Office furniture trends

Flexibility and user friendly, key to newest office furniture trends………

Office furniture has become a lot more user friendly. With more offices going to open work environments and focusing on group collaboration, companies are looking for items that can be flexible – easily moved from one part of the office to another or modified to suit a worker with a different job or different work style. For example, many items – from chairs to desks to worktables – are on wheels to make it easier to rearrange the office as needs change. In addition, many companies are adopting formal policies to provide high-quality commercial grade products and combine quality with modern design.

The ongoing trend is the open plan environment. In the past, everyone had their own cubicle, but now it’s more common to work in twos or fours with a shared conference table. Communication is important in team working environments. Some of the new furniture designs feature a quarter of a round table for each of four persons, which can be pushed together to make a round conference table.

When designing a modern office environment, it is important to understand the employees’ functions and methods of working to enable the combining of suitable furniture and technology. Alternative office design is all about creating an environment that enhances the ability of an employee to work smarter.

Desks and workstations

U-shaped desk arrangements are becoming common in the latest furniture ranges. Such arrangements are described as cockpits, because they are more efficient than the more traditional L-shaped cubicle design, due to workers having all of their tools and equipment within easy reach. Eliminating the desk based screens can also open up better communication between workers where suitable.

Another trend is desk systems with modular parts that can be added and removed from the framework as needed. An example is the Expace series, which utilises the space above the workstation for storage solutions. This enables the more efficient and economical use of office space. Customers are now able to buy desk shells and then add overhead bins, drawers and cupboards as needed.

Once added, the pieces can be easily moved so that if a new worker moves into the desk, that person can place the drawers and cupboards where he or she wants them. The moveable drawers and cupboards also allow workers to easily take supplies with them if they move from one work area to another.

Another factor to be considered when choosing office furniture is a solution to power and data provision to each desk. Modern furniture ranges often allow for innovative cable reticulation, either under the desk top, floating above the desk or channeled within the desk structure.

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