Mathieu Lehanneur’s new meeting room furniture

French designer Mathieu Lehanneur has created a new system of meeting room furniture for hotel brand Pullman.

Called Business Playground, the new adaptable system of furniture, which is available to buy, comprises a meeting table inspired by a poker table, a private area for informal conversations or breaks, and a cabinet of curiosities, all of which are designed to bring more comfort and even fun to the experience of business meetings.

According to Lehanneur, the furniture is designed to bring a playful touch to the world of work. The boardroom table, which is available in different lengths so suit various numbers of people, has padded leather around its edge – an idea Lehanneur took from the poker tables of casinos.

The main table is made of fiberglass, beige leather and Corian.

Says Lehanneur: ‘There are two ways to sit at a meeting table: leaning against the backrest of the chair, or leaning forward on your forearms. The difference between the two is not without meaning. It says a lot about our relation to others and about what’s happening in the meeting. By bringing comfort and a certain suppleness to the table itself, I wanted to instil in each person the desire to participate and be at the heart of the debate, to go from passive to active, from spectator to participant…. Through a simple shift from casino to meeting room, the Pullman Poker Table gives meetings a new dynamic and reconciles the concepts of work and play!’

The concept was launched last week at the Pullman London St Pancras hotel (pictured above) last week and will be ‘rolled out’ across the other Pullman hotels next year.