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.
As a company, Empire is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and doing what we can to create a better world for generations to come.
We have seen client requests for sustainable products dramatically increase in recent years, and our brand partners are also heeding the call. This June at Neocon, sustainability stories were front and center, and the new buzzword in every showroom: circular economy.
Steelcase started with its most popular work chairs, Steelcase Series™ 1, certifying it as a CarbonNeutral® product in 2022. As of July 2023, Steelcase’s portfolio of high-performance chairs including Steelcase Karman, Gesture, Leap, Think, Amia, Steelcase Series 2 and Steelcase Series 1 are available with a CarbonNeutral® product certification to help businesses achieve their climate commitments.
In 2022, Humanscale became the first and only furniture manufacturer to be awarded TRUE® Gold and Silver certifications for all factories globally. TRUE® stands for Total Resource Use and Efficiency and is administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) to help facilities define, pursue, and achieve zero waste goals while becoming more resource efficient. Additionally, 26 products from Humanscale’s portfolio have been certified net positive.
The retreeve Tables Collection from BOLD Furniture includes innovative, sustainable statement pieces that champion a circular economy and environmental responsibility. Displaying striking butcherblock surfaces, the retreeve Tables Collection is resourcefully crafted from recycled solid wood, MDF, particle board, and plywood, all recovered from BOLD Furniture’s own manufacturing scraps. This direct reuse of industrial materials in the table designs not only reduces waste but also supports a circular economy, minimizing the environmental impact of the manufacturing process.
Andreu World is the first company in the world with a complete 100% FSC offering and the first European manufacturer to achieve LEVEL® certification. They have developed their own fabrics from plastic PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and textile waste and are committed to achieving 100% of materials and processes in the circular economy by 2025.
Just like in many other industries, sustainably made products, responsibly sourced materials, and zero-waste are top of mind topics for companies as they plan and design their workspaces. As sustainability and circular economy principles gain traction, there is a growing emphasis on extending the lifespan of office furniture through refurbishment, reallocation, and reuse.
According to a recent report from Deloitte, about half of Gen Zs and millennials are pressuring businesses to act on climate change. And many sources cite that consumers are increasingly willing to pay a premium for sustainable products and solutions.
Our manufacturing partners are dedicated to the protection of the environment and the health of employees, neighbors and clients through proactive environmental management that reduces waste, conserves resources, and promotes recycling.
New tools such as Ecomedes, and others like it, are aiding in the availability of this type of information, making it easier to find and specify products and materials that fit a certain level of certification—all within one searchable database.
If your workplace requires a certain level of sustainability commitment, having a partner to help guide you through what to do next is key. Here are some practical tips for how to implement a sustainable approach within your workplace strategy:
Trade up
With the explosion of ancillary, the options are truly endless. Empire can help recommend like-for-like alternate products that meet at the sweet spot of the right design aesthetic, price point, and lead time, yet offer a more green-minded option. Our Creative Studio specialists are experts at knowing what to specify now.
Think ahead
Developing an end of life and reuse strategy can also help drive towards a sustainability goal in identifying ways to deal with existing, unwanted furniture. Whether the outcome is donation, liquidation, recycling, or reuse, we sensitize clients to the issues of environmental care in the decommissioning of their products.
Data speaks
You may not even realize the impact your program is already having. Environmental metrics reporting can help a company track the progress a program is making over time, especially with large or frequent purchasing, and is available with some of our major manufacturing partners like Steelcase.
Regardless of whether a project is going for LEED or WELL certifications, with all things being equal, doing what’s right for the environment is always the right call, and every little bit helps.
Despite employers’ best efforts to entice everyone back to the office with free snacks and fun events, people are dragging their feet. Their reluctance isn’t about COVID: If you look at the data, far more people have been to a restaurant, movie theater, or traveled on an airplane than who’s gone to the office, according to the Kastle Back to Work Barometer. People’s resistance doesn’t seem to be about flexible work either. Hybrid work has been embraced by 71% of global leaders, giving people the option to work two-to-three days from home or other locations.
Our partner, Steelcase, has determined a successful recipe for companies striving to bring their employees back to the office and willingly stay. A well-planned hybrid work policy is more than just allowing your employees to work from home a few days a week. The best plans include a reimagination of workplace design as well as in-office policies and technologies. Looking beyond the typical carrot-and-stick approach, employees are demanding a change in their experience while in the office. Is your workplace optimized for hybrid work?
Read more by visiting: Hybrid Needs a Home: Designing Neighborhoods at Work.
As we returned to Chicago in June, we were inspired by the innovative designs of Neocon 2022. This year’s theme, Design Makes a Statement, emulated from every showroom.
Even as hybrid work remains top of mind, the typical workplace is certainly not forgotten. As evidenced by what was on display at Neocon this year, brands are doubling down on technology solutions, resimercial designs, enhanced collaborative solutions, and areas for focused heads-down work.
Curved features, geometric shapes, Scandinavian-inspired designs, and earthy color tones dominated Neocon this year.
Check out all that’s new in our annual Neocon Trend Report.
Gary Levitan, Global Head of Procurement, Sourcing and Supply Chain, WeWork spoke to Procurement magazine on why the time is now for flexible working and the need for procurement talent.
In the enlightening conversation, Gary discusses the importance of data, technology and category management processes in scaling the business at WeWork given the explosive growth the company has continued to see in the face of the changing realities of work coming out of the global pandemic era. He also talks about good partnerships being critical and highlights Empire Office as one of those partners for WeWork.
A brief excerpt from the article is below.
Excerpt:
“Partnerships are critical,” says Levitan. “ It’s a bit of a cliche, especially in the procurement world. Our global supply chains are posing never-before-seen complexities and only by proactively leveraging true, collaborative partnerships do organizations stand any chance of mitigating these potentially existential risks.”
“Empire Office is an example of a partner who helps us buy furniture directly from multiple manufacturers. Although our product is space, that space comes furnished with fixtures and technology, and we need to get those products to our customers and members on time,” says Levitan. “Our partnership with Empire allows us to deliver fully furnished space on time and on budget.” This partnership helps WeWork create clear communication and clear expectations on both sides, at a time when having a reciprocal relationship is more critical than ever.
Read the full article here.
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