Empire Office is pleased to share that Steelcase and HNI Corporation have signed a definitive agreement under which HNI will acquire Steelcase in a $2.2 billion cash‑and‑stock transaction.
This exciting development brings together two respected leaders in the commercial furniture industry—creating a stronger, more innovative future.
Key things to know:
As one of Steelcase’s largest dealers, we want to reassure you that Empire Office remains committed to supporting you every step of the way. We are coordinating closely with Steelcase and HNI teams to ensure a seamless transition and continued access to the products and service you rely on.
Read the official press release from Steelcase & HNI here: Joint Press Release
Stay tuned — more updates are on the horizon.
In June, we made our annual return to Chicago for NeoCon and Design Days 2025, where the theme, Design Ahead, came to life through bold material choices, a deeper commitment to sustainability, and an emphasis on flexibility and human-centric design.
Showrooms leaned into adaptable environments with residential-inspired designs, modular systems, and privacy solutions designed to support the needs of neurodiverse individuals. Rich textures, deep burgundy tones, and sleek chrome accents added depth and dimension, while “cubicles in disguise” redefined the way we think about focused workspaces, offering privacy without sacrificing comfort and connection.
We’ve captured the key trends shaping the future of the workplace in our 2025 Trend Report – click here to explore more and be inspired.
Welcome to our 2025 Salone del Mobile Trend Report, where we highlight emerging trends, new products, valuable insights, and our favorite pieces.
This year’s Salone del Mobile theme, Thought For Humans, emphasized the idea that the future of design is rooted in empathy, well-being, and sustainability, not just aesthetics. Our first-ever Salone Trend Report focuses on the key micro and macro trends, from warm, nature-inspired tones and curved silhouettes to glossy finishes that evoke openness and flow. We also saw modular pieces that encourage connection, lighting used as both function and art, and transparency regarding sustainability.
Click here to explore the full report, download it, and be inspired.
With our sponsors, Empire Office hosted four incredible Wine and Vine events as part of a larger initiative by our Southeast offices. This included Wynwood Miami, Atlanta, Orlando, and Tampa. Each resulted in a huge success, creating over 100 beautiful wreaths and bringing communities together to support the Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Wine & Vine has been a cherished tradition for up to 8 years in some locations, benefiting children in the Ronald McDonald House through generous donations. Our A&D community designs stunning wreaths, which are voted on and donated to RMDH to decorate their facilities.
We want to thank all of our sponsors across the locations for their generosity and partnership in making these special nights possible: Steelcase, AMQ, Arc-Com, Curated-Co, Designtex, Interface, Orangebox, Carl Hansen & Son, First Class Commercial Services, Power and Lighting Services, Smith System, Wilson Art, Halcon, Four Hands, USA Cabling, Mohawk Group, and Trinity Surfaces Phase Integration.
Take a look at the event photos below, and don’t miss the video from the Wynwood Miami space!
In June, our return to Chicago was energized by the cutting edge industry innovations showcased at NeoCon and Design Days 2024. This year’s theme, Design Takes Shape, was illustrated in every showroom.
The event showcased an extensive selection of innovative materials, uplifting furniture, and significant inspiration for the commercial design industry. A strong emphasis on creating workplace environments that blend the comfort and functionality of home, support individual privacy and focus, and embrace the principles of neurodiversity, was clearly reflected in the designs and applications presented.
We were captivated by the micro and macro trends of bold colors, curves, neuroaesthetics, sustainability, flexibility, and many more!
We have curated our annual NeoCon Trend Report – click here to check it out and be inspired.
Innovative Educational Investments
Education has changed vastly in recent years. Every day, teachers and staff face new challenges in identifying new ways of reaching and engaging students across a spectrum of abilities. Classroom and supplemental areas on campus are being rethought to find new ways of delivering supportive spaces with access to the right tools to allow teachers and students to perform their best.
Outdoor learning is a multi-sensory experience where each sense helps engage, de-stress, and relieve challenges in neurodivergent students. Regular contact with nature can enhance students’ physical and mental health and cognitive, social-emotional, and motor functions. Educating outdoors can spark students’ interest and motivation to listen to the material being taught and gives a direct line to teaching on sustainability and the environment.
Calm Rooms are a recent addition to K-12 spaces, allowing students to better understand their emotions and feelings. These tranquil spaces recognize that students need the opportunity to manage their emotions, prioritize their mental health, reduce frustration, and prevent potential disruptive behaviors. Soothing colors, plants, and active seating enhance the calming atmosphere.
Flexible and comfortable furniture fosters an environment conducive to learning, enabling students to focus and engage with the presented materials. Flexible seating has a wide range of benefits, including giving students a choice and allowing them to decide and control the environment in which they learn. Physical health: Moving around allows for brain and blood flow, comfort, and community, as well as sharing and switching between seating options with peers. Collaboration, communication, sensory input, and fun are other benefits of having adaptable classroom furniture.
STEM furniture should offer various seating options, including standing, sitting on stools, rolling on chairs, and casual lounging to collaborate. Project-based learning requires desks and tabletops that are easily moveable, adjustable, and flexible. Storage is also a key component for students and teachers to set aside work that is not finished. Purchasing durable, modular, and sturdy furniture is important when investing in an environment used daily.
Neurodiversity & Colors:
Neurodiversity celebrates the wide range of neurological differences, such as ADHD, autism, and dyslexia. It recognizes that there are natural and valuable ways to support these students, which in turn benefit all students across the board. By embracing neurodiversity, schools can tailor educational approaches to individual learning needs by setting up their classrooms and furniture with color, noise, and flexibility in mind.
Using colors in classrooms enhances children’s focus, creativity, and emotional well-being while learning. Bright, vibrant colors can energize spaces while calming hues can reduce anxiety and support concentration. Together, neurodiversity and color foster environments where every student can academically and emotionally thrive.
Utilizing color to define areas within schools can also assist neurodiverse students in navigating their environment. For example, categorizing colors for collaborative areas, individual work, and break spaces helps students easily recognize and move between these zones.
The majority of this information and inspiration comes from Smith System’s industry news and expertise in K-12 furniture. Learn more by visiting their website here or contacting us.
Learning is not one size fits all, and neither should the space and furniture that support it. With Empire Office, we can help transform your classrooms into inspiring spaces with our in-house design support, quality product selection, delivery and installation expertise, warranty and service support, and access to state contract pricing. With over 78 years of experience and more than 158 school clients, we are confident in our abilities to help furnish any new or existing space.
We’re proud to announce the expansion of our Walls Team at Empire Office! With three new talented employees joining us, we’re strengthening our presence across our NYC, Atlanta, and Orlando offices.
Ken Vigilo, VP of Sales Architectural Solutions, joined our NY HQ office with over 25 years of experience in senior sales and management roles at start-ups, Fortune 500 corporations, commercial furniture, and wall industries. He is passionate about building and maintaining long-term client relationships to help grow our Wall efforts.
With our Atlanta office, Garrison Muller, Director of Sales Architectural Solutions, has joined and comes to us with decades of experience within the architectural community throughout the Southeast, making him a strong asset to the team.
Orlando welcomed Jeaneen Guerrero, Director of Sales Architectural Solutions, to the team. Guerrero brings over 18 years of experience in residential and commercial interior design and abundant knowledge, which will greatly contribute to Empire Office’s success and growth.
Leading Manufacturers for Modern Workspace Solutions
Modular wall solutions offer many benefits within the workspace, making them an excellent choice for modern office environments. Some primary advantages include fast and easy installation, privacy and acoustic focus, adjustability, sustainability, and a need for clear separation in large spaces. These solutions can come in various styles, allowing clients to choose designs that align with their aesthetic preferences and brand identity.
We collaborate with various proven wall partners, including Muraflex, DIRTT, Steelcase, Sinetica, Tranquil, and Modernus. Each manufacturer offers unique benefits and solutions, ensuring we can address any wall-related request or requirement for your new or existing project. Whether you’re seeking innovative designs, acoustic privacy, or sustainable materials, our partners provide exceptional options to meet your specific needs.
Today’s law offices face the same challenge as other businesses across industries post-Covid–creating a space that employees want to work in. Previously designed primarily as a tool to demonstrate status and prestige for clients, firms are being more responsive to their employees’ work modes and needs, employing a more human-centered approach.
Steelcase researchers discovered what legal professionals need and how to design spaces that meet these needs. They found that employee inclusion, flexibility, and regeneration are the three key factors driving the workplace experience for legal professionals today.
Law firms are making changes and redesigning their offices to meet these new employee expectations and ways of working. Barbara Dunn, a principal and studio leader at Gensler’s Los Angeles office, sees law offices becoming “smaller, more flexible, more collaborative and more client-focused and technology-enabled.” Gensler’s tips for rethinking the law office can be found here.
Deborah Nemeth, an Interior Designer at SmithGroup, shares how inspiration from two other industries, higher education and hospitality, are influencing the next evolution of the law office. Today’s law students are trained through highly interactive educational experiences that take place in a variety of active learning classrooms and environments, including small group collaboration and problem-solving activities. This has led to the creation of more social spaces within law offices, such as lounges, teaming areas, and huddle rooms.
A hospitality-centric space is another key driver for the future law office as attorneys have become accustomed to the comforts of home while working remotely during the pandemic. The addition of large open café spaces and hotel-like bar areas to host clients and firm gatherings has become popular amongst offices. “These spaces are infused with a variety of seating types, much like one would see in a coffee shop or hotel lobby, with an emphasis on soft seating,” Nemeth continued.
Law offices are also challenged with using their physical office space most efficiently to reflect today’s changing expectations. In 2022, CBRE Workplace surveys found a preference for flexible work in many law firms. While most associates and partners reported a preference to spend at least 50% of their time in the office, they also placed a high value on a policy allowing for some remote working.
Some firms have successfully implemented open and hybrid strategies to improve collaboration and talent retention while reducing their occupancy costs. CBRE states that space trends will continue to evolve, so most firms are designing flexible layouts that include portions of their space (10%-40%) to accommodate hybrid/non-assigned teams in the future.
Law firms are making changes. Existing design typologies are transforming to meet new demands. There are new expectations around flexible work, inclusive of everyone, and regenerative experiences. These expectations are impacting the functionality of traditional spaces, shifting to be more high-performing and multi-purpose.
A new set of workplace priorities is gaining traction with leaders around the world – and the most urgent issues now focus on designing better futures for people and the planet.
In the latest Steelcase global research, leaders in 11 countries identified what workplace issues are most important in the years ahead. Employee wellbeing, sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion topped the list. This fall, Steelcase is sharing this research, along with new insights and designs all geared toward addressing the new emerging leader priorities.
Where can you find this information?
Season 3 of the Work Better podcast features an interesting group of people who are making an impact on people and the planet. Scott Sonenshein, New York Times Best-Selling Author, co-wrote Joy at Work with Marie Kondo. Caroline Casey an inclusive design activist who is legally blind, founded the Valuable 500 focused on disability inclusion at work. Each episode is designed to think about work and ways to make it better.
The Fall 2023 New + Notable broadcast explores the most sustainable products and new carbon-neutral offerings from Steelcase, introduces new height-adjustable desks, and highlights stories from Designing Better Futures. Watch the 1-hour Broadcast or select individual segments here.
The pandemic has had a lasting impact on how we work, the spaces in which we work, and the resources that we need to do our best work. Similarly, the way in which healthcare spaces are designed has shifted to reflect a more hospitality-focused, warm, comfortable, and secure environment that reflects the current needs of patients.
The number of people seeking treatment for conditions such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, eating disorders, autism, and post-traumatic stress disorder has steadily risen over the past decade, and the pandemic has significantly exacerbated this trend.
Now more than ever, “it’s essential that behavioral health spaces are insightfully and purposefully designed to be both safe and welcoming,” says Seth Starner, Steelcase Health Advanced Explorations leader. Starner believes “healthcare furniture doesn’t need to look unapproachable and uncomfortable. The goal is to create spaces that will help patients relax and be open to receiving treatment.”
To help organizations and designers create safe and welcoming behavioral health spaces, Steelcase Health synthesized their research into seven design principles that together form a multilayered strategy.
The space around us can have a profound impact on health outcomes — influencing the overall well-being of everyone involved in the complex work of care. It is within these settings that people go through a wide range of experiences and emotions. Today it is important to make space for health by creating welcoming, inclusive, and comforting environments for patients and families.
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