Will the Corporate Environment be Trend-Driven or Economy-Driven?

Spotlight: Contract Furnishings

Miles of Style

Designers, known for having their finger on the pulse of styles and trends, are also acutely attuned to the ever-sobering economic picture. And while this year’s NeoCon World's Trade Fair was filled with the requisite eye candy of the latest innovations in furniture systems for the built environment, there was a strong utilitarian thread throughout the show. Reel Grobman’s Carol Rose, Melanie McGaw and Frank Cedarblade attended the exhibition and saw a strong focus on efficiency and productivity infusing the product horizon.

Design Reflects Workplace

“What we saw is that furniture design is essentially reflecting themes in today’s increasingly competitive corporate arena,” said Rose. Designs and products promoting collaboration, agility and wellness were predominant throughout the show. “And of course Green was very big throughout,” added McGaw.

IdeaPaint™

Flexibility Theme

Greater functionality was a prominent focal point driving many of the systems seen at NeoCon. As nimble as today’s companies must be to remain competitive, so must be their workplaces. “That means environments that evolve with the company—spaces that can be easily reconfigured,” said Rose. They also have to promote collaboration and accommodate a variety of work styles. Over 1,200 vendors showcased variations on how best and most stylishly to deliver on that promise.

Slalom Modular Partition System by Peter Pepper®

Vibrantly addressing the need to create more and spontaneous opportunities for collaboration, Herman Miller® debuted their fun egg, bagel and sphere seating.

Tato, Tatino, Tatone from the Herman Miller International Collection

Clean, Hot and Low

NeoCon’s visual feast included clean lines, hot saturated punch colors, and updated classic styles. “Orange and teal seemed popular,” said McGaw.

Many of the furniture systems sported low wall heights─42” to be exact. This not only creates a collaborative openness, but it also happens to be the maximum height requirement for the natural-light promoting LEED credit.

Studio Collection by Knoll

Glass Is Back

“Whether as a furniture finish, partition, or cabinetry,” said Rose, “glass is replacing the common fabric or laminate panel.” Cost effective and kinder to the environment, glass’ versatility was featured in finish options such as paint, etching, graphics, and metal finishes. “It’s even beaded on wallpaper.”

Knoll - WarpNet, the Dividends Horizon designed by Suzanne Tick

Puck Appeal

In response to high-performance conference dynamics, Steelcase® debuted a notable new furniture concept called Media:Scape. Rejecting the traditional single-presenter meeting platform, this innovative system allows any participant to take control of what is displayed on a large screen visible to all with a click of a “puck.”

Media:scape by Steelcase

Green Acres

While Green has been growing at NeoCon for years, this year’s spotlight moved up the production chain. “Manufacturers focused more on the technology behind the product to help produce efficient, environmentally sensitive and reclaimable products,” said McGaw. The simple ‘less is more’ concept was also predominant. “We saw a common trend among designers to use a furniture product as a wall or definition of space,” said Rose. “Lots of multi-functional pieces that can be moved and adjusted as an organization evolves.”

Healthcare Design

One of the many seminars the Reel Grobman team attended was on trends in green hospital finishes. “It was an interesting discussion on issues such as off-gassing and patient health,” Cedarblade said.

Herman Miller offered an innovative range of healthcare products to create an environment that will “inspire, provide hope, and ideally promote healing.” Its partner Bandrud® debuted the Centé chair, which gently assists its occupant’s removal.

The Centé chair by Bandrud

Sifting through manufacturers' current offerings to find what's right for your organization can be daunting. As interior architecture specialists, Reel Grobman can partner with you in molding your organization's future environment. We offer a wealth of knowledge to tap into in creating your next workplace or just reshaping your current one. Please visit our newly designed website at www.ReelGrobman.com to see some of our latest designs.