Edited by Scarlett walker-hebborn
What current or historical trend has inspired you personally in terms of office design?
One of the most important trends in recent years has been the understanding of biophilia and how colour and design can positively influence our well-being. Colours that are inspired by nature – earthy tones, greens and browns – are now frequently seen in office design.
As a design team we love to see that our architecture and design clients embrace colour. There’s also been a notable shift in office design to adopt colours historically perceived as ‘feminine’ – such as pinks and peaches. We see these colours, previously the province of the residential sector, now breaking through into office spaces.
There is now an appetite in office design to be playful, adventurous and sometimes bold with the use of pattern, which drives us to create ever more creative designs.
The Painted Garden collection
Has office product design become more adventurous over the past 30 years. If so, in what way?
Looking back to a typical 1990s office, it is barely recognisable compared with the workplace of today. Beige dominated and technology was so bulky and cumbersome. It was the era of the cubicle, which meant the floor plane could hardly be seen. During the intervening 30 years there’s a vastly different understanding of the needs of the workforce leading to seismic changes in office layouts and therefore product design.
From the perspective of flooring designers we are freed up to consider how to enhance the office from a broad range of needs. Designers now understand that we all have different requirements. It’s been so refreshing to see the recognition of our differences and design for a neurodiverse workforce.
The massive increase of technology in the workplace over the last 30 years and therefore the need for raised access flooring is one of the biggest drivers for the use of carpet tiles.
All of these changes in office design have enabled us to be more creative with the floor plane.
Alison Kitchingman
Has manufacturing and product design moved with the times?
I would say yes, it has had to, in large part driven by the focus on sustainability. Designers and end users are more demanding of transparency and sustainability credentials of manufacturers. The whole supply chain has had to respond and move with the times – first the demand for recycled content and more recently for carbon -neutral products.
Responsible manufacturing and responsibly sourced components, right through to re-use and the end-of-life circularity of products, is now expected.
Do you commission freelance designers or recruit in-house designers?
We’re proud to nurture home-grown talent and have a strong in-house design team based in our HQ in Wigan. As part of our aim to bring on new designers we have a longstanding collaboration with the Textile Design department at Loughborough University. The design competition we run and the internships we offer support young designers and energises our team.
We also collaborate with our global design studios in the US and Asia, which enables us to draw on worldwide and local trends.
Which exhibitions do you visit for inspiration or research?
We take part in Clerkenwell Design Week in London and NeoCon in Chicago, during which our designers have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the trends of the commercial interiors sector. We also like to attend Orgatec in Cologne, Architect @ Work and Salone del Mobile in Milan.
The Painted Garden collection
We make a point of visiting shows and exhibitions outside of our own sector, to soak up trends with more diverse origins. A visit to the Victoria & Albert or the Tate can be just as beneficial from a design perspective as an industry show.
What have been your main drivers for your company’s most recent collection?
Our most recent collection, Painted Garden, was in part driven by the noticeable ‘resimercial’ shift, where elements of design usually only seen in residential interiors are seeping into commercial and office environments.
On a very pragmatic level we are also driven by market needs, so we have produced a value engineered version of Painted Garden in response to a crunch on budgets.
From an artistic perspective Painted Garden was inspired by creative garden displays, inspired by celebrated artists, at the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show, and also a renewed passion for horticulture and appreciation of the garden in all its different forms.
