Somewhere near the intersection of creativity, hotelling, felt acoustic privacy panels and eco-friendly design lies the Shire of Gettingstuffdone. Our trip to NeoCon 2014 unearthed a number of examples of work villages of modest acreage that approach office productivity from a fuzzier perspective. These felt and fabric-lined work stations and meeting spaces, like newly-found cousins of the office cubicle, are both an outgrowth of ever-evolving work environments and a reaction to the bustle of the open plan, providing semi-private, space-conscious designs that buck the usual straight line design sensibilities of traditional desking and panel systems in favor of more organic forms–for good reasons.
Do you have mobile team members or contractors that need a place to touch down between meetings? A traditional work station might take up too much real estate. Do you have a noisy open plan and need some quieter spaces for head-down work or small group collaboration? Adding sound-absorbing acoustic panels can improve productivity. Do you have a unique space and a creative team that needs their environs to truly speak to them? One of these work village solutions might be right for you.
BuzziVille from BuzziSpace
Born from their ground-breaking research in acoustic dampening (see BuzziFelt), the soft and humble BuzziVille line from BuzziSpace is designed for semi-private work spaces and meeting areas in open work environments. While they look soft and cute, as the BuzziVille name implies, they are part of a simple-to-assemble and flexible system that can grow and morph as needs change. Two wall heights and an interchangeable collection of panels, desk surfaces and benches hook together in a snap and allow for an organic mix of work spaces. And, worth noting, while BuzziSpace is based in Belgium, they are opening a new production facility in High Point, North Carolina.
Allermuir Haven Pods
Leaning slightly closer toward typical cubical design (but only slightly) is the Haven Pods line from Allermuir. The stand-alone Haven Pods, like BuzziVille, are diminutive work and meeting modules meant to be assembled and moved at will, without permanent connections to building structure. But unlike BuzziVille’s interlocking components that can be connected to build an ecosystem of work spaces, Haven Pods are built in specific sizes for specific tasks and nestle together via their curved and hexagonal designs. The Solo and Solo Plus are built as individual work stations. Duo and Quad are made for, you guessed it, meetings of two to four. Team Work, Meeting & Resource designs, the largest units, accommodate larger groups and can be integrated with A/V technologies or even casegoods for other office necessities. Similar to BuzziSpace, Allermuir has European origins, but a new production facility in Maumee, Ohio.
Learn More
iSpace is proud to partner with both BuzziSpace and Allermuir to provide innovative products made for forward-thinking work environments. Email us and we’d be happy to walk through a host of work village options for your project.