Orgatec

Yep, it’s been nearly two years since us ‘tradesfolk’ headed over to Cologne for the mutter of all
office furniture exhibitions. As ever, there are rumours abound as to the future of the show – and certainly there are a number of high profile companies (including, believe it or not, show-stealers for the last two editions, Herman Miller!) who are not exhibiting at Orgatec 2012.

But we’re not going to focus on who isn’t, but rather who is in Cologne – and this doesn’t mean that we can expect a lean show this year. One thing Orgatec is not, and never has been, is lean. What we can certainly still expect are mega-stands from the majority of the big Germanic players – and new product developments aplenty. It’s also worth noting that many of our own leading British  manufacturers will still be flying the flag this year. So here are a few of the players and products worth looking out for (in no particular order other than when we received information from them!).

There's little doubt whose will be the busiest stand at Orgatec: Vitra’s. Well, Pivot and AdHoc High Work are two of the new products developed by Vitra to take a dynamic, spontaneous working environment to a higher level - and ensure another busy year for the Swiss maestros.

It is easier than ever to develop the healthy habit of spontaneously switching between standing and sitting while at work with the new Pivot high working chair. In conjunction with high standing tables, Pivot makes this switch a simple, dynamic movement: rather than raising and lowering
the table, users themselves either sit on the high Pivot chair or hop off to lean against Pivot while standing at the table. This means that quick meetings can be held ‘at eye level’ with passing colleagues, promoting teamwork and fostering increased levels of performance and motivation. This additional physical movement enhances circulation and helps prevent back problems and postural misalignment.

To read the full article from Mix Interiors September 2012 issue click the icon below

Antonio Citterio designed Pivot to be 33cm higher than a standard office swivel chair in order to fit the standard height of standing tables. The chair’s back is comfortably round and slightly pulled
forward, which provides for freedom of movement. The height-adjustable one-piece seat and footring provide additional high sitting comfort.

Part of an ever increasing family of office systems, Ad Hoc High Work is designed for dynamic working both while standing and, in conjunction with a high office chair, while sitting. In team project and meeting situations, Ad Hoc High Work facilitates focused discussions at eye level – even if some participants are standing while others are sitting. Busy boy, that Antonio.

Sticking with Vitra, Alberto Meda will present his minimalist design for a swivelling office chair that, while ergonomically state-of-the-art, conceals all its ergonomic chair functions in a simple,
streamlined form. Also, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have helped developed an organic modular system that redefines the work environment, breaks the established patterns of workspaces, and reintroduces comfort into work.

Alongside Vitra, Bene will be making a decisive step forward with its office design, presenting the modern office world as a living urban environment with ‘me’ and ‘we’ places. New to the Bene portfolio and featured at Cologne this October are DOCKLANDS, the alternative workstation
concept for temporary activities, and CUBE_S, a range of fixed, modular workstations with integrated storage space.

DOCKLANDS is the new, alternative workstation concept for temporary activities, developed by PearsonLloyd. A ‘me’ place that supports concentrated, focused activity – providing personal and
acoustic privacy. The DOCKLANDS elements are high-quality furniture with an engaging design, providing an anchoring point for employees and visitors alike. Power and network integration enable easy plug and play, and accessories such as lighting and coat hooks give a sense of personal space.

CUBE_S makes a real statement with what is described as a new quality of stationary fixed workstation; it gives an effective structure to your workspace, and provides enough flexibility for your own customised workstation layout. The combination of desk and storage space transforms your workstation into a cockpit, with all the necessary tools and documents at your fingertips. Variable heights and storage elements create customizable options for privacy without disturbing the transparency of the room.

Following the global success of Flo, Colebrook Bosson Saunders will unveil its state-of-the-art big brother – Flo Plus. The new dynamic high-load dual screen monitor arm sets a new standard in its class, boast our friends from Union Street.

Powered by Flo Spring Technology, with a lifetime warranty and four patents pending unique to its design, Flo Plus can support monitor weights of between 6-18Kg and be easily positioned into an
ergonomic position by using the adjustable handle.

The genius of Flo Plus is the unique engineering that creates the self-balancing head. This means that by adjusting the tension feature in the back of the forearm with an allen key, the spring can be tightened or loosened to hold the screens in the perfect ergonomic position without it
drooping, and yet still be flexible enough for the next user to easily adjust the screens into position using their fingertips.

This year’s Orgatec will provide a showcase for the launch of two exciting new products from Viasit: a pendulum shell chair and a new family of seating for the high-volume market.

Impulse follows in the footsteps of the company’s most successful product, Linea, and the Re-pend shell chair is sure to impress with its subtle design concept.

Impulse shares the same gene pool as its predecessors but is clothed in and delivers a new innovative design and enhanced ergonomics. The modular design principle allows it to be adapted almost limitlessly to fit in with any and every scenario. Designer  Ralf Umland, working in collaboration with Viasit’s R&D team, has developed a family of chairs with superior flexibility and
functionality. The new Impulse work chair is more than just a creative statement; it embraces new and class leading functional improvements, previously not available in this market sector,  delivering fully integrated control ‘buttons’ and unique back and forward tilt adjustment. The product range includes six work chair versions as well as six meeting chairs.

Re-pend is a completely new design concept from Martin Ballendat. This classic, contemporary, stylish and comfortable shell chair combines dynamic sitting in a weightless design which is achieved by suspending the seat from a pivotal point providing from the frame providing
movement and additional comfort. Options include variable upholstery for the entire interior of the shell or just the seat, creating individual style according to requirements with a wide choice of upholstery materials finishes and colours.

Senator will be showing a total of eight new product ranges at Orgatec for the first time – and will be launching three brand new ranges.

With the development of Ad-Lib, Senator has set out to redefine the genre of multi-purpose seating, developing a family of products that, whilst remaining architecturally neutral, respond to the holistic requirements of multipurpose seating. Ad-Lib is available with six supporting structures that attach to the seat frame and deliver a comprehensive solution to the requirements of multi-purpose seating. The Ad-lib table program has been developed principally to work with the Adlib
seating range and shares common design values and architecture. Similar goals of lean material usage and sustainability were key to the development, as was the desire to develop a truly universal table program with a very small inventory of components.

Confer is a compact, stacking, monoshell chair design developed for conference/meeting and banqueting seating. The design keeps to the necessary compact footprint while enhancing all other features and performance requirements of such seating and venues, with slim looks, refreshingly elegant lines and a sturdy, robust construction. The chairs come with or without arms and the option of a luxuriously comfortable and visually striking high back.

Haven Benches share that same design language and philosophy of collaboration. The benches are available in three lengths and can be used individually or linked. The vertical elements, bulwarks (no, we’re being serious!), are either attached to the bench to act as a backrest or perch or can be linked to the end of the bench as a perch or to act as a spatial divider. Three linking modules are also offered. Fresh, light and comfortable, Mayze creates a modern atmosphere where formalities are dropped and open conversation can start, and is available as a chair or lounge chair version. The unique upper body of Mayze can be combined with several base options, taking it through many forms for different purposes.

Clipper is the latest range of task seating to be launched by Senator. Delivering great comfort combined with simple elegant styling, the chair features a newly developed dynamic synchronised mechanism that provides an excellent range of movement to support working, with a high geared two revolution tension adjustment for the tilt action. The chair is fitted as standard with a three stage travel limiter and upright lock.

Staying with Senator, look out also for new chairs Jaicer and Phoulds. K+N is always an Orgatec must-see. This year the company presents a new concept within the K+N City system, in the shape of Team.Work.Space. The new concept has been developed to fulfil a variety of demands – for instance, it facilitates concentrated working alone or in pairs or in teams, it is a place with unique lighting for atmosphere, soundproofing, screening for privacy, and it offers scope for individual design.

Team.Work.Space is based on the fact that any workstation is a combination of people, space, furniture and technology. It provides the building blocks needed to create furnishing configurations such as work desks, hot desks, team areas or even a silent area. A central element in this space is the eBridge; this houses the electrics and enables power to be split across four workstations from one terminal point. The multifunctional system is complemented by a new chair family. Its
characteristic feature is the flowing structure of the backrest, cantilever seat and armrest that merge into one another – an idea which designer Dietmar Fissl of 2doDesign took from architecture. Not only do the contours of the weight-bearing elements of the chair form a harmonious combination, so do its surfaces, in which different materials flow together. The design principle is present throughout the entire product family. The task chairs are available with
high or low backs and in various materials, such as upholstered, mesh or Elastollan.

Humanscale’s Element Disc aims to set the bar at the highest level for LED task lighting  performance. Designed by Humanscale Design Director Mark McKenna and the Humanscale Design Studio, Disc utilises advanced Thin Film LED Technology, and overcomes the weaknesses of conventional LED task lights by offering brilliant 3000K illumination and unparalleled aesthetics and sustainability. With a Color-Rendering Index (CRI) of 80, Disc uses a number of high-intensity micro LEDs that srround several layers of polycarbonate and optical films to create an ultra-wide footprint of warm, glare-free light that casts only one shadow on the work surface. Disc also features dimming functionality with seven levels of brightness.

Float, meanwhile, meets the demands of healthier work environments with an unprecedented combination of adjustability, ease of use and safety. With a unique counterbalance mechanism, Float enables easy, one-hand weight adjustment, and constant-force height adjustment for
ergonomic sit-stand usage. Float is also built with safety measures to prevent the possibility of injury – its innovative safety feature only allows adjustment when the desktop and contents are properly balanced. Float provides an industry-leading 20 inches of height adjustability and its unique counterbalance mechanism handles the widest weight range in the industry – zero
to 73kg pounds of desktop weight.

Ergo will be showing Sobre – the latest addition to the Koncept lighting family. Designed for open spaces such as libraries, government buildings and public venues, the lights are a free standing solution providing consistent, energy-efficient lighting for extended work surfaces.Keeping with the family tradition, Sobre is already award-winning, having collected Best of NeoCon 2012.

Ergo will also be unveiling the Mosso light and X-Stream arm alliance. This combination provides the user with a flexible illuminated working environment and optimises space capacity, keeping desks clear.

Following the success of Camira’s Hemp fabric launch and ‘No You're Not Seeing Things’ campaign, the Yorkshire textile innovators’ revolution in bast fibre fabrics made from harvested plants continues with the introduction of Hebden.

Hebden is a wool-hemp mix, with a distressed, weathered look and a large scale subtle patterned check repeat.

X2, meanwhile, is an innovative recycled polyester, a portion of which is fully closed loop, using Camira’s own polyester selvedge waste, recycled into yarn and back into fabric. Other Cologne launches include energetic, knitted polyester Sprint and high endurance range Timeline.

Wilkhahn will be unveiling the Graph conference chair at this year’s show. Graph has, of course, already caused quite a stir throughout the industry. The reaction encouraged designers jehs + laub and Wilkhahn engineers to seek the best solution in terms of structure, function and
design – right down to the tiniest detail.

Over the past few months, the range has been honed, perfected and is now ready for you good specifiers to go and play with.

Furthermore, Wilkhahn will be showing two new additions to the Aline range.

Bisley will be launching a revolutionary new product range, developed to challenge the existing perception of storage in the workspace. Historically, storage has been treated solely as a sedentary and purely functional element of a workplace. ‘Be’ challenges this perceived wisdom,
repositioning storage as the pivotal and dynamic hub of the office landscape.

Uniquely, Be by Bisley is a powered piece of office furniture – simply a wired portal, which means it brings into play a plethora of technical applications and the opportunity to fully exploit a modern
working environment.

Bisley believes that this exciting new product resolves many of the dynamic variability constraints facing architects, designers and end users and is thus able to deliver a solution for numerous workspace scenarios. Essentially, Be enables a workspace to be fine-tuned to meet the precise requirements of any organisation with the added flexibility to incorporate existing furniture or  partner with any desking manufacturer.

Moreover, because it starts as a frame with no defined front or back, Be is the ultimate chameleon when it comes to variability of closure, aperture, orientation, materials and finish.

Interstuhl will show a variety of exciting, new products at this year’s show. MOVYis3 is refreshingly unconventional with its futuristic design, innovative material and excellent  performance. Boasting great comfort, the swivel chair is equipped with a synchronous mechanism with body float effect offer. Besides its design and functionality, MOVYis3 isn’t a chair to hurt
the pocket.

EVERYis1, on the other hand, is a swivel chair with mesh backrest and automatic weight adjustment, developed for ‘everyone’ at a very competitive price. Like any Interstuhl product, EVERYis1 strives for great seating in its form, function and ergonomics. The swivel chair is
complimented by a cantilever chair.

NESTYis3 is a versatile folding table range. Options range from neutral melamine surfaces to high-quality veneers. Thanks to the large variety of sizes, NESTYis3 is suitable for conferencing and training rooms alike. The tables are also equipped with castors – hence, they can be
used flexibly and easily within different working environments.

Orgatec 2012 will mark the rebirth of a design icon: the folding chair Sóley, penned by the Icelandic designer Valdimar Harðarson in 1982 and now reintroduced by Kusch + Co. As far back as 30 years ago, this bold and daring design made quite an impact, with Sóley scooping the Roscoe Award in the US as well as two Good Design Awards in Japan, winning the title
Furniture of the Year 1984, and the Design-Center Stuttgart design award.

Sóley’s re-launch is celebrated with a strictly limited edition of 275 units, handsigned by Valdimar Harðarson personally. The design amalgamates two formal elements: circles and straight lines, defining the chair’s geometry. Sóley is even described as ‘eye candy’ – and we’ve never heard that said of a chair!

Designer Norbert Geelen, who already penned the uni_verso and 8200 Volpe seating ranges, has once again been commissioned by Kusch to create a new series acting as the connecting link between his other series. 8250 Volpino – the little brother of the Volpe series – is his latest
brainchild. The seat shell’s design language is clearly inspired by the sculptural character of its big brother and can be mixed and matched with the same frames used for series uni_verso, including the option to combine the seat shell with four solid wooden legs.

After the successful development of the 8000 Series, Porsche Design Studio and Kusch have joined forces and know-how once again for a new project. 8080 is a new premium seating series developed and designed to furnish exclusive, upscale lounges and foyers.

Kusch will also be unveiling a new, evolutionary swivel seating series called 6000 São Paulo, once again designed by Norbert Geelen.

Werner Works will be showcasing its contemporary, stylish storage solutions at this year’s Orgatec – with, we are told, an emphasis on new finishes and detail. Werner’s products feature elegant and attractive locking mechanisms, newly detailed edging and the use of new materials, including sound absorbing acoustic finishes.

Klöber will introduce Concept C; a range of armchairs, sofas and chairs designed by Jörg Bernauer that can be used in versatile ways in modern office environments. Concept C creates space for encounters, improves the quality of communication and provides areas for relaxation.
Concept C is designed around a striking concrete base, a material associated with stability, yet here the result is light and elegant. The seat floats above the base in either a straight or curved design. Concept C creates rooms within rooms used either individually, in groups or rows with flowing transitions, as well as in configuration with a matching table.

We hope that’s enough for you to be getting on with. And we haven’t even mentioned Papa
Joe’s, The Corkonion, Kolsch or the Alter Markt. Until now!