniture industry was already in the midst of a transformation as it leaned into the concepts of remote work and collaboration in the workspace.

Furniture makers that had a foot in the residential market made an easier transition into the pandemic era, the executives said. This included Zeeland-based Herman Miller, which had already established retail locations and bolstered its e-commerce infrastructure.

“For those who don’t know, we started as a residential furniture company and we’ve morphed over the years,” said Andi Owen, president and CEO of Herman Miller, which made headlines last month when it announced plans to acquire Knoll Inc. for $1.8 billion. “Before the pandemic, we had already developed products and channels really suited toward our residential customers. …We were pretty well positioned to respond when the pandemic drove us all home to work.”

As vaccination rates creep up and safety guidelines begin to ease, the three companies have spent time consulting with CEOs to anticipate their return-to-work strategies.

Jim Keane, who is serving as president and CEO of Grand Rapids-based Steelcase before his planned retirement from the position in October, said media coverage has seemed to focus on companies that either want to bring their entire workforce back or ditch their offices all together. The more accurate snapshot, Keane said, is somewhere in between.

“Honestly, while they make great headlines, that’s not where the bulk of customers are,” Keane said. “Most CEOs are embracing this concept of hybrid, and for most of them it means the office will remain primary — it will be the primary place they work.”

Keane added that many of the companies he has consulted with will begin their return-to-work plans beginning on Memorial Day and gradually get to a finalized structure by Labor Day.

Keane said much of the urgency tied to bringing employees back to the office is to re-establish company culture.

“Some of the skills and relationships we acquired over all those years of working together, we benefited from (them) over the last year, but they’re beginning to atrophy,” Keane said, adding that virtual meetings have led to less collaboration among workers. “There is less chit-chat and less connections happening between people.”

Franco Bianchi, CEO of Holland-based Haworth, said hybrid models of remote and in-person work should be familiar to furniture makers.

“We were already hybridizing, so to speak, way before the word ‘hybrid’ was on the front page of (newspapers),” Bianchi said. “This idea of increased variety — creating an environment where an employee can make different choices of location or spaces to do tasks — was already there.”

While Keane admitted that the three companies are “fierce competitors” in the marketplace, all three CEOs spoke to the importance of working together.

“When all of this hit, some of the first calls I think I made were to Jim and Franco and some other businesses in the community because it really doesn’t matter whether you’re competing or not, we’re all in the same community and we all need to work together,” Owen said. “We exist to make a profit, but we exist to make a profit so that we can feed that back into the community and make this a better place.”

Sauder introduces commercial office furniture segment

RTA manufacturer Sauder has introduced a new division called Sauder Commercial Office that aims to provide commercial grade office furniture for both commercial and residential environments.

The company said that its new trademarked Sauder Commercial Office segment includes several new lines that are designed and tested to meet commercial office standards. The company said the line also offers an upgrade in configurability and durability over standard home office products.

It features three product lines that include the trademarked Office Works and Worksense, as well as Commercial Extensions, all of which offer products designed to “meet the diverse needs of today’s consumer and business customer.”

The company said it has been introducing various commercial grade specs into its residential office line for several years to address shifting work habits.

“Even before the pandemic dramatically shifted work patterns and environments, we saw a growing trend toward remote work, satellite offices and shared workspaces,” said Mike Lambright, senior director of marketing at Sauder. “Consequently, our development into this arena has been in the works for several years, and we have been ‘quietly’ launching commercial grade product into our residential furniture line since 2016.”

The company said that the line also meets or exceeds ANSI/BIFMA compliance for “safety, durability and structural integrity.”

“These products represent a performance upgrade to our standard residential offerings and include designs that play well in work-at-home environments,” Lambright added. “Fully assembled items and pre-assembled components like drawers and desk pedestals offer a level of convenience and ease of installation, as well.”

Designed for small to mid-sized offices, Office Works features fully assembled pedestals that are added to various combinations of desk shells and hutches. The design aims to offer easy installation and functionality for end users.

The "office of the future" has been with us for a long time

With the motto "Sedus since 1871", Sedus Stoll AG is celebrating its 150th birthday. The associated image of the tree is a symbol of the essence and uniqueness of the company: consistent, close to nature, natural and caring. Sedus has always pursued its very own strategy without much hype, and conquered its firm place in the office world with passion, commitment and its inventive spirit.

With an attitude, a vision, a doer mentality and courage, Albert Stoll I laid the foundations in 1871 for what Sedus is today. 150 years of company history – that's 150 years of great ideas, accompanied by groundbreaking innovations, full of excellent products and solutions.

The foundation for the family business was laid by Albert Stoll I, who put his idea of a chair into practice. He passed on his visions and his inventive spirit – his son Albert Stoll II has continued and expanded what had already started out so promisingly. What would the office be without the invention of the "Federdreh", almost 100 years ago?

As the company continued to grow, the founder's grandson Christof and his wife Emma Stoll have had a significant impact on the company since the 1950s. They were the driving force behind the company canteen with whole foods, the profit participation for employees and the Stoll VITA Foundation, which, together with the Karl Bröcker Foundation, holds over 90% of the company shares. Both foundations ensure entrepreneurial independence and are dedicated to charitable causes, such as public health, scientific research, protection of the environment and nature and the support of young people and children in need.

By merging with Gesika (now Sedus Systems GmbH), Sedus became a full-range supplier and has since been providing modern, comprehensive furnishings worldwide.

Target Corp Goes In Big on Hybrid Work

When Target announced in March that it was going to jettison nearly 1 million square feet of its downtown Minneapolis office space, the business community took notice.

For the retail giant, that’s nearly 1/4 of its total office footprint. What’s more, Target is still on the hook for that space, which is still under lease until 2031.

The reason? The advent of the hybrid workplace, where employees only spend part of their workweeks at the office and the rest of the time at home or at flexible workspaces.

This change is driven by Target's longer-term headquarters environment that will include a hybrid model of remote and on-site work, allowing for flexibility and collaboration and ultimately, requiring less space," Target told the New York Times.

For the company's 3,500 employees, Target’s embrace of hybrid work perhaps wasn’t the greatest surprise, as the company has long advocated for greater employee wellness. Similarly, the company has offered nontraditional work venues for employees, most notably Target Commons, a 1920 building across from its headquarters that basically serves as an internal coworking venue. In other words, Target hasn’t been a butts-in-seats kind of company.

But eliminating a quarter of one’s real estate portfolio with 10 years left on the lease? That’s commitment.

As HR head Melissa Kramer explained, “Our headquarters will always play a central role in who we are and how we work at Target. We believe in the culture, collaboration, and competitive advantages of working together at our vibrant headquarters in the Twin Cities and around the world. But the reality is that "Flex for Your Day" will require less office space, so we'll be ending our City Center operations in downtown Minneapolis."

Companies Ponder Speeding Up Plans to Bring Workers Back to Offices

Rich Lesser, the chief executive officer of Boston Consulting Group, gathered with his executives Friday in the wake of the CDC’s new guidance that says vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks and observe social distancing in most instances.

At issue is whether the relaxed rules change how quickly BCG and other companies should bring workers back into skyscrapers from Manhattan to San Francisco.

“It was a surprising decision,” Mr. Lesser said of the new federal guidelines. He said BCG executives would be holding more meetings to think through the company’s plans on Sunday and Monday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated guidance on Thursday threw a new wrinkle into reopening plans, raising questions about whether to speed up office-return dates. Whether companies change course quickly depends, in part, on local laws governing office capacity and masks, as well as the comfort level of employees being asked to return, executives said.

Hey, Corporations…Build Parks!

Any size corporation or business can benefit from ample outdoor space or built-in connections to nature. Working outdoors helps people focus, or it can help them imagine and collect their thoughts. Being outside allows us to recharge, stave off burnout, and return to high-performance tasks much more prepared.

Some of the largest corporations in the world are putting their money to use building parks. We are not just talking about small gardens or planted atriums. We’re talking about naturalistic spaces that appear as if they’ve always inhabited the surrounding spaces, roofs, and parking lots of the buildings where they grow. Some are meant to be used—walked and explored—while others are meant to help increase sustainability efforts by providing natural solutions to heating and cooling needs or oxygen boosts into the atmosphere.

Silicon Valley corporations understand how nature positively impacts productivity, well-being, and sustainability efforts—so much so that many invest in developing world-class park-like areas onsite.

How Snowflake is preparing its headquarters for employees to come back

How Snowflake redesigned its office as it gets ready to bring employees...

• Snowflake won’t be allowing all of its employees to work from home. It has held onto all of its office space and made changes to its Silicon Valley headquarters after the pandemic arrived.

• The company spaced out office furniture, set aside a whiteboard marker for each employee and built a system for remotely ordering food.

There’s a sense of impermanence at the headquarters of data-analytics software company Snowflake in San Mateo, California.

The cafeteria is closed while the company figures out how to space out tables and chairs. Drawers for employees’ desks are piled up and waiting to be hauled off. Planters have yet to be filled with plants.

After leasing space from Medallia in 2019, Snowflake came up with a plan that could accommodate its fast-growing team, with help from M Moser Associates, which has also advised cloud companies DocuSign and Okta on workplace design. Then coronavirus cases popped up across the U.S. in March 2020, and Snowflake revised the plan so that employees could feel safe and productive in the office once it’s safe to return, said Warrick Taylor, Snowflake’s vice president of global workplace and real estate.

Rather than attempting to offload office space onto an already overwhelmed subleasing market, Snowflake is holding onto all of its property.

The company is in no rush to usher employees back to the office, finance chief Mike Scarpelli told analysts on a conference call in December. But whenever the date arrives, Taylor’s team of operations, infrastructure design and construction project management people have figured out how to update the office so employees can spend most of their time working with other people instead of toiling away alone. At the same time, the company made changes to help people feel safe while on site.

Office design for the hybrid model: How companies are designing spaces for a post-pandemic workplace

When Covid-19 took hold last spring of the way we work and live, Jamie Feuerborn found herself having conversations with clients that were very different than the ones she’s having today.

Feuerborn, a principal of workplace strategy at New York City-based architecture firm Ted Moudis Associates, recalls working with companies about social-distancing measures, what employees could or couldn’t touch, and how other pandemic-minded precautions interacted with office design.

Fifteen months later, Feuerborn said those conversations have shifted. In most cases, the focus now is how to design an office to fit with the hybrid model that allows employees more flexibility to work from home.

But the hybrid model brings its own set of challenges across several aspects of a business.

“It’s like a Rubik’s Cube,” Feuerborn said. “When you start touching one side of it, it’s going to impact all these other sides that have to work together to create a great workplace experience.”

Office design is an important component of that equation, and experts say it can heavily influence the way people work.

Feuerborn is working with many businesses that are looking to create an optimal environment for a post-pandemic workplace. She said the biggest factor companies need to consider is what the purpose of their physical office will be moving forward.

“People will be coming in for different reasons,” Feuerborn said. “What are they looking for and why are the coming in?”

Many companies that are shifting to a hybrid model with work-from-home options are planning their future offices as a place for meetings and collaboration.y spaces are the primary gathering and collaborative areas – Plaza, Multipurpose, Pitch and Team Rooms.

Reimagining the Office Environment for Hybrid Work

Despite the growing prevalence of technology in the office and its profound influence on work during the past 40 to 50 years, office environmental design has changed very little since the 1970s.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has proven a major catalyst for change, precipitating a massive paradigm shift in how companies and their stakeholders perceive physical office space and the role it plays within an organization.

The reimagining of work is being played out today as a hybrid model, where knowledge workers – who have traditionally worked in an office environment – have adapted to working from virtually anywhere: at home, on the road, or back in the office part time. Meanwhile, the success of remote working has shown a new path forward for how organizations manage workspaces and the people who occupy those spaces.

For most organizations, real estate accounts for the second highest expenditure, after talent. Now with many of these same organizations deploying a hybrid workforce model, forward-looking organizations have begun to examine more closely the future of the office footprint.e workplace that is equipped to help EisnerAmper continue paving its path as a leader within its industry.

How Salesforce, Spotify, and Okta are redesigning their offices after Covid

Months of working from the couch might have erased them from people’s minds, but despite the headlines about companies breaking leases and the rise of global nomads, offices are still central to the way many companies plan to do business going forward.

The office experience is likely to feel very different, though, as more companies adopt a hybrid workplace approach, with people coming in only on some days and working from home the rest of the time. However often they come in, many employees are going to be entering office environments that are dramatically altered. In some places, new design concepts are radically reshaping spaces and furnishings, resulting in plentiful collaboration areas, technologies that can guide the reconfiguration of desk layouts and conference rooms, and other more flexible, responsive, and adaptive features.

These transformations are happening now. Companies such as Spotify, Salesforce, and the online identity-management company Okta have had redesigns in the works for months, and they’re all devising novel ways of making their spaces comfortable and seamlessly functional for people when they need to come into the office. Their innovations in a few key areas provide a glimpse of what your post-couch work life might entail.

Collaboration space

At Salesforce, a 40% reduction in the number of desks is creating more room for collaboration, according to Michele Schneider, senior vice president of global workplace services. That means adding more booths, cafés, communal tables, couches, whiteboards, and mobile audiovisual equipment to allow teamwork to happen anywhere.

Floor-plan changes

To make offices more flexible, assigned desks are being reduced in number or fully eliminated as companies decrease their square footage or reconsider the footprint they have. Salesforce and Spotify are shifting toward floor plans with team-focused “neighborhoods,” with furnishings and spaces for both individual and collaborative work rather than a sea of desks.

Progressive Workplace Design In A Post-Pandemic World

As the world continues to mull over when and how we will return to “normal” life again, a large part of the discussion involves the return to the workplace. Tenants, landlords and design professionals alike are wondering how many days a week people will visit the office, how far apart they will sit, how amenities should be used, what common space design will look like, and more. Ultimately, we will want to be together again, but how do we do so in a way that makes people feel both productive and safe?

As architects and interior designers, we are fortunate to work with progressive developers who partner with us to bring big ideas to life and incorporate the thoughtful, health-and-wellness-focused design elements that last the test of time. While no one could have foreseen a global pandemic forcing us away from our office spaces temporarily, those of us who have been designing workplaces for long enough know that life events and news cycles spur trends and speed them up faster than they ever would have arrived on their own. As creatives, we observe and design accordingly.

So, what does the future of workplace look like? Or better yet, what does the workplace need post-pandemic to attract new talent and draw employees back to their offices and workstations?

Office Users On Why They Are Comfortable Signing Leases Again

The quick turnaround in the city’s public health metrics means it is decision time for Chicago office users. The emptying out of the downtown over the past year, and the uncertainty over when the crisis would end, led many companies to put off signing new leases. But with the pace of vaccinations ramping up starting in February, plans to move or extend leases can now be dusted off.

Some observers wondered last year if the office environment was on the verge of profound change, with companies deciding to perhaps shrink their footprints or abandon the office entirely even after the pandemic, since many companies found workers were just as productive at home, thanks to technology.

There’s little relevant data available, as for much of Q1 the downtown was still quiet as office workers typed away and held Zoom calls on home computers. But more firms are dipping their toes in the water, taking downtown tours, and a few have already signed new leases.

Leasing activity is likely to ramp up if coronavirus infections continue to fall and companies start opening up and begin making plans, according to CresaManaging Principal Allen Rogoway. But making plans won’t be easy, as every firm will go through a trial-and-error period when they figure out how to balance the need to rebuild their office culture while allowing some workers to stay home.

“The only silver lining in all this is that companies will have to make decisions based on what is most productive and helps boost performance versus the old way of just mandating people be present for a certain number of hours every day in a physical office,” Rogoway said.

Perkins&Will develops sustainable materials database for interior fit-outs

The London office of architecture and design firm Perkins&Will is developing a searchable directory of sustainable and circular products to help minimise the carbon footprint of its interior design projects.

Named Now Database, the directory will allow Perkins&Will to specify products that support its recent pledge to make all of its interior fit-outs of buildings net-zero embodied carbon by 2030.

Embodied carbon refers to the emissions that result from the manufacturing, construction, maintenance and disposal of materials. According to the firm, this can account for as much as 40 per cent of a building's total embodied energy.

The pledge will also ensure all of its internal fit-outs of buildings are 100 per cent circular by 2025, meaning the materials are continually reused as part of a circular economy.

Database to become publicly accessible

The database is currently primarily used by designers and architects at Perkins&Will's London and Dublin studios.

However, it is being continually developed with the aim of it becoming a go-to tool for other industry professionals working on interior fit-outs and refurbishments.

"The Now Database brings our firm one step closer to achieving the ambitious but necessary targets set out within our net-zero pledge," said Perkins&Will's sustainability director Asif Din.

"We aim to eventually make this database accessible to all, to allow the whole construction supply chain, from designers to installers, to collectively tackle the climate challenges ahead," he added.

Materials given individual performance scores

The database features products and materials from a number of suppliers of all sizes and remains open for others to input their products, too.

Each material in the directory has a unique performance score given by the firm's in-house sustainability team, which takes into account factors such as carbon footprint and potential for reuse after service life.

Configura unveils new industry products and a faster CET

To provide value for professionals and companies that design spaces and sell configurable products in the commercial interiors, material handling and kitchen and bath industries, Configura announced today it now offers its signature software product, CET Designer, as three CET industry products: CET Commercial Interiors, CET Material Handling and CET Kitchen & Bath.

“Our CET industry products deliver customized solutions for professionals in the commercial interiors, material handling and kitchen and bath industries based on research and Configura’s expertise serving these industries for over three decades,” Configura CEO Stefan Persson said. “User experience is at the heart of what we do at Configura and our CET industry products open up the possibilities to drive industry standards while making the sales and design process even more efficient for our global user community.”

Configura’s release of the new CET industry products is in conjunction with the company’s bi-annual release of CET. This spring’s release, CET 12.0, also features enhanced rendering capabilities and faster performance.

CET Commercial Interiors From the office to classrooms to health care environments, CET Commercial Interiors is an all-in-one tool that makes it easy and fast to produce high-quality 2D and 3D renderings, error-free quotes and impressive presentations. The software is used by designers, salespeople and dealerships to design, specify and visualize products for commercial spaces.

Carl Hansen & Søn to Host First Ever Virtual Global Open House

For the first time in the company’s history, Carl Hansen & Søn has organized an incredible series of events to be shared around the world. Unveiling new product launches, hosting inspiring talks with international heavyweights from the world of design, guiding attendees through an exclusive tour of the workshop in Denmark, and even giving a sneak peek into the private residence of third generation CEO Knud Erik Hansen. A full list of events can be found below and anyone who is interested in attending one or more of the events can register HERE. All sessions will be recorded and will be made available approximately 30 mins after each event on the event landing page.

At the end of most sessions there will be a live Q&A so people can get involved!

DAY ONE - Wednesday, June 2nd

4:00-5:15am EST

Opening Keynote & 2021 Product News presented by Knud Erik Hansen, CEO & Mads Holm Rabjerg, Head of Product Development

7:00-8:00am EST

Inside Denmark’s Production Facility - Knud Erik Hansen takes you on an exciting tour of the Carl Hansen & Søn factory on the Island of Funen in Denmark.

12:00-1:00pm EST

How Colors Influence Wellbeing with British designer Ilse Crawford, award-winning design critic Alice Rawsthorn, and CEO Knud Erik Hansen, moderated by design journalist, Gabriele Dellisanti

1:00-2:00pm EST

The Danish Concept of Hygge - Conversation with Knud Erik Hansen & acclaimed author of Scandanavian design and interior stylist Niki Brantmark, moderated by Cindy Allen, Editor in Chief of Interior Design Mag (sneak peak of Knud Erik Hansen's private home)

DAY TWO - Thursday, June 3rd

4:00-5:00am EST

Danish Design on a Global Scale - Join Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator at MoMA, Anders Byriel, CEO of Kvadrat & Knud Erik Hansen, CEO of Carl Hansen & Søn for a lively discussion moderated by Erik Rimmer, Editor in Chief of BoBedre

7:00-8:00am EST

Functional Design - Debuting the new modular Embrace sofa by EOOS presented by award-winning EOOS design studio, Knud Erik Hansen, CEO of Carl Hansen & Søn and Mads Holm Rabjerg, Head of Product Development for Carl Hansen & Søn

11:00-12:00pm EST

Beyond the Barstool: Where Food, Design and Danish Tradition Intertwine with Martin Eoos and Gernot Bohmann from EOOS design studio, Daniel Giusti, Chef/Owner of Brigaid and Sherri Simko, Director of North America at Carl Hansen & Søn, moderated by Michael Doneff, Partner & Chief Creative Officer, Luceo Partners

1:00-2:00pm EST

Time for Change: The Crucial Journey of Sustainability in the Design, Architecture & Food Industry - An in-depth conversation between Jakob Jønck, Founder & CEO of Simple Feast, Dan Stubbergård, Founder of COBE Architects and Knud Erik Hansen, CEO of Carl Hansen & Søn, as they discuss the crucial journey towards a more sustainable way of doing business in order to build a better future. Moderated by Cajsa Carlson, Deputy Editor at Dezeen

Jenny Niemann, President and CEO of Forward Space, Receives 2021 Enterprising Women of the Year Award

Enterprising Women Magazine, based in Cary, NC, has announced that Jenny Niemann, President and CEO of Forward Space, is a recipient of the 2021 Enterprising Women of the Year Award. The award is an annual tribute to the world’s top women entrepreneurs and is widely considered one of the most prestigious recognition programs for women business owners in the U.S. and globally. To win, nominees must demonstrate that they have fast-growth businesses, mentor or actively support other women and girls involved in entrepreneurship and stand out as leaders in their communities. Many of the honorees also serve as leaders of the key organizations that support the growth of women’s entrepreneurship.

Niemann was selected as one of only three winners in the category for businesses with over $100 million in annual revenue. As President and CEO of Forward Space, a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) with multiple locations in Chicago and Milwaukee and nationwide service capabilities and represents hundreds of manufacturers, Niemann has led the way for Forward Space to become one of Steelcase’s top 10 dealers in North American, employing approximately 140 team members with revenues over $100 Million annually.

Prior to her role with Forward Space, Niemann was CEO of Red Thread, a Steelcase Dealership in New England. Red Thread is a wholly owned subsidiary of Steelcase Inc., the global leader in the furniture industry, providing products, services and insights into the ways people work. Steelcase is traded under SCS on the NYSE and has annual revenue over $3 billion.hat generates value and ignites potential for users while enhancing an organization’s brand and culture.

Landscape Forms Appoints Ryan Heiser as first Director of Design

Landscape Forms, North America’s leading designer and manufacturer of high-design site furniture, structure, LED lighting and accessories, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ryan Heiser to the new position of Director of Design.

Mr. Heiser brings more than a decade of design leadership to the Landscape Forms team, joining from Newell Brands where he held senior positions in industrial design and design management across a range of more than 15 leading brands. He is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in Industrial Design. “As a design-led company, this is an important new role in our organization,” says Kirt Martin, Chief Creative Officer of Landscape Forms. “It took us eleven months and more than sixty candidates to find Ryan, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have such a talented design professional join our team.” Heiser’s responsibilities as the company’s first-ever Director of Design will include oversight of all industrial design and graphic design functions, the studio engineering team, and the company’s brand evolution initiatives. “Ryan’s professional leadership experience is also going to be a valuable asset for us,” add Martin. “I’m confident he’s going to be an excellent fit as he helps lead us to the next level as a design-driven organization.”

Allseating Reveals Switzerland-Inspired Textile Collection by Emanuela Frattini Magnusson

Allseating launched Engadin, a proprietary textile collection designed by Milan-born architect and designer, and President of EFM Design, Emanuela Frattini Magnusson. Engadin features three patterns; Dots, Grid and Bauhaus, which are all based on geometric shapes, a linear grid, a loose dot pattern and rectilinear color fields.

Engadin received its namesake from Frattini Magnusson’s explorations through the long high Alpine valley region in the eastern Swiss Alps, as she derives a majority of her design inspiration from her travels. The colorways capture a dynamic mix of greys, greens and aquas, yellow and red, which are reminiscent of summers Frattini Magnusson spent in Sils Maria in the Engadin. The granite of the mountains, the blue and green of the lakes, the yellow of the larch trees in the fall, and the red that shows up everywhere in Swiss signage, brought the entire collection together.

“It has been an honor working in tandem with Allseating on this collaboration,” says Frattini Magnusson. “It was an adventure getting to relive my travels while brainstorming with their team from an aesthetic perspective for Engadin––I really wanted to create patterns that would be complementary, yet distinctive for the brand’s products.”

The three patterns, Dots, Grid and Bauhaus, are different in nature and scale, and can stand on their own or coexist. The same approach is true for the respective colorways, as it was Frattini Magnusson’s goal to obtain a balance between an expected foundation of neutrals and a fresh clarity of harmonious colors. Each pattern has different “color balances,” which means that applying the same colorway to the three types of patterns results in three very different outcomes––however, there is a common thread that pulls them all together. The Dots pattern is more playful, freehand, and softens the rigor of the other two, whereas Bauhaus, depending on which colorway is chosen, can be very decorative and bold. Grid, in the same colorway, is more subtle and offers a balance.

The line’s durability (medical grade vinyl), antimicrobial properties (which maintains a soft touch), and competitive price point are standout features for Engadin compared to other proprietary textile collections on the contract market..

An Extended Lounge Furniture Collection Meets Diverse Needs of Employees

The lounge furniture is not just a part of a reception anymore. Soft seaters now play a key role in the workplace. Since offices become more like home, employees tend to choose sofas, lounge chairs, and armchairs as a place for an informal meeting or work, rest, and communication with colleagues. Thus, NARBUTAS extends a Red Dot winner lounge collection TWIST&SIT and presents novel TWIST&SIT Soft models.

According to designers Christina Strand and Niels Hvass, authors of the award-winning collection previously called TANGO, the new seaters retain the iconic design features, yet it offers a softer and more relaxing feeling, like being and working at home.

“TWIST&SIT Soft invites you to stop, sit down, and relax. When creating the system, we wanted to reflect the hygge, cozy, warm and homey atmosphere in the office. A wide variety of colors, low-back and high-back models, and additional practical accessories make you feel welcome,” says members of Danish design studio Strand+Hvass.

The collection is comprised of various seaters available in different sizes. TWIST&SIT Soft ranges from one-seater lounge chairs to two-seater or three-seater sofas that come in low-back or high-back versions. Low-back lounge chairs and sofas are ideal for office reception areas or open-plan relaxation spaces, lounge zones or cafés. This type of seaters foster collaboration between people.

High-back seaters are a convenient solution for employees who need a private space where they can remove themselves from the office environment and relax or focus on individual tasks. These seaters can also be used as a space divider to visually separate office spaces. High-back seaters may also come with optional accessories: the round-shaped wooden knob or a swivel table.

As claimed by Simonas Savickas, Workplace Design Specialist at NARBUTAS, soft seating in offices creates a space where people want to be.

“Different models of the collection represent the changes that take place in offices today. Not only a desk is a place of work, as lounge furniture – a place to rest. TWIST&SIT Soft adapts to these changes and, thus, meets the diverse needs of employees. The lounge seaters create an open, diverse, and lively culture. The coziness that it brings builds an engaging community within a company.”

With its expressive design, the novel lounge furniture is an invitation to pause and to take a break from the hectic pace of the day. These lounge seaters allow you to transition smoothly from individual tasks that require some level of concentration to team meetings or chatting with colleagues to catch up on the latest news while enjoying a cup of coffee. fabrics and hues, and is available in a chair, 2-seater and 3-seater sofa options. As timeless as ever!

Kauppi & Kauppi designs collection of acoustic meeting pods for Glimakra of Sweden

BuildUp Pods & Pavilions is a new collection of acoustic meeting rooms inspired by the forest. Realised by Malmö-based design studio Kauppi & Kauppi for Glimakra of Sweden, the concept is characterised by openness, accessibility and functionality.

Positioning itself between architecture and furniture, the pods reimagine large-scale meeting rooms and workplace pods to bring a greater level of privacy to open-plan offices. The acoustic enclosed walk-in pods inspire a better way to work, either alone or together.

“We have carried the forest with us as an inspiration during the entire process”, says Kauppi & Kauppi of what inspired the pods. “The vision has been to design welcoming, comfortable meeting rooms, that are neither closed nor exclude. Rooms that offer focus but not necessarily total quietness.”

The first launch includes three meeting pods of different sizes, as well as a fully open pavilion. Available as either a round pod for 4-6 people meetings (10m2), a medium-sized oval pod for group meetings of 8-10 people (17m2) or a large oval pod for conference meetings of 12-14 people (20m2), the semi-circular open pavilion is well-suited for informal touch down meetings or small gatherings.

The world’s first sustainable fully-integrated, plug-and-play, wall-mounted workstation and folding desk

One of the many cultural shifts driven by the COVID-19 pandemic is the growing number of people working from home, and English furniture-maker Pith & Stem is looking to tap into this trend with a wall-mounted workstation that you mightn’t even know was there. The DropTop fold-down desk is packed with everything needed for a hard day at the home office and can be stylishly stowed away behind a photo or artwork when knock-off time arrives. We are seeking a healthy work-life balance more than ever. We are spending more time than ever working from home. We are all relearning what it means to be productive.

Pith & Stem describes its DropTop workstation as fully integrated and plug-and-play ready, meaning that it comes kitted out with a pair of 24-inch full-HD monitors and USB/USB-C cables for charging and connecting to Windows and Mac laptops. Beneath these monitors are two storage areas for said laptops or other odds and ends. The workstation itself is made from thick birch plywood that can be finished in either black or white satin, with the front folding down to form a desk measuring 120 x 60 cm (47 x 24 in) that is held in place by custom hinges, which appear to be rather strong.

“Working from home comes with many environmental, social, and economic benefits,” says Stefan Husanu, Pith & Stem CEO and DropTop designer. “Nonetheless, many people have come to dislike it over the past year, even though it was once their dream! Factors behind this include it being uncomfortable, the lack of correct tools or workspace, and the inability to find that work-life balance. We can’t let these be an obstacle to something that has such a positive environmental impact, however. That’s why we created a home-working solution that fits every space and makes productivity fun, comfortable and stylish.”

Coterie Provides Artfully-Crafted, Vertical Space Division Panels

Carnegie has announced the release of Coterie, a collection of four artfully-crafted, vertical space division panels that provide visual and acoustical buffering for a variety of spaces. The collection comprises Coterie I, II, III, and III Embroider. Created in collaboration with Polish felt artist Anna Spakowska, Coterie provides a refreshed solution to shared spaces by bringing dimensionality, materiality, and simplicity all within a single product—an easy-to-install, hanging space division system.

Referring to an intimate group with a unifying purpose, the word “coterie” perfectly describes the versatile panels that come together to enhance the beauty of a space. Crafted from plush Italian wool felt, the four designs feature abstract geometric cutouts inspired by a traditional Polish pastry, faworki, which translates to “angel wings” in English.

Coterie I, II, III, and III Embroider come in nine woolen melange felt hues, while Coterie III Embroider is also offered in four embroidery colorways that provide elegant accents through precise stitching. The carefully-curated color options include shades of blue, red, ochre, and gray in order to allow designers to experiment with their own palette combinations and create unique, standout moments or complement existing aesthetics.

Each panel measures 47.5 inches wide by 118 inches tall, with a thickness of 3.5 millimeters. Paired with our simple-to-install hardware, Carnegie Bar or Beam, Coterie delivers a clear pathway to an innovative yet beautiful project solution.

Campari Offices – Singapore

ID Integrated led the research-driven design for the offices of global spirits company, Campari, located in Singapore.

Nestled on Level 28 of the Gateway East building, is home to Campari Singapore. It is one of the very few corporate offices which sports a fully functional bar to market their alcoholic beverages through live-tasting events and bartend demonstration sessions. We seek to first understand the work culture of Campari via surveys so that we can take note of the needs and wants of the users.

We went on to understand their products and targeted customers so that their office can be designed to be appealing to the clients of our client. Researching the image of Campari’s global offices is also an inevitable process so that we can plan our creative inputs within the parameters of Campari’s corporate identity.

new office work proposes a new post-COVID workspace dubbed 'brief encounters'

With the changing office landscape that has come with COVID-19, new work office proposes a design-minded workspace ‘brief encounters.’ The project stands as an architectural reimagination of a space defined by barriers. The design of social spaces has long been characterized by the elimination of boundaries and partitions, introducing wide open plans rather than cloistered rooms. Especially in the design of office spaces, the open-plan layout has been employed by young and forward-thinking firms in the hopes of encouraging collaboration and social interaction. Now, the pandemic-conscious workspace sees the need for separation. With its ‘brief encounters’ office installation in Hong Kong, new work office seeks to hybridize the cloistered space and the socially-engaging layout.

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