We've been noticing a lot of corporate office spaces designed to feel like homes, so when we came across a pitch from Vitra about incorporating "living areas" into contemporary offices, it struck a chord.
The Office Living Room
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Advances in mobile technology have freed up workers to conduct business from a variety of settings, but there's still a deep need for people to have face-to-face time for collaboration. Vitra argues for a Net 'n' Nest approach that provides open areas for teamwork alongside semi-enclosed spaces for individual or one-on-one work.
The Bouroullec Brothers' Highback Alcove Sofa shows up again and again in the Vitra photos as a piece of furniture that encloses personal space within a larger office area. It creates an environment that's more casual than an average corporate office, but more formal than a home.
Lounges and reception areas have been part of corporate office design for a long time. (Just imagine Don Draper's digs or Bert Cooper's office.) The difference here is that living areas aren't confined to reception spaces or executive offices. Rather, they're interspersed into semi-public spaces, where employees can use them for meeting and working.
What do you think? Is Vitra's Net 'n' Nest approach part of a new wave in office design, or is it just repackaging the same old corporate space?
• Read the full pitch from Vitra, "The Efficient Office," here.
Photos: Vitra
Comments (7)
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We have a couple of spaces like these in our offices. They are rarely used because our office is missing one key ingredient: WIFI!!
view taritac's profile
I've always liked these kinds of spaces in the design firms I work for. It's a good way to get away from your desk and I think is more conducive of ideating.
Also, I regretfully passed on a used, but free, Alcove sofa early this year because it was too large for my space. Had I known it was originally $8,500 I think I would've tried harder to make that thing fit.
view creativeintheory's profile
I am having a dot.com flashback when I use to space plan office spaces. Living areas, ''collaborative" spaces were big buss words. The furniture giants like Steelcase and Herman Miller did endless studies and white papers on this subject.
Looks like Vitra is trying to rebrand this concept and promote their Alcove Highback Sofa.
view LoriSF's profile
wow that grey chair in the first picture looks great and comfortable at the same time. anyone know where it's from?
view tommtlam's profile
For 90% of the business world, freeform offices are neither effective nor conducive to getting work done.
There's no place to put files, there's no place to take phonecalls, there's no room to spread out paperwork and people (Executives especially) can't find you when they need to without wasting time wandering around the floor looking for you.
There's a reason for desks, cubicles, offices and workspaces - because that's where you get work done.
(If you don't like it - 10% of the US population is outside the door waiting to replace you)
view bepsf's profile
@bepsf you are so right, I work in an open office plan and the first thing that happened is that everyone is creating seperate spaces for themselves. I don`t want to hear the telefone conference my collegue is doing, I don`t want to hear the stupid jokes from the guy 6 desks down, no I want to get my work done and when I`m done I`ll ask him to tell me a joke
view rood's profile
Bepsf, i totally agree with you. We don't have it on MY job, but i can imagine how it would be. Good on paper only.
Besides... with the way i feel about my job; no amount of expensive sofas could make me feel like i'm at 'home'. A fancy jail perhaps, but not home.
view Sleek1's profile