Revolutionising Meeting Rooms with Modern Workplace Furniture

Let’s look at the development of the office design model. It’s come a long way from the Roman times, when an office was not specifically a space but rather the collective team of people inhabiting a space carrying out a shared task. Although the approach to a workplace has changed significantly over time, we still like the idea that a workplace is not defined by the tangible elements but rather by the people who keep it alive.

1. 18th Century: Emergence of modern offices with centralised administration, as exemplified by East India House and the Old Admiralty Office.

2. 19th Century: Introduction of the first UK ‘skyscraper’, Oriel Chambers in Liverpool, featured an iconic glass curtain wall to flood all floors of the building with natural light during the day.

3. Early 20th Century: Taylorist offices introduced efficiency-focused layouts with assembly line-style arrangements.

4. 1930s: Streamlined offices prioritised aesthetics and efficiency, leading to designs like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Johnson Wax Building.

5. 1950s: Open-plan offices emerged, promoting wider, collaborative spaces, as exemplified by The Lever House in New York.

6. 1960s: Bürolandschaft (office landscape) introduced flexible, open layouts tailored to workers' needs, promoting collaboration.

7. 1970s: Structuralist office designs like Centraal Beheer focused on community and individual spaces.

8. 1980s: Cubicle farms became prevalent, emphasising cost efficiency over worker wellbeing, leading to criticism.

9. 1990s: Virtual offices emerged with technological advancements, introducing remote work and hot desking.

10. 2000s: Casual offices with flexible, personalised workspaces became popular, led by tech companies.

11. 2010s: Activity-based working gained traction, offering varied workspaces to suit different tasks and preferences.

12. COVID-19 Impact: The pandemic accelerated remote work trends, prompting a reevaluation of office spaces as collaborative hubs and a new approach to more flexible work models with environments to match.

These days, we encourage office workers to stand up more during the day and move around to break the monotony and create more dynamic workspaces. But office chairs are the lynchpins of day-to-day work and help us maintain a certain standard of productivity. Today, we have access to stunning modern chairs designed ergonomically specifically for long periods of sitting off the back of extensive research. But where did they come from?

Today, if you want to invest in a good office chair, you can get one that is entirely adjustable to your ideal posture: height, armrests, angle, and swivel. Over the years there have been key innovations in office chairs that support health and comfort, and keep their users energised for longer. Here are some of the innovations we benefit from in recent designs of office chairs:

• The swivel Mechanism introduced by Thomas E. Warren, leading to increased mobility and ease of access.

• The wheeled Base popularised by Charles Darwin's modification, facilitating movement and reducing physical effort.

• Height Adjustment pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright, allowing users to customise chair height for better posture.

• Ergonomic Focus emphasising spine support and comfort, influencing contemporary ergonomic designs.

• Introduction of materials like steel and aluminum, contributing to durability and lighter weight as well as sustainability.

Chairs in the workplace would be useless without a desk. How has the design of the desk evolved to ensure we can be as productive as possible? In the early years, desks focused on detailed design and aesthetics. Over time, some key developments have made desks easier and more comfortable to use.

Desks have changed a lot since the 17th century but so has the ‘normal’ work day. Longer periods of sedentary work have challenged designers to meet the health and wellbeing needs of workers with innovations in how desks look and feel to use. In the 21st century, designers have gained more understanding about how to reduce fatigue and stress from long periods of sitting down. We’re lucky to benefit from these innovations today:

• Height-Adjustability which allows users to switch between sitting and standing positions, promoting better posture and reducing health risks.

• Ergonomic Features features like curved edges, adjustable keyboard trays, and monitor stands to reduce strain.

• Integrated systems to keep cables organised and out of the way, reducing clutter and improving aesthetics.

• Built-in Charging Stations and tech integration such as USB ports incorporated into the desk surface for convenient device charging.

• Modular desks that can be easily reconfigured or expanded to suit different work needs and spaces.

Open-plan offices brought with them a level of flexibility and one-ness, but also a mentality that staff can work on all different kinds of tasks in one place. This is a good idea for encouraging collaboration and social interaction but also leads to noise, distractions, and stress. We understand there is a delicate balance to be struck between providing an open space which can be adaptable and modified to the needs of a central team or group who benefit from being together, but also providing separate space for more quiet, focused, or private work.

It’s the role of a furniture consultant to understand this need, capture a solution and create it with furniture. This all starts in space planning when the layout of the space is established. Furniture can be used to either create the space entirely or support the architecture to help create the desired outcome. Generally, furniture consultants will analyse the space and come up with an approach that combines several solutions, tailoring them to meet the unique needs of the client, team, and space. Let’s look at some of these.

Collaboration and Socialising

Focus, Privacy, and Individual Work

Clients and Meetings

Read our blog to learn more about workplace furnishing, or contact us about a project you’ve got in mind.