FEEK Out!

Check out the newest thing to come out of Trendway! Feek is a European product which utilizes coated foam to create unique pieces of furniture in all kinds of shapes and sizes. The pieces are flexible, functional, and futuristic - the perfect fit for your modern office, home, library, or retail space. Feek is tailor made to your project and the colors are all so fresh and trendy.

Since 2003, Feek has been a pioneer in furniture design using surprising new materials. It all started with foam products, which after 10 years has resulted in a completely new approach to the furniture, interior, and building industry. Feek offers a wide range of award winning designs, materials, products and processes. Foam coating, known as “rock face", uses the latest developments in the world of 3D foam and surface techniques. Feek's material is made from a range of polyurethane-based lacquer systems which is easy to maintain and will take on any shape.

We first caught wind of this exciting new product a few months ago, but were lucky enough to check it out in person at this year's NeoCon exhibition as Jake snapped some shots inside the Trendway showroom. Contact us for more info on how to snag this awesome product for your space - available to order in mid July!

Fun at NeoCon

Happy Monday! Our team had a great time in Chicago this past week exploring the city and getting inspired by its architecture and, of course, by the creative showrooms at NeoCon. Their days were full of lunch meetings, exhibits, and dinner parties with industry professionals and our resident designer, Jake, snapped some great shots chronicling their trip.

We stopped by to see some of our favorite manufacturer showrooms, including OFS, Kimball, HON, BuzziSpace, Trendway, Arcadia, and Izzy+.

The guys spent some quality time getting up close and personal with the products and learning about all their options.

The team also got a good dose of big city inspiration from the amazing Chicago architecture. Hours of exploration and great weather led to these awesome building snapshots.

After a few delays and a cancelled flight, our guys were on their way back to Portland to get to work! Come check us out to get some more information on these awesome brands shown at the conference and let us outfit your space with the best of the best in modern furniture.

European Influence

As we've mentioned before, we're huge fans of looking to European design as inspiration for our own modern shift in interiors. Because, hey, let's be honest - Europe has always been little bit ahead of the game! We're so inspired by their keen use of color, shape, and innovative products that we pulled together a few bundles of photos to give you an idea of where we're coming from. Check out these totally modern office spaces from around the world and let the drooling commence!

BIPA's Colorful and Productive New Headquarters

Austrian cosmetics firm located in Vienna.
Designed by BEHF Architekten and outfitted by office furniture company Bene.

Bubble's Efficient and Teamwork-based Offices

Social Media agency based in Prague.

 















































And here's an Australian and Canadian example, for good measure!

King & Wood Mallesons Flexible Brisbane Offices

Leading law firm in Brisbane.
Designed by HBO+EMT.

The New Urban System's Surrey Offices

Community-based engineering firm in Surrey, British Columbia.
Designed by Ashley Price Interior Design.

Photos via Office Snapshots

Now that's fresh...

Check out Amazon's most recent design plan for their Seattle Headquarters - talk about a fresh update!

NBBJ first unveiled their plans for the large Seattle remodel back in the Fall of 2012, but they just announced plans to add three biospheres in the middle of the 3-block downtown campus to be filled with plants from around the world. Amazon hopes to create a successful working environment that resembles a park instead of the typical "vanilla" office space.

The new campus will be LEED Gold-designed to include steel and glass structures complete with employee environments, retail spaces, botanical zones featuring a range of plants - including mature trees from high-elevation climates - and a large public park in the surrounding area.

"Amazon’s new Seattle campus will revamp three blocks in the Denny Triangle area in between South Lake Union and the commercial core. The plan calls for three 37-story towers complemented with lower volumes, open space, parks, green roofs and art installations." The largest dome will be 130 ft in diameter and the smallest around 80 ft in diameter. Inside, the spheres will house a variety of work spaces, dining areas, meeting rooms, and lounges. The LEED certified transparent domes will allow for tons of daylight and fresh air while minimizing energy use and enhancing the streetscape with reduced impact from shade and shadows.

"According to the Seattle Times, Amazon and NBBJ met with the city design review board this week to share the new plans. The plans were met with mixed reviews, although the consensus is that the biosphere plan is better than the old, rectangular design. Amazon hopes to finish the project by 2016."

We're definitely in to this new design plan and love that Amazon is utilizing LEED initiatives to further enhance their work space and help keep our environment green. This definitely has us eager to dream up new ways to implement some environmentally savvy designs into more of our day to day projects.

+ NBBJ
Via Seattle Times

So You Want Something Different? Here It Is!

Speaking of fun and innovative things, we recently ordered some colorful cubes for our showroom from BuzziSpace. These short stools come in a wide variety of bright hues and may be customized by size and amount of 3D squares in the pattern (see specs below). BuzziSpace offers a family of unique products from wall-coverings to benches to chairs and couches. Their fabric of choice is a fuzzy felt which is the perfect solution for a modern addition to the office. We went with a fresh orange color to compliment the cool blues in our space and they should be in soon! Check back for photos!

In the mean time, here's a look at some other fun products offered by the European manufacturer.

BuzziWings

BuzziSpace is all about modern designs built with eco-friendliness, acoustics and flexibility in mind. They use recycled and soundproof materials to create a variety of products that effectively reduce and absorb sound. BuzziWings boost acoustics with a touch of creativity, leaving your space with a functional yet appealing solution to noise control.

BuzziShade

These lamps have an elegant base and contrasting hood, done in BuzziFelt, that seems to float above it. The BuzziShade provides an intimate space that may be used in offices, waiting rooms, restaurants or as event furniture. Sound absorbing and environmentally friendly, these pieces were designed by four young furniture designers who studied in Belgium: Len de Paepe, Bob Segers, Tim Vranken and Jonas Blondeel.

BuzziMe

"Me, myself and I: there are times when you want to spend some time on your own in peace and quiet." BuzziMe is perfect for this. Belgian designer Axel Enthoven created an "ingenious look which harmoniously combines functionality and ergonomics." The chair has a swivel base, built-in light source, privacy sidewalls, and acoustic insulation made to reduce external noise. BuzziMe is the perfect chair for lobbies, airports and offices.
 

 

 Come visit us to learn more and to order some Buzzi for your Space!

Photos and specs via BuzziSpace.

NeoCon 2013

Check back in mid June for first hand exhibit notes from our design team!

As you probably know, NeoCon is coming up once again and we can't wait to check out all of the innovative products to be showcased this year! If you're not familiar with the event, NeoCon started in 1969 and is ultimately where the contract industry kicks off its year. Thousands of products and resources for hospitality, healthcare, retail, government, institutional and residential interiors are shown in more than 700 showrooms from various exhibitors. The conference is "North America's largest design exposition for commercial interiors, providing over 40,000 architecture and design professionals with nearly 100 CEU-accredited seminars, association forums and top-notch keynote speakers."

As a part of the design community, we're sending three of our team members to the conference this June to check it all out. This way, we'll have a fresh take on the current and upcoming direction of the industry. Our design/sales team will spend the week checking out various seminars, mingling with other firms, and finding inspiration in the newest interior products. We'll expect to see just about everything from building products to files and storage to wall treatments and lighting. And, of course, a good helping of uniquely modern furniture.

Here's a short list of some vendors expected at Chicago's NeoCon 2013:

BuzziSpace
Arcadia
Chemetal
Izzy+
HON
OFS Brands
SitOnIt
Workrite
Humanscale
Maharam

Perfectly Modern

This week, we're taking a closer look at some uniquely designed furniture from companies who truly understand modern interiors. HighTower Group is a US-based furniture company made up of passionate design enthusiasts. Founded in 2003 by Scott Hartkopf, the company sources, produces, and delivers products from cafe chairs and lobby sofas, to breakout tables and magazine racks - perfect for your commercial work space. HighTower specializes in fresh, innovative designs that fit seamlessly in today's corporate environment. With a keen focus on collaboration, flexibility, and mobility, HighTower helps boost and maintain our newest generation's productivity at the office.

"Grey walls and cubicles are a thing of the past - offices should be be fun and engaging."

Hartkopf says, "It was clear that our industry was craving new designs for commercial spaces, but needed these exciting, new designs to be more readily available & easy to specify.  We all agreed and started to work on creating HighTower's product collection based out of High Point, North Carolina."

Co-founded by Scott's two daughters, HighTower is "infused with the sensibilities of Gen Y." This combination of generations provides the company with a unique perspective and makes it easy for them to design products that are desirable for how people work in today's world.

Here's a look at a few of our favorite HighTower picks:

InDuplo Sofa - Ernst & Jensen
Comfortable and sculptural sofa with modern retro styling
Lacquered aluminum legs available in white or black standard 
2 seat or 3 seat options
Lowback or Midback

Log - Naoto Fukasawa, 2006
Crafted from oak with natural clear lacquer finish
Series includes stool, bench, bench grande, and table
Removable lid for storage

Papa - Jonas Lindvall 
Beautiful bentwood lounge chair
Inspired by the Danish golden era of design and Hemingway’s grandiosity
Frame available in clear lacquered Oak or black stained Oak
Optional upholstered seat pad
Matching Table available

Images and specs via HighTower

Whiten Up

We all know about the importance of color in the workplace and what it can do for your business. But what about the impact of white in a space?

Arguably the purest "color", this clean tint adds an amount of elegance that only white or black can achieve. Its simplicity keeps things looking fresh and visually appealing with little effort. Sure, we love a good pop of color and a fun ode to a seasonal trend here and there, however, there's something so perfect about the purity of white that keeps us interested and thirsty for more.

Some of the latest in modern design utilizes the color white in conjunction with sleek materials - like glass, resin, or concrete - leaving a simple, minimalistic aesthetic that's easy on the eye.

Spring is the perfect time to update your look and using white is a great way to get a fresh new start for the season! What are your favorite colors for the office?

Check out these inspirational space designs that put white to work in a fantastically modern way:

Use interesting textures and shapes to create an eye catching display of white.

Or leave it flat and functional for a non-messy look.

And, of course, you can't go wrong with the addition of contrasting brights to give some depth to an all white design.

Are Private Offices Going Away?

As interior design advances along with technology and these modern ideas of "working", the open floor plan has become increasingly popular. So much so, that many CEOs don't even use private office for themselves anymore. Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, says "in 30 years time, as technology moves forward even further, people are going to look back and wonder why offices ever existed."

The truth is, most young talent coming into the workforce is already immersed into this culture of working remotely. With technology's hand in nearly every aspect of our lives, the office could be just a reach away at any point in time, literally, right there in your pocket. Though this may sound alarming for us in the "office furniture" sector of the business, we're not too concerned. Sure, technology is taking over a bit, but we're not convinced that offices will be completely extinct any time soon. Many successful owners, managers, CEOs, etc. prefer to be mobile and out in the open areas of their employee spaces to provide a secure sense of camaraderie among the office and really get a sense of what's happening with the business - which is extremely smart.

Jack Dorsey, the master mind behind Twitter and Square, says "I don't have an office. I don't have a desk. Mainly I am just walking around the office. Sitting down with people. Figuring out what is going on. What the biggest challenge is. What we've built. Resolving any issues that occur. I have my space in my iPad, I have my space in my head."

So, office buildings in general won't be going away any time soon. Businesses still need a place to get work done and a productive space in which to share ideas. However, the more open the floor plan, the more technology utilized, and the more modern the ideas for collaboration...the better - and we're planning on being around through that shift.

Branson adds, "The key for me is that in today's world I do not think it is effective or productive to force your employees one way or another. Choice empowers people and makes for a more content workforce."

How do you utilize these new ideas for your own workspace?

Introducing: The Smart Board

As we've been trying to drive home recently, offices everywhere are transitioning from the typical 9-5, cubical, dry and ancient work environment to a more modern, fresh, and technologically savvy spot for employees to enjoy doing what they do. In an effort to stay ahead of the game in that respect, we've recently invested in the Smart Board technology for our working showroom.

This awesome piece of equipment acts as an interactive white board and allows us to give appealing client presentations, show product typicals and CAD drawings during design consultations, and even keep track of and share meeting minutes with the staff on Monday mornings. By creating an engaging learning environment, we can make sure clients are in touch with the product they'll be buying and feel like they're a part of the design process from start to finish. Not to mention, the board makes for a more exciting early morning meeting for workers, too!

As a touchscreen device, we're able to use a finger - or the provided stylus - to quickly write, draw, and swipe from application to internet and back to client documents. When adding text to a form, snapshots are captured and sent off to clients or staff with those handwritten updates included. Think high-tech NCIS media boards...for the office! With all this talk of new gadgets and technology updates for virtually every aspect of our lives, why not give a little refresh to your typical meetings or appointments at work? The board is great for new educational environments as well!

We're proud to be one of the first companies in the NW to use the Smart Board and can't wait to help you become one of the few in the industry to utilize this awesome new technology.

Stop by our showroom to get a look at the board in action!

Now Trending: Collaborative Offices

Another growing trend in today's workplace is the importance of collaboration among employees. Studies from Gensler show that top performing companies spend their time socializing and engaging in collaborative work 16% and 23% more than average companies, respectively. Those top performers consider collaboration to be more than twice as critical to job success. So what exactly does "collaborative work" mean?

The most current office furniture is designed to initiate employee interaction throughout the day, thus promoting a more exciting, busy, and overall more creative place to work. With bench desk layouts and low panels separating employee space, workers have the welcomed option to interact with their desk-mate and receive creative and necessary input from others while maintaining enough privacy to work on individual projects as well.

Collaboration doesn't necessarily mean "loud", however. In our own working showroom, benching has kept the noise level of phone conversations and side by side collaboration significantly lower because we're constantly aware of the employee across from us. Previous panel style desks really only provided perceived privacy. Hiding behind panels, phone calls were unintentionally louder due to the cubicle effect of the once popular desking solution.

Not to mention, being confined to a cubicle-esque work space all day doesn't exactly breed happy employees! Employees of the top performing companies surveyed were "uniformly satisfied" with their work environments, further proving the success of collaborative offices.

Amp up your collab potential by providing other informal meeting areas for your employees to sit down together in small groups. This could be in the form of couches and occasional tables in common areas or in simple, small scale conference rooms. Wide aisles in the office also allow for chance meetings among workers without disrupting individually focused work in the office.

Check back on Wednesday to get a closer look at the product we suggest using to get your company operating in an open plan up there with those "top performers".