NeoCon or the National Exposition of Contract Furnishings is the largest trade show of its kind in North America with over 1,000 designers and architects exhibiting their contract and commercial furnishings to thousands and thousands of attendees and design professionals.
Held from June 13 to 15 at The Mart in Chicago, NeoCon 2016 saw over 500 leading companies participating in the exhibition of their top designs. Featuring dynamic, fluid office plans as well as innovative product designs, the event was a huge success.
Here are some of the highlights from NeoCon 2016, courtesy of Interior Design.
NeoCon 2016 Product Recap: Office Furniture
David Rockwell agrees that the workplace is a stage where the scene should change effortlessly according to the task at hand—the freestanding mobile elements of Unscripted, produced by Knoll, deliver on his ad-hoc promise with the designer’s quintessential panache. See full post here
For office plan consultations, contact Vision Office Interiors. Find new and used furniture for all your office requirements at the most convenient prices.
Managing a large organization, it is imperative that the interest of your employees clash every once in a while. One of the hottest topics these days is the office design. While many prefer an open office design, there are some that find it too distracting. And then there are some that prefer both – depending on the task at hand!
As an authority on office plans, how do you tackle such a delicate situation?
The answer lies in a dynamic, multi-faceted office plan that incorporates elements of various preferable office designs – dedicating areas for tasks that require open collaboration, tasks that require dedicated concentration and an absolute lack of distractions, and truly everything in between.
Here’s a brilliant take on this theory by Work Design Magazine’s Stevie Toepke.
DESIGNING FOR THE WAY WE WORK NOW
When The Frontier Project, a Richmond, Va.-based boutique consulting firm, moved into their new studio last fall, they saw it as an opportunity to create a place that not only reflected their brand but also amplified the performance of employees.
Photo By: Diego Valdez
The first time I ever understood my father’s professional success was when he dragged my brother and me to his office one weekend to grab some paperwork he had left behind. His desk sat in one of the few walled-off rooms with windows, clearly setting him apart. Over the years, his office morphed in ways that reflected increases in his responsibilities, title, and status: bigger, brighter, and even higher in altitude. I soon realized that an office could be a symbol of something greater: a person’s worth. See full post here
Concentration, collaboration and productivity – how an open plan affects your work is truly just subject to your disposition.
Despite the success of open office designs, fueled by the prosperity of tech giants like Google and Amazon, many employees from many organizations report a decline in productivity due to the constant distractions and interventions enabled by an open design.
Modern Office Furniture
To surpass this conundrum, StrongProject provides ideas for closed workspaces for groups or individuals.
THE OPPOSITE OF OPEN OFFICE DESIGN
Based on all the trends coming out of Silicon Valley, workers today want bright, open-air, open office designs with plenty of social interaction and zero privacy – right?
Open Office Design Furniture (Source: StrongProject.com)
Maybe not. Based on recent findings from the Journal of Environmental Psychology, higher levels of distress, irritation, fatigue and difficulty concentrating were reported by workers in open-plan offices rather than those who work in private offices. Additionally, employees with private offices report feeling more satisfied with their job performances than open-plan office employees, and some studies show that open-plan offices actually have a negative impact on collaboration because of the lack of privacy. See full post here
For office furniture that complements closed workspaces, visit Vision Office Interiors. Whether you need closed workspaces or are just sticking to an open design, feel free to browse through our endless office furniture collection.
THREE OFFICE DESIGN TWISTS TO NURTURE A WORK-LIFE BALANCE
The elusive work-life balance. It’s been reported that a typical employee spends between 38-60 hours at the office. Now, with the exponential rise of connectivity, employees feel pressured to check in for work using their smartphone, tablet, or laptop on the go–during their lunch break, commute, and even at night after dinner or before bed.
This is counterproductive to an employee’s mental health and workload stamina because it forces engagement instead of fostering it.
Even though we can’t all have offices that literally disappear after 6 p.m. to discourage employees from working late, we can embrace work spaces that mimic some of the key comforts of home. These design twists help an employee feel relaxed and engaged on their own, while understanding they can take breaks to increase focus and productivity in projects.
Source: strongproject.com
Here are three ways to shift your modern office design to invite more balance:
Recreate the family hearth with your employee lounge or cafeteria
Even a company with hundreds of employees can create a cozier feel in their lounge or cafeteria. By using acoustic furniture pieces or lounge couches and club chairs, the staff will appreciate the little details that help them relax. Acoustic furniture helps deaden echoes in loud open spaces such as cafeterias and lounges, while creating coffee break nooks and private conversation areas over lunch. See full post here
