Home-based businesses, telecommuters, and rapidly shifting teams need desks, but not necessarily those humongous desk/credenza systems that have defined office furniture in the past. The frenetic pace and constant morphing of staff and office typical of the high-tech start-up often preclude the tedious installation of cubicles.
Furniture makers have taken note and responded with stuff that's more flexible and more fun. Manufacturers' reps and office designers from around the United States converged 14-16 August in Silicon Valley - ground zero for the alternative office movement - for alt.office, a conference and expo on alternative work issues.
Two design trends were in evidence: furniture that whizzes, and furniture that collapses.
In the speedy category, computer desks on wheels can be pulled into the center of the room in the home office for the work day, then shoved back into a corner for the Friday-night rave. Rolling file stations and mobile tables join the party. Versteel's Rover Sr. laptop desk features Jetsons styling, with a semicircular chrome base supporting a boomerang-shaped work surface, shown in chartreuse and citron. Equally speedy is Haworth's Crossings line, which includes a computer cart, CAD stand, mobile scaffold, podium, and "work nest." The latter provides instant seclusion with sliding doors and a canopy.
A big complaint of those who work at home is that they can never get away from the office. That problem has found some solutions in workstations that fold up into a tidy cabinet, computer and all.
The design of Trendway's Oasis is influenced by its origin as a project for the Pentagon. This "office in a box" includes a worktable, bookshelf, whiteboard/bulletin board, computer station, filing cabinets, and even a coathook, yet folds up into a 63-1/2-inch by 36-inch by 24-1/2-inch steel box.
GF Office Furniture Ltd. will introduce Suite Wheels, a similar concept with less industrial styling, in the second quarter of 1998. Haworth's Correspondent, available now, is an upscale version, with hardwood veneer and a curved front.
The alt.office conference included three days of seminars and discussions on topics such as groupware, ergonomics, and psychological effects of telecommuting, plus addresses by consultant Fritz Steele of Portsmouth Consulting Group, humorist Scott Adams, and futurist Paul Saffo. A quarterly journal aimed at designers and facilities managers covers the impact of technology and new business models on office design, and supports future events and conferences.
