Posts Tagged ‘workstations’

These Egg Shaped Workstations Crack Me Up!

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

If you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs. But what if you want to create a new kind of workspace? Eggs can come in handy there, too. These wooden egg workstations are made of plywood and are just big enough to house one person and a laptop. These cocoon-like structures provide a certain level of isolation and privacy. At the same time, the open side makes it easy to stick your head out and cackle with coworkers.

Of course, this wooden seating isn’t going to be very ergonomic. It’s best suited to an environment where people only need an occasional space to sit. The egg pods are designed for use in a public lounge. But you could also have them in a lounge setting at work where mobile employees can use them as needed. Or, you could make these pods a place where job seekers fill out applications and take aptitude tests. That would certainly make an impression on fledgling workers!

How Do You Organize Your Workstation?

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Steelcase always has thought provoking insights in its well-researched white papers. Have you read the one about how employees organize their workspaces? It’s worth a look. The writers postulate that people typically display one of six basic “patterns” of work. Some appear messy while others are strict about structure. However, it may be a mistake to value the appearance of neatness over actual organization. For example, the activity of storing files shouldn’t necessarily take precedence over staging files for use throughout the day based on priority.

From the viewpoint of purchasing and arranging office furniture, knowing what pattern each employee is using can be very helpful. Often, this is based on job role. For example, someone who is responsible for distributing information throughout a department or company will have different organizational needs and habits than the person responsible for long term record storage. The Steelcase paper gives great tips about what types of workstations and accompanying filing space can best support each work style. Check it out here!

Calibrate Your Workspace with AIS

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

“Cal-li-brate good times, come on!” Can you sing it with Kool & The Gang? That should be the AIS theme song for this cubicle line. These freestanding office furniture pieces might very well be the ticket to bring good times to your office space once again. In fact, AIS advertises Calibrate as being able to “pump up the volume of any traditional office space”. While it’s not clear exactly what that means in terms of architecture and interior design, it sure does sound exciting!

In fact, this is a workplace furniture component solution with lots and lots of extras. The credenza with a sliding door rather than traditional pullout drawers is a very sleek touch. There are wardrobes, overheads, bookcases, and benches. You can even order legs and table bases to support a variety of worksurfaces. The system can be combined with DiVi or Matrix from AIS for a complete workstation or cubicle solution.

Best of NeoCon Entries – Furniture Systems

Saturday, July 23rd, 2011

NeoCon may be over for the year, but there are still so many great designs to explore! This week, let’s look at some novel furniture systems. These three companies each take a very different approach to defining workspaces:

Inscape

The Inscape system is designed to see your business through thick and thin. You can actually mix & match thick and thin panels on the same frame. This saves inches in areas where you don’t need a deep raceway to hold cables. It’s only 3/4 of an inch at each juncture, but if you add that up over a fleet of 50-100 workstations, that’s a big deal. The tiles, worksurfaces, connectors, brackets, and other components are also compatible with either panel thickness to make this a highly flexible solution.

Orbit

Well, these guys really throw a curve into the “square” cubicle concept. The Orbit design from Fluid Concepts can be specified in more than one radius or diameter to help you create snakes, bubble clusters, standalone pods, and many other fantastical arrangements. You don’t need a work triangle in this setup. Instead, an employee can simply pivot in the center of the curved workstation to reach any area of the worksurface. Every point is equally accessible and ergonomic.

Ad Hoc High

This version of the Ad Hoc worktable system combines the extra legroom of the classic design with a fixed 41” table height. It’s an interesting alternative to having an adjustable table. Add tall drafting style chairs with footrests, and employees can sit or stand to work at these stations. Since many employees will be sharing a single benching system, it makes more sense for individuals to adjust as needed throughout the day rather than to have the entire worksurface move up and down.

Modern Workstations: Are Benches Back?

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Steelcase makes a compelling case for benching in the workplace as an alternative to both cubicle and desk style workstations. The most obvious difference between benches and cubicles is the fact that there are no panels involved. If you want to create a very social working environment and assigned tasks don’t tend to require a high level of concentration, you may be able to forgo cubicles. But what’s the big difference between desks and benches?

First, there are the space savings. Steelcase estimates a 22-26% reduction in the amount of space required for benches compared to other workstations. Worktables can be ganged together to create one long worksurface with a single spine for data and power distribution. Desks are often L or U shaped - designs that can hog a lot of room. But benches are always rectangles. This means employees will have less storage space and less total square inches of work surface with a benching solution. But they will still have plenty of elbow room to give them a sense of “personal space” without feeling closed in.

This type of workstation is highly flexible since it can be expanded or rearranged in minutes. With today’s wireless and paperless technology, that’s a definite plus. You can find the company’s 360 whitepaper on the topic here to discover more pros and cons.

Best of NeoCon Entries – Casegoods Competition

Saturday, June 4th, 2011

NeoCon is in full swing for 2011, and there are some interesting entries in the commercial interiors product category for the Best of NeoCon award (BON). Well known names like HON, Allsteel, and Teknion are prominently featured entrants for their innovative cubicle designs. But today let’s take a look at some of the contenders from slightly less well-known companies.

STAKS

First Office has its eyes set on stacking up the wins at NeoCon with its STAKS workstations. This office furniture is based around cabinets and other casegoods rather than cubicle walls – the panels are secondary to the design in these “open office” pieces. The company is kicking it old school by building with wood rather than the trendier metal and glass. This means their basic cubicles and VIP office suite furnishings all have the same warm feel. At the same time, using wood offers this manufacturer greater flexibility in customizing products. If they need to construct a workstation in non-standard dimensions, making adjustments to the “pattern” is simpler with wood working equipment than with the complex machinery used to bend and shape metal for steel desks and cubicle panel frames.

HUSH

This design from OSI is another example of wood making a big time comeback in the office furniture sphere. The company boasts that this collection is “setting a new standard”. Unfortunately, this piece looks like a blend between a 1960s dark wood paneled den and a booth at McDonalds. Seriously, it even has golden arches on the top. OK, I’ll hush now.

KEEL

This design goes along with the trend of naming designs in ALL CAPS. But at least it’s a refreshing break from the wood-heavy collections that are dominating the Best of NeoCon casegoods category this year. The freestanding metal bases are a gorgeous touch and keep this modular furniture from looking bland. The question of cable management is left a little open ended since there are no actual PCs or phones in this beautifully staged photo op.

Allsteel Helps Businesses Move Forward with Stride Cubicles

Monday, May 30th, 2011

The Stride collection from Allsteel provides a highly flexible off-modular panel system to create workspaces that can be reconfigured again and again. By adding, removing, and rearranging components, the overall layout can be adapted as needed – and individual workstations can be customized to meet employee preferences. For example, you can specify a “sit to stand” tray that supports a monitor and keyboard and can be adjusted for seated or standing work

Stride is a spine based system that routes data and power through central panels to reduce the complexity of wiring and cabling. This setup leaves room for plenty of storage space in and around each workstation. The unique features of Stride storage include cabinets that “perch” just above the level of the worksurface. This ergonomic placement eliminates the need to reach up overhead to access a traditional bin. Project shelving with slide-out trays and cubbies are provided as an optional alternative to standard filing cabinets below worksurface height. Under-desk storage also includes a corner drawer to hold employee’s personal effects.

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