Architects, designers and facility planners have always tried to make offices productive. They believe that the right desks, chairs, lighting, colors and materials can spur efficiency, thereby improving corporate bottom lines.
Profitability remains a top objective, but there’s another concern. The tight job market created by the healthy economy and the exodus to dot-coms and home offices have made it harder to keep employees.
Along with financial incentives to keep workers from switching jobs, companies are offering more comfortable, functional and aesthetically pleasing workspaces, whether open cubicles or closed executive suites. Components are chosen for easy assembling and rearranging because of changing demands, says Mark Falanga, an executive with Merchandise Mart Properties.
This year’s annual NeoCon show at the Mart, the world’s largest contract furniture exhibition, offered hundreds of products geared toward such needs. The best of the best, a competition within the show that recognized 63 manufacturers in 29 categories from a field of 228, proved how ingenious companies get.
Examples: The Microsphere ergonomic workstation is a one-piece unit complete with a footrest, making it perfect for power naps. Luna’s textiles show how office upholstery doesn’t have to be humdrum; these were so sophisticated they looked just right covering purses, which is how Luna displayed them along its showroom walls.
What also caught our eye was the staggering number of handsome ergonomic chairs. “Everyone’s looking to be comfortable since they spend so much time at work,” says Laurie Giller of Arthur Andersen’s Chicago office.
This year we asked Chicago design professionals Roland Lieber of Lieber Cooper Associates Inc. and Robyn Shapiro of Robyn Shapiro Design Inc. to accompany us and share their impressions of some of the winners.
Brayton International, High Point, N.C., “Diekman Tables,” gold award for occasional tables. Small wood and upholstered tables in classic shapes fit together, pull apart and can be used for seats, end tables, foot rests and drink holders.
Lieber: “Nicely informal and minimalistic, could be lined up; a breath of fresh air.”
Shapiro: “Good flexibility for use in a reception area or office where space is tight.”
Arconas Corp., Mississauga, Ontario, “The Logistics Chair,” gold award for seating. This tubular steel chair has a detachable side “tote” that can store books or a laptop and a tablet for writing, which also can be removed.
Lieber: “A bit higher in price but a good solution, particularly when chairs are pushed into a circle.”
Shapiro: “Easy to use, could see them for people doing work on laptops; like the attached magazine rack.”
Keilhauer Seating, Scarborough, Ontario, “Jet Armchair,” editors’ choice award for sofas and chairs. A multipurpose chair with casters for mobility and armrests that unfold, the chair can be paired with matching pieces.
Lieber: “I doubt I’d order because of its larger size and configuration; it’s not really reception seating but it might have a place in college libraries or lounges where you need comfortable, movable seating.”
Shapiro: “Comfortable but not convinced that it’s that different from most lounge chairs available; like the fact that it has potential for other functions.”
Virtual Ink Inc., Boston, “mimioActive,” gold award and most innovative award for office accessories. Everything you write on this whiteboard is transmitted to your PC in color, making collaboration with colleagues next door or globally a snap.
Lieber: “More interactive than comparable designs. Now, people will ask: Do we need to be at the office?”
Shapiro: “The fact the remote computer has a split screen that includes the presenter enhances it; the inherent simplicity of the design is impressive and user-friendly.”
HBF (Hickory Business Furniture), division of Lane Co. Inc., Hickory, N.C., “The Vanderbyl Seating Collection,” gold award and best of competition award for sofa and chairs. This extensive collection resonates sleekness and elegance through a combination of spare design and classic materials of wood and stainless steel.
Lieber: “Elegant, classic, with an Oriental serenity and quietness; easy to spec for an office because of its understatedness.”
Shapiro: “Beautiful, relaxing yet modern; geometry stripped down to essentials; could stand alone; like the way the steel bases appear delicate and how fabrics used are consistently elegant.”
Lees Carpets, Greensboro, N.C., “Thought Patterns,” gold award for broadloom carpets. Most of these custom carpet designs require a minimum order of several hundred yards; this company’s new technology has cut down that requirement and offers the choice of 85 designs in 24 colors with an order of just 100 yards.
Lieber: “The technology allows infinite choices and more interesting products than previously seen.”
Shapiro: “Designing custom carpet with several colors can be difficult. Yarns are selected independently and can take on a different appearance when combined. The computer generated (samples) are a convincing likeness to the real thing, saving time and cost to make decisions.”
Luna Textiles, San Francisco, “Paris Collection” textiles, gold award for fabrics, leather, vinyls. Quirky yet sophisticated patterns and colors bring office textiles to a higher plane.
Lieber: “Sophisticated, shows how the line between furniture design and fashion keeps blurring.”
Shapiro: “They have great residential application, particularly for a study or office at home.”
Brayton International, High Point, N.C.,
“Sidewalk” collection, gold award for alternative office. Simple and lightweight, these mobile tables, credenzas and storage units take on an anthropomorphic look with their stainless “Go” feet that seem ready to walk away.
Lieber: “See them used in a corporate luncheon rather than a formal commercial office; particularly like the tables and their potential flexibility.”
Shapiro: “Seating seems a bit hard, but there’s a place for that, particularly for chairs that you want to pull up; like the go-glide feet.”
Microsphere Inc., Vancouver, B.C., “Microsphere” workstation, gold award for most innovative computer-support furniture. An all-in-one ergonomic workstation includes a computer table, chair, and footrest, supporting a worker from head to toe.
Lieber: “Closest thing to a complete home office we’ve seen.”
Shapiro: “No strain on the body, a great design, absolutely usable for the home, particularly when space is tight.”
