We are back from the Orgatec 2016 – the world’s leading trade fair for Office and Facility, in Cologne, Germany – and we loved it! We tried our best to take in everything we saw in all 8 halls, covering more than 130,000 m² showcasing 671 companies from 40 countries, to bring back with us trends and product innovations to translate and make workable for the South African Market. We were very happy to see that we are aligned with world trends, and continue to stay abreast with new developments.
Here are some of the trends we picked up on:
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The Agile Office
Focusing on what employees actually do rather than which department they are in, as it provides them with office space that is flexible and adaptable to their needs and activities.
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Height-adjustable desks
It has become law* in many European countries to provide employees with the Height adjustable (600 – 1200mm) desk option. Following that nearly all exhibitors showcased height adjustable desks. The effect of this being a relatively expensive product, and South African Law not regulating the height of desks, we expect that this trend will take some time before it becomes standard practice in the average RSA office.
*EU STANDARD S EN 527-1
Office Furniture: Work Tables and Desks (Applies from July 2000)
“The ergonomic principles in the design of work systems prescribes that the working human being must be able to change between sitting and standing posture.”
The following countries are bound to implement this standard: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
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Acoustic solutions are in high demand
Following the rise in open plan offices, there is also a greater demand for elements that can absorb or deflect sound waves in a way that reduces noise, minimises distractions and improves focus.
From screening and partitions to full acoustic meeting rooms, soft seating, wall panels and suspended acoustic panels, to telephone booths, to textured storage surfaces (holes and grooves) to upholstered storage carcasses, acoustic solutions is clearly a need in open plan offices!
What we also noticed was that screening and partitioning was integrated into the desking solution, they were never presented as separate items. Also – no aluminium/steel framed screens, rather a strong representation of light-weight, upholstered acoustic screens.
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Reticulation and Technology
Microsoft had their own stand, showing how to integrate apps and programs into your work environment to improve the flow of information. There were Large TV monitors as a part of almost every meeting area whether that was a stand-up meeting table, a sitting meeting table, or a boardroom table, even the soft seating areas had TV’s on Mobile stands. Hot desking not only included power docs but also monitors that the user could plug into and continue working. Soft seating areas had plugs integrated to allow users to “re-charge”their batteries (pun intended).
Reticulation neatness remains a challenge for all manufacturers it seems, with height adjustable desks not making the task any easier.
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Task lighting was very prominent.
We noticed quite a few lampshades, this may be in an effort to make the office environment more homely. But as a trend there were a vast number of solutions that incorporated motion sensors that effectively saves energy (turning lights off when there is no-one in the area). As well as light sensors that measures the amount of natural or other light in the room, and automatically adjust the brightness accordingly, to avoid eyes being strained.
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Clean-desk, clean-floor
Floating storage, attachments and accessories for partitioning gives your dustbin and laptop bag a new position, This trend is fueled by height adjustable desks and the popularity of hot-desking. Rather than placing handbags, or laptop bags on the floor or leaning it against the wall you could hook it/hang it from an attachment of your desk or screen or storage.
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Hot desking goes hand-in-hand with personal lockers
With an increase in hot desking and mobile technology, comes an increase in personal storage lockers.
It is becoming more common for companies to have more employees than they have desks, due to constant meetings, employees being on the road a lot more and mobile technology (laptops and tablets) allowing people to work from anywhere, including airports, coffee shops and lounges. The need for secure space to temporarily store personal items whilst working and has not disappeared and that need is being addressed with lockers (high tech lockers can only be accessed by a tag/card, which can be de-activated when lost).
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Ergonomic Chairs continues to be a strong category
It was fascinating how many adjustments you can make to an ergonomic chair from, height, to depth, to lumber support, to head rest height, to tension, to 4D arm rest adjust-ability. Some companies have opted to go for making those adjustments as automatic as possible (your chair adjusts with your movement) whilts others prefer to give their user the opportunity to fully customise the comfort of their chair.
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Tall-boys/small boys
Entrawood is on trend, and we will be looking at extending our offering in this category.
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Colours
Continued trend to lighter, calming colours like monotones and pastels, and a punch of autumn inspired colours in some exhibits (for upholstery and chairs)
Matte black steel powder coating was popular, as well as other dark solid colours.
Natural wood colours and particularly Plywood (layered) was prominent, otherwise solid colours particularly in grey’s, blue’s, purple’s and deep green’s
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Greenery in the office
From green walls to medium sized potted trees, to pot plants straddling desk screens, adding that natural fresh element into the workplace promotes well-being and positivity.
We are confident that the direction Entrawood and Entrakor are growing is in keeping with what is happening internationally and we have a few developments and exciting projects coming up, that we will be reporting on soon.
“The leading international trade fair for the modern working world recorded a considerable increase in visitor numbers of more than 10 per cent with more than 56,000 visitors from 118 countries. The trade fair’s theme, “creativity works – new visions of work”, ran through the presentations by the exhibitors and attracted praise from architects and designers in particular. Exhibitors and visitors agreed on one thing: without a doubt, ORGATEC has grown to become the creative hotspot for the modern working world.” Read official report
