There has been shift in how offices are designed. The hierarchal corner office that gave way to an open door policy and eventually an open-plan set up has reached a new frontier — the recognition that the ultimate success of office design rests on a human-centric solution. That one solution does not fit all and the way the workplaces of the future need to be designed, needs to take in to account the way we work. Flexi-hours, adaptive roles and the office as an extension of oneself are the benchmarks by which office designs will be judged.
ROAR
Pallavi Dean recently re-branded her award-winning, eponymous studio, and as you can tell by its new name and image, the Dubai Design District-based atelier is raring to raise the bar. Dean’s designs have never been about the superfluous. Sure, they look amazing, but it is the research that the team puts into it that elevates their solutions.
One of the leading proponents of new-gen workplace design, Dean works to develop schemes that cater to the exacting needs of specific clients. Case in point, the new Edelman offices. At the heart of this project is this Made in the UAE, custom-designed amphitheatre setting. Used for informal get-togethers, client presentations and much more, this set up is a succinct example of how individual business needs require bespoke solutions. In that, the biggest trend in workplace design is a move away from system furniture. Recognising this shift, workplace furniture brands are partnering with designers to deliver out-of-the-box solutions.
Thomas Feichtner
The acclaimed product designer’s latest work, Studio, for Bene, the international specialists in the design and furnishing of inspiring office environments blurs the lines between home and office, function and style. This collection of workspace systems helps you to create a more personalised and infinitely stylish work environment that fits your personal and professional needs.
Developed on a modular system that is characterised by sleek metal frames, the collection is identified by its modernist visual code and a vibrant, unexpected colour palette that makes Studio by Bene one of the most exciting innovations in workplace design in recent years. Smart functionality and thoughtful design features such as a double-top work desk and frame variants offers vast possibilities of customisation. Shelving units design as a system of interconnected individual elements maintains the highest stability no matter how often they are moved, reassembled or expanded.
Alain Gilles
For Buzzispace, the brand dedicated to improving wellbeing at the workplace through design, the Brussels-based designer’s latest collection supports the sense of the individual in what could still be, an ‘open-style’ environment.
BuzziBracks is essentially a room within a room. In open spaces, this modular unit system can be combined in numerous ways to create different areas — to work, focus, relax or meet. The curtains, available in a wide colour palette, act as a visual as well as acoustic shield from the surroundings, separating one zone from the other. Combining transparent with the opaque, curtains and frames create an adaptive unit that offers privacy and yet does not have a closed door policy. Teams can continuously create and recreate microenvironments within open workspaces as per their needs.
Borselius & Bernstrand
Bla Station is a family-run Swedish brand that prides itself on creating furniture that continually demonstrates a new attitude towards shape, function, material and most importantly the human being. For them, the designers teamed up to create Bob Job. Essentially a system of sofas, it addresses the needs for seating and collaborative work, as well as break-out zones that can be configured in multiple ways.
The Bob Job collection recognises how meetings and ‘work’ are moving out of traditional rooms and spaces. The collection provides a casual and creative solution. Add tables, shelves and planters: add-ons in oak, ash, and stained variations together with six different padded partitions offer privacy and an abundance of different spaces in both offices and public spaces.
