Scarlett Walker-Hebborn speaks with suppliers and designers within the industry to see what their views are on the ever-changing landscape of office design
Edited by Scarlett walker-hebborn
What current or historical trend has inspired you personally in terms of office design?
Th e ‘homification’ of the office has always been a source of inspiration for me. Now more than ever before, with most professional workers still in some form of hybrid work, the lines between home and office are blurred. Behaviours and expectations have changed. Th is gives designers a tremendous opportunity to design products that take cues from the residential and hospitality aesthetic.
Has office product design become more adventurous over the past 30 years. If so, in what way?
Office space design has certainly become more adventurous, but sadly, office products have remained largely the same. I think there is a great opportunity to bring more value, more comfort and better ergonomics to the variety of touchpoints throughout the office that are becoming more common.
Servio Silva
Has manufacturing and product design moved with the times?
Technologically, yes. But if we look at it in terms of responsible manufacturing, from a sustainability perspective, there is so much more that the industry could be doing to implement environmentally friendly practices. Th at said, we’re seeing signs of change taking place at the consumer and specifier level: people are asking the right questions about material transparency, recycled content, and carbon footprint, which is really encouraging because this is what will ultimately drive change.
Do you commission freelance designers or recruit in-house designers?
We do both. I have an amazing in-house team! But we strategically partner with external designers that will bring a unique perspective to our product portfolio.
Which exhibitions do you visit for inspiration/research?
I personally find a lot of inspiration visiting art museums. I think especially because it is one lane removed from the work we do as designers, it nourishes the soul and fi res up the neurons in ways that I can’t explain.
What have been your main drivers for Humanscale’s most recent collection?
We’re now applying the same intelligence and attention to detail that we’ve given to the workstation for years to products that live elsewhere in the office. We realised that a lot of the problems we solved for the workstation and the task chair are equally applicable to the entire floor plate of the office, which includes conference rooms, huddle spaces, cafeterias, and more.
As an example, we beautifully solved for ergonomics and inclusivity at the individual level with our Gravity Mechanism in our task chairs. Any person can sit down in any Humanscale chair at any workstation without the need to make any adjustments. It simply adapts to them. And now, with our Meeting Collection, they can go into any conference room and have the same experience. With the beautiful diversity that exists now, versus say 50 years ago, meeting equity has become much more important. In short, ‘Ergonomics Everywhere’ has become our mantra and is the main driver behind our Meeting Collection.