See you at the office: homely and mobile furniture families from Dauphin

While concentrated individual work can certainly be outsourced, direct social interaction is much harder to replace. This also changes the demands placed on the work environment. Today, people need fewer places for retreating and concentrating, but are rather looking for more informal, flexible, comfortable, communicative, creative and variable room scenarios. Office furniture specialist Dauphin is responding to these changes with its ‘Lounge Vibes’ collection. This includes the two model series Reefs flex and Allora Poufs. Part of their character is that they are easy to rearrange and combine with each other. With the different furniture groups of the Lounge line, rooms can be furnished dynamically and according to the situation.

The important thing for new work interiors is that they invite users to appropriate them and rearrange them according to their needs and work situations. For so long, we have worked in rigid office worlds between desks, conference rooms and work cubes. Many people first have to integrate modular furniture into their office routines in order to redesign rooms to suit their individual tasks. Furniture that communicates flexibility through its silhouette, ergonomics and weight and invites interaction can help. Reefs flex has modularity in its name. The sofa series consists of different elements that can be combined with each other. These include modules that form curves, single and multiple seats, stools, benches and armchairs, as well as accessories such as a clip-on tray used as an additional storage surface or linking elements that securely connect seat modules placed next to each other.

With their soft lines, Reefs flex's comfortable cushions have been placed on a slim metal skid frame that virtually suspends them. Their slender form and lightweight construction invites all colleagues to lend a hand in furnishing the work environment. If a discussion group expands, stools and chairs are moved closer, if a team changes from group mode to a lecture situation, the room can be adapted to this in just a few minutes. In everyday office life, the furniture creates landscapes that are engaging, with homely qualities that can be precisely matched to the ambience. The wide range of colours and fabrics is suitable for harmonious combinations as well as for arrangements that are rich in contrast. Each of the family members in Dauphin's collection is a functional soloist, but work equally well as a collective. They are practical proof that flexible furniture is a good tool for making efficient use of workspaces. Instead of planning static functional zones, each area can respond to different activities and situations each day, so less space is needed in general.

Allora Poufs communicate the departure into the new world of work via a loop in its smallest version. A colour-contrasting grip band is positioned at one corner of the square seat, encouraging you to reach out and grab it. In fact, Allora Poufs are so lightweight that, at just 2.5 kgs, they allow for spontaneous changes of location as well as of seating. In addition to the small cube, Dauphin also has two larger versions in its range, which vary in seat height. When they are placed together, they form an exciting topography. Their designer, Rüdiger Schaack, has also used a design trick to emphasise their lightness. The base area is bevelled inward and finished in black, so that it has the visual effect of a shadow. The impression is created that the cuboids are standing in the air a few centimetres above the ground, while resting on a non-slip surface.

Digital tools have made our work itself easier, but now it's time for our work environments to adapt to the changing conditions and demands as well. Both the Allora Poufs and the Reefs flex seating collection meet these latest challenges. They provide agility but also cosiness in the workplace, making a strong case for returning to the office. ‘In view of the time resources that commuting to the office takes up, companies will also have to look at innovative office concepts even more in the future in order to make returning to the office more attractive,’ states the latest Fraunhofer IAO study, Homeoffice Experience 2.0.

It's a matter of creating places where employees feel comfortable, can happily interact with each other and which function as a physical representation of the company's values. Dauphin itself formulates its idea of a successful workspace design even more succinctly: ‘Too cosy to stay at home.’

© Architonic