Privacy and Wellbeing Become Essential Aspects of Office Furniture Design at the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2019
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The Stockholm Furniture Fair of 2019, the core event of the Stockholm Design Week that ended last week, showcased office furniture that kept privacy and wellbeing of users at the heart of their design. Soundproof pods, saddle-shaped chairs, adjustable-height
Privacy and Wellbeing Become Essential Aspects of Office Furniture Design at the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2019
The Stockholm Furniture Fair of 2019, the core event of the Stockholm Design Week that ended last week, showcased office furniture that kept privacy and wellbeing of users at the heart of their design. Soundproof pods, saddle-shaped chairs, adjustable-height desks, wobble boards, and glass-sided pods of all shapes and sizes were a key trend at the fair, and reflected designers concern with increasing noise levels becoming a major issue in open-plan and shared offices.Talking about the new trends in furniture design, Johanna Kettunen, COO of pod manufacturer Into the Nordic Silence, said, “The trend for pod rooms is accelerating all the time. The reason is that so many companies have open-plan offices and there are not enough support spaces in those offices, so people are not able to concentrate on their work tasks. They need places to collaborate.” Highlighting the importance of the pod rooms, Kettunen further added, “Space needs to be adaptable nowadays because there is a need for frequent layout changes. That is the reason the modular pod rooms are needed. You can transform an open-plan office into a healthy and functional activity-based office.” The products showcased by the manufacturer at the fair included pods for taking telephone calls called Pod Phone; and acoustically friendly modular furniture pieces such as a curved meeting-area called Point Cup, with high, padded walls upholstered in soft fabric that block surrounding sound; and Cube Solo, a single seat that envelops the worker.For several years now, the Scandinavian region has been trying to deal with noise reduction in office spaces, especially since the move to open offices along with the popularity of wooden floors and plain walls in the region combined to drive workers to distraction. Noise-reducing products such as acoustic wall-panels, fabric desk-dividers, and hooded chairs, therefore, have become increasingly popular in the region.Apart from Into the Nordic Silence, other brands that offered acoustic solutions to deal with noise at office at this year’s fair included Baux, which launched a biodegradable panel that can be applied to office walls and surfaces.With the rise of co-working spaces in office design, privacy is another concern apart from noise. The 2019 furniture fair saw a flurry of designs in office pods to address this issue. For instance, Designer Henrik Kjellberg of o4i Design Studio presented PodBooth at the fair, a pod manufactured by Nordic brand Martela, which can be easily rolled between locations to add the elements of privacy and silence. In line with Kettunen, Henrik Kjellberg said, “Open-plan offices have a lot of noise, so this is a natural development. People need some space where they can go and talk privately but also you need the person that is very loud to work in a pod to make it a pleasant environment for the other people. It's a two-way thing.” According to Kjellberg, the flexibility of the pods to be included in any workplace makes them desirable outside formal office spaces as well.Yet another concern of modern office spaces that got highlighted at the designs of the furniture fair is the negative effect of the sedentary lifestyle of these places on the physical wellness of workers. Backless, saddle-shaped office stools featured in abundance at the fair to address this issue. These products are deliberately unstable to ensure the workers engage their core muscles as they sit. Lanab Officeline, for instance, debuted a number of «active» or «saddle» chairs, which allow users to workout while they work.Adjustable desks, which allow workers to alternate between sitting and standing, and balance boards were also in plentiful at the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2019. Balance boards consist of a platform that rocks from side to side, or around an axis, which means the worker standing on it has to engage the muscles to remain stable. Norwegian brand Backapp unveiled a product that combines a saddle chair with a balance board to give employees the best of both. The product claims to improve posture and reduce pain for people with back problems.According to designers, manufacturers, and retailers of office furniture, the trend toward healthy workspace is being driven by workers and companies. People are becoming concerned about their wellbeing, and companies are paying more attention to employee health by focusing more on “active days,” where people get out of their regular task chairs and use saddle chairs, wobble boards, and standing desks. As a consequence, designers are increasingly seeking alternative, unconventional features to add to office furniture, as shown by the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2019. https://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin Read more
