Your open plan office probably isn’t completely open plan. More likely, it’s a hybrid, with mixes of desks crowded on communal tables and private spaces for people to hold meetings or take a break from the noise.
The Valencia, Spain-based designer Jaime Hayon has designed a new series of couches specifically for such hybrid offices. Unlike most couches, which have low backs, Hayon’s Plenum couches for the Danish furniture company Republic of Fritz Hansen have walls on three sides, giving whoever is sitting there privacy in an open space. It might be a good place to focus on work (or let you watch YouTube videos in secret).
Similar furniture exists for individuals, like these private work pods. But along with a version designed for a single person, Hayon has created a three-person couch and two-person love eat with mini walls around them as well, turning a piece of furniture into a freestanding private conversation nook. It’s ideal for offices that don’t have tons of private spaces because the furniture can create a pop-up meeting room, no retrofitting required.
