Tag : NeoCon

This year, a fresh crop of vendors is rising to address the challenge of office noise control in the modern workpsace. While providing separation between employees at the workstation level is important, there are many other areas of the office that can also be acoustically upgraded for better sound absorption. Here are a few of the newest items available for helping businesses keep the noise down.

See Through Doesn’t Mean “Hear Through”

Glass is a lovely architectural component, but it poses special challenges for acoustic control. If the glass is too thin, sound can pass right through, and there’s no confidentiality. If it’s too dense, sound bounces right back into the workspace and reverberates. Unika Vaev is addressing this issue with “Glass Cover”—a 100% wool felt product that can be installed in attractive shapes and patterns to add visual interest and sound absorption to expansive glass walls.

Let the Sky Fold

SKYFOLD sounds like the name of a James Bond thriller, and the special effects are certainly something to see. This vertically foldable operative wall system accordions down from the ceiling, providing an instant reduction in noise on both sides of the panel. The STC rating is as high as 60, guaranteeing that meetings stay “top secret”. The system is electric rather than manual, for a very hush, hush operation. These motorized panels are available in a wide range of sizes and have even been installed at Texas A&M to divide up lecture rooms to host multiple simultaneous presentations.

Modern, Mobile, Modi

The Modi screen is a new take on the mobile acoustic privacy screen. It features a wood core with acoustic panels of wool felt (that seems to be the textile of the year), and can be provided in a number of different colors. The wheel can be outfitted in a contrasting hue for added whimsy. There’s a handy handle on the side so the screen is easy to tote from one workstation to another. This might even make a nice temporary door for a cubicle.

What new tools will you use to bring acoustic balance to your offices this year? Let us know in the comments.

Are you going to NeoCon 2014 in Chicago? Registration is still open, and you won’t want to miss the seminars if you’re in town. Here are a few presentations that could make a big difference for employee engagement, satisfaction, productivity, and retention.

Getting Space Right

On Monday, June 9^th, Dean Strombon and Sven Govaars from Gensler offer a talk on ‘Happiness by Design: a Capital Idea’. They’ll cover how to measure employee happiness and how to apply these insights to workplace design to improve employee wellbeing. Don’t worry; build happy!

One of the reasons so many employees feel stressed is no doubt the shrinking of the work environment. Today, many companies expect the workforce to thrive in less than 100 square feet per person. Kimberly Marks, president of the Marks Design Group, offers her perspective on how to deal with the design limitations inherent in working with small spaces. The seminar is ‘Occupant Load Explosion’ and it’s also on Monday.

Turning Down the Volume

Acoustics is a topic that’s covered on Monday and Wednesday. SHP Leading Design architect Allison McKenzie discusses ‘Acoustics: The Sound of Sustainable Design.’ She’ll teach you about the difference between Sound Transmission Class (STC) and Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC). Allison will also talk in detail about how acoustics meshes with LEED prerequisites and credits.

Why do 60% of employees say noise makes it difficult for them to perform their work? On Wednesday, Devorie Brown from Commercial Studio of Interior Design discusses the reported statistics about noise in the workplace. She will help participants learn to identify noise sources and create strategies to reduce distractions and create an optimal acoustic environment. Of course, you don’t have to go to NeoCon to get started with a noise reduction plan—we can help you at any time.

If you do attend NeoCon 2014, be sure to share your comments about your favorite seminars here.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve taken a look at several types of space dividers that were featured at NeoCon 2013. There are also a couple of award winning designs in the seating categories that incorporate privacy screens. It seems that the office environment (and the individual workstation) isn’t the only place where more privacy is desirable.

Even in reception and casual gathering areas, people are drawn to furniture that makes them feel more secluded. In these spaces, there isn’t necessarily a table, desk or bench to hold a privacy screen. A full-height mobile divider might seem like too much separation. So, office furniture manufacturers are mounting panels and screens on the back of lounge and bench seating. Steelcase is leading the way in this area with two designs that won gold at NeoCon.

Holding Privacy in High Regard

The Regard lounge seating from the Nurture collection is designed for use in healthcare settings. This is where patients may be sitting full of the jitters in anticipation of their turn in the doctor’s office. Or, family members may spend time here waiting anxiously for good or bad news. This isn’t necessarily a time or place where people want to chat with others. So, the Regard sofas can be equipped with dividers to give visitors some personal space.

Little Lakes of Privacy

The “Lagunitas” in Steelcase’s Coalesse collection is a new kind of workspace. Much like the “Gesture” chair, this seating is intended to support the way the younger generation likes to work. These benches provide a place for employees to lounge as they operate a tablet or other mobile device. The pillows on each bench can be configured for alert or relaxed work postures. The benches can be grouped together to create a collaboration area. Or, they can be spread further apart and equipped with privacy screens for solitary enclaves that provide solitude for concentration.

What other non-traditional ways can you think of to mix office furniture with privacy screens? Let us know your ideas in the comments.

Contract Magazine now has the lineup for this year’s Best of NeoCon (BON) competition live online! As always, it is chock full of brilliant ideas and beautiful designs. We’re paying particular attention to the architectural products category because this is where we get to see products that complement our own. This year, there are quite a few privacy screens of various shapes, dimensions, and materials. It appears that contract furniture designers and manufacturers are coming to the realization that enclosure, noise control and privacy will be key characteristics of the evolving open office space. We’ll be taking a look at one NeoCon showcase product per week for the next month and giving you our opinion.

Get In the Zone with KI Privacy Screens

First up are the Connection Zone Screens™ from KI. These freestanding panels have a writable surface, making them function as a giant white board. However, a traditional white board on a movable stand or tripod easel doesn’t serve to really create any privacy for a quick meeting in an open plan office. In contrast, KI says their screens are “mobile marker boards for information capture and impromptu space division”. It’s their attempt to bring actual, practical collaboration to the open office by making it temporarily cozier for small groups.

Here’s What We Like About the Connection Zone Screens

• They are quite tall to offer more than just token visual privacy for dynamic teaming
• They are wider at the base than the top to resist tipping
• The color will reflect light and keep the workspace from feeling dark or closed in
• They feature casters so they can be wheeled from place to place
• Multiple screens could be used to divide up even large spaces
• They have a narrow profile that doesn’t take up too much space
• It looks like you can store materials such as markers and erasers inside the base
• The white hue and curved shape make them look like sails on a ship (very romantic!)

If you get a chance to see these in person at NeoCon, try them out and let us know what you think.

Are you planning to make it out to NeoCon 2013 next month to see the latest office furniture design ideas? This year’s theme is about taking the office outside. The work of noted furniture architect Jonathon Olivares will be on display for all to see and experience. The Outdoor Office offers insights into what it would take to open up choices for where employees can work. Coffee shops and park benches both fail to provide an ideal work environment for many kinds of white collar tasks. There are too many distractions and not enough comfortable/functional furniture to support the way people really work.

More About the Collection

What coworking spaces are doing to replace the “Starbucks” workplace, Olivares intends to do for the open air workplace. He’s envisioned a set of furnishings that recreate the best of indoor working conditions (except for air conditioning) in the great outdoors. The furniture itself is quite rugged. According to the Art Institute of Chicago, “The designs are made with recycled rubber flooring, wood-plastic composites, UV resistant shade cloth and cast and extruded aluminum.” In addition to tables and seating, the collection includes structures to shield employees from the sun. This is one workspace where there’s actually a surplus of “natural light”. It’s an open plan office we can really feel enthused about.

Benefits of Outdoor Office Furniture

• For those businesses that have been wondering how to get some ROI on their landscaping, placing usable and comfortable office furniture outdoors may be a valuable option
• Workers will enjoy the fresh air and daylight as well as the sense of “playing hooky” from the office while still getting stuff done
• An outdoor setting in itself may tend to promote more physical activity since there’s more space and less sense that one is supposed to sit still
• Collaborating in an environment rich in natural stimuli may spark greater creativity among team members

Of course, there is also the matter of additional distractions in an outdoor workspace. We see Olivares’ vertical panel that looks like a section of tennis court fence as a giant version of our desk divider.

If you had the choice, would you go outside to work? Let us know in the comments.

Here we are, a month after the biggest event in the office furniture industry. Everyone who attended has now had the opportunity to digest what they saw and experienced (and it was pretty mind blowing). That means there’s a wealth of information online about what NeoCon 2012 was like. Here are some of the most interesting perspectives:

BI Watercooler

Business Interiors offers a 4 part video highlights series that you won’t want to miss. Browse this collection of short clips to get clued into the latest and most innovative tech, trends, and materials on display at the convention.

Nurture

Get day by day coverage of NeoCon that focuses on the people rather than just the products. Here’s the scoop on what everyone was talking about in the healthcare sector of contract furniture. In the midst of a bustling event, Nurture provided an oasis of calm.

Architizer

This firm introduces you to a number of vendors and provides a peek at some gorgeous showrooms. This blog is all about the design and materials on display. They also clue you in to a contest about sustainability for the interior design and architecture community. Expect to hear terms like “leveraging the built environment” and “bio-mimicry” getting thrown around in the video about the contest.

Dream Walls Glass

This company blogs about the stuff you really care about – where do you get the best food while you’re at the convention? Oh, they also have some fabulous photos of their own products as well as the booths they found most inspiring.

ASID Live

ASID has a website set up solely for the purpose of live blogging NeoCon. Read feel-good stories about an outreach effort that put a smile on the faces of attendees. You never would have guessed that shoes would be the main attraction at an office furniture event. Don’t miss the slideshow – it’s beautiful!

NeoCon 2012 was a blast! What a great opportunity for networking and a great venue to launch a new product like our desk-mounted privacy panels! Of course, half the fun of being at NeoCon is being exposed to so many fantastic new products and concepts from other manufacturers in the office furniture industry. This year, a lot of companies were really “Thinking Big”. For example, Knoll is seeking to revolutionize how we think about work and how it affects office design.

As usual BI Watercooler is on top of reporting this news in concise terms. Check out their blog post for an explanation of the 3 types of workspaces Knoll says can be found in a typical office (focus, shared, and team work) and the 5 types of “activity spaces” that employers should create to support today’s “distributed” work patterns. In simple terms, the old idea of creating separate types of work spaces for different categories of workers doesn’t necessarily make sense when it comes to making the most of your office space. In an average work day, the same employee might need to engage in a wide variety of activities. This means they will require access to a variety of spaces complete with office furniture that supports their current activity.

Knoll put together a “virtual” showroom so those of you who didn’t make it to NeoCon can still view this concept in action. You can see in their blueprint how “Refuge” spaces for heads down work are co-located with “Enclave” spaces for casual collaboration among small groups. That approach makes a lot more sense to us than the trend toward making an office totally open plan with no panels or dividers. That kind of setup supports only the collaborative idea of work and doesn’t reserve any space for work that requires solitude and concentration.

We definitely see our OBEX products meshing with this new vision for creating a blended workspace that supports a broad range of activities. Our panels are easy to add to any cubicle or desk to instantly create a “refuge” space for focused work.