It’s no secret that times have been tough for the office-furniture sector, with half-empty workplaces still cluttering many cities. But Orgatec, the industry’s biggest global trade fair which is taking place in Köln this week, might just present some solutions to help buck this trend. While furniture and interior improvements need to work in tandem with increased amenity, proximity to other services and an engaged workforce, it can also be a motivating factor in enticing people back to the office. Here are three outstanding contributions from Orgatec, which might go some way to helping this cause.
Comfort is (not always) king
In Orgatec’s sea of task chairs, it is a relief to spot a normal seat that has not sacrificed all style at the altar of ergonomics. Swedish brand Blå Station’s new armchair Able is a lightweight, angular number made with canvas stretched across a metal frame and optional castor wheels. Dutch brand Arco also showcased its Gudmundur Ludvik-designed collection, Close+ (pictured, bottom), whose curving, upholstered backs show that office chairs can be cosy. But the award for best office-lobby statement piece goes to a design that you can’t even sit on: a lounger with a seat made from strips of bent wood veneer. The prototype is shown by Danish Design Makers, a collective of creatives who present their ideas in the hopes of finding a manufacturer.
New horizons
The warm, orange glow emanating from the booth of Grau spells a new dawn for office lighting. The German company has overhauled its product line so that even its office-oriented products, including the best-selling floor lamp Team, come with a warm-light setting. The German brand recently introduced Sunset Dimming, a calming fire-orange light setting available on its portable lights. “We sell a lot of these lamps for offices,” says Grau’s export manager, Stéphane Alvarez. “You can adjust them for different modes of working.” This novel LED technology offers hope that the era of headache-inducing office spaces will finally come to an end.
Pod proliferation
The hottest product category at Orgatec is one that didn’t exist 10 years ago: the soundproof cabin that enables phone calls and meetings in open-plan offices. One of the fair’s busiest stands belongs to Finnish brand Framery (pictured, top), where visitors are queuing up to try the glass-walled booths. “In 2014 we were the only ones on the market,” says founder Samu Hällfors. “Now we have 200 competitors.” So far, Framery has produced more than 100,000 of these so-called “pods”, which range in size from the single-occupancy phone booth to the spacious meeting room. Their popularity is a sign that the evolution of workplace design is close to coming full circle – the logical next step being, of course, an office with actual walls.
Stella Roos is Monocle’s design correspondent. For more news and analysis,subscribe to Monocle today.