One of California’s leading workspace strategy and facilities services provider, Unisource Solutions, has hired award-winning designer Jeffrey Braun to launch Platform-U, a new in-house furniture design and manufacturing division. The division will round out the company’s offering, providing custom and standard line furniture alongside their core services. Poised for long-term growth, Platform-U positions Unisource Solutions as a key player in the commercial workplace sector.
Named Executive Vice President, Braun, an industry veteran with more than 20 years experience in design and manufacturing, will lend his expertise to product development, custom furniture design, workspace optimization, business development, and client relations. He will develop Platform-U’s product lines, oversee manufacturing and custom design efforts, and will work with clients on their workplace projects from conception to completion. Braun will report directly to Unisource Solutions President Rick Bartlett.
“We have entered a new workplace era where the focus is on human-centered-design,” said Bartlett. “This transformational addition is part of a deliberate, strategic shift to become a more design-driven company by demonstrating that we understand the power and role of design, and are able to employ it on behalf of our customers”.
Braun’s solid foundation of the furniture marketplace and his keen understanding of style, scale, and proportion, will give Unisource Solutions a significant competitive advantage and drive Platform-U’s success into the future. Under Braun’s directive, Platform-U will fill a critical gap in the company’s suite of offerings by providing more control over products, processes, and customer relationships, transitioning the firm into a products company.
“Design is integral to the workplace”, said Braun. “Furniture is often the most memorable asset of an office environment and has the versatility to depict corporate culture and sense of place.”
Previously, Braun worked in Chicago’s film industry, designing sets and art directing. Prior to joining Unisource Solutions, he ran his eponymous contract furniture company, Jeffrey Braun Furniture, working with interior designers, architects, hoteliers, and property managers. Since 2013, Braun has been collaborating with Unisource Solutions on custom furniture concepts for standard and complex office designs. Most recently for Aftershock, which won a 2018 IIDA Calibre Design Award for Large Workplace. Other projects include Endemol Shine and Paramount Pictures.
Platform-U is rolling out a custom furniture program for current clients and will launch a new product line later this year.