Attitudes about the workplace have shifted and changed over the past years. From cubicles to open floor plans and back again, office space often fluctuates between technical, efficient places for productivity and cozy, inspiring spaces for humans. This has become especially evident in recent months as people started going back to offices after having adjusted to the comforts and challenges of working from home. While it’s definitely not advisable to bring the entire WFH setting to a communal workspace, it might be possible to integrate some of those more favorable elements into office design. That’s exactly what this furniture collection, and especially this lounge chair tries to offer, helping people bounce back into work life while still enjoying some of the conveniences and privacy they had at home.
Designer: Anthony Chupp
When people around the world were forced to start working from home instead of the office, many struggled to adjust and cope. Over time, however, workers and their families have developed strategies and tools that helped them remain productive despite all the distractions and temptations at home. Now the pendulum swings in the opposite direction, and people are trying to re-adjust to working from the office while also yearning for the positive experiences they had from working at home.
“Rebound” is a furniture collection that tries to bring those traits to the office, focusing primarily on properties like privacy and personalization, something that has almost become rare in many open floor plans today. The Kona lounge chair is the most interesting member of this group, looking like something you wouldn’t expect inside an office. It’s a design that exhibits not only flexibility but also convenience and comfort that is more associated with home furniture instead.
Kona’s base is a short, cylindrical pouf that, on its own, is already an attractive piece in any room. It combines with curved backrests of different heights that add both back support as well as an accent to the chair. That back support is covered with wool felt that acts as a sound-absorbing material to create an acoustically private space around the person sitting on the chair. The back support can also stand on its own and be placed behind any regular office chair to serve as a privacy backdrop for video calls as well.
The collection also includes a modular shelf that brings a level of customization you wouldn’t normally expect from office furniture. There are also acoustic panels that are designed to dampen background noise while doing video calls. These pieces of furniture represent the changing needs of office workers, particularly with the prevalence of video calls as part of regular office life. It also reflects a growing desire to create more private spaces they can personalize, something that, ironically, the old cubicle-style workplace offered to some extent.
