Teknion Corporation publicly unveiled its Advanced Concepts Program at NeoCon, North America’s largest commercial furnishings and design show, held June 12 to June 14. As part of Teknion’s commitment to design innovation, the Advanced Concepts Program was established in 1998 as a formal process for design exploration. The program identifies trends in all aspects of life—work, demographics, technology, fashion, architecture, and pop culture—and translates them into new ideas for office furniture systems and working environments.
Teknion has developed a series of advanced products that respond to the emerging trends that are expected to have a significant impact on the future workplace. “Some of the trends include attracting and retaining employees, the need for less-formal work environments as a result of the influx of younger workers, and a need for more humane settings—environments designed for individual needs and preferences,” said John Hellwig, Teknion Vice President of Design, Development and Innovation. “Our product development strategy is really driven by change—change in technology, social and demographic changes, changing tastes, and changing expectations.”
All of the Advanced Concepts products on display at NeoCon were designed as solutions to anticipated needs of the evolving workplace, and included:
- an expandable, stretch material wardrobe that provides personal storage in a small footprint
- an electrical area rug that houses power and data sources
- a lightweight, flexible screen made of fabric that controls glare on computer screens and defines working space for individuals or groups within a large office floor plate
- a power column that provides an elegant solution for power and data distribution while supporting ambient lighting options, screens and furniture, and helping define interior space
- a multi-functional folding table, convertible for conferencing, individual or team-based work that meet the needs of a variety of workstyles where physical space is at a premium
Teknion has also produced products to improve call center workstations. Two different designs encourage human movement by allowing users to alternate between sitting and standing positions while they work. One design features a modesty wrap that addresses acoustics and privacy, while the other softens and defines the environment with fabric “arms.” A personal storage locker identifies individual space by a photo inserted in a sleeve on the front of the locker.
Teknion won two Best of NeoCon awards: Solitär won a gold in the Desks division, and the Leverage line won a silver in the Furniture Systems division.
Visit Teknion in the FMLink Marketplace.
Reported from NeoCon 2000
