Work 2013 - Newsletter No 4

The work space of today

Work

When we create interiors for our clients, we try very hard to put ourselves in their way of living and imagining how to best make them feel really good about their home or work space. At home, the work space is often overlooked, but is beginning to enter the centre of attention, since people start to work more flexible hours and more and more from home and realize they want a designated space or the possibility to easily switch the function of, let’s say, the dining room and make it into a functioning office space within a few moments. At the office, the reception, being the business card for your company, often looks the same wherever you go. How can you possibly tell the difference between your company and that of your competitors? This is what holm° is always striving for: to create a space around your personality or that of your company.

Finding what's right for you

Work and Pleasure

holm° plans and realizes interiors for small and medium-sized companies which want an interior that makes their employees feel comfortable, inspired, focussed and motivated. They need spaces that communicate the values of their companies and how they work together towards set goals. Investing in the workspace means they show their employees, or themselves for that matter, that their work is important. Depending on size, budget, space and character of work, the interior has to fit the area of business, and at the same time it must make a distinction between them and their competitors. Creating the right feel and functionality of a space should be the centre of attention to anyone, whether a person keeps coming back to the same place every day or spends time on the road. It’s just the selection of tools and furniture that might be different to different people.

holm° also helps its clients to find a space at home, where they can pay their bills, plan their summer vacation or go about their hobbies. Giving this space as much thought as their living room might leave them with a place they’ll love spending time in, so much that even paying bills won’t feel like a chore. Increasingly, we also find ourselves working from home, whether you’re self-employed or working flexible hours away from your company. Planned properly, a home office should provide the necessary comfort and ambience for you to be able to focus on your work – just as the investment in a really good bed results in a good start the next morning and all mornings to come.

The devil's in the detail

Ergonomics, Acoustics, Light and Climate

These issues might seem obvious issues to consider when creating the work we need to carry out. We need good lighting and acoustics and we need good air. Products that provide this, at the same time as they are beautiful, should be made out of materials which are pleasant to the touch and enhance the ambience in an office.

When it comes to tables for working or meeting, we think Montana’s series of office desks and tables fit the bill. They are available in many different sizes and colours, with or without adjustable height or accessories such as partition walls etc. With all that Montana’s colour range has to offer, you can then decide to go outright bold and crazy or pared down classic and neutral in order to match your style. We also love the new look of the classic AJ Table series by Arne Jacobsen, since the legs now can be lacquered in a number of colours to match the table top. But also the height adjustable versions of the HS table is tempting to us, since it offers multiple positions to work at. That Montana switched their production to water-based lacquers back in 2007 and thus received the Danish Indoor Climate Label, just makes their products even more attractive. A comfortable and beautiful chair is just as important. Fritz Hansen recently decided to re-launch the Oxford chair in its wooden version to celebrate its 50th anniversary at St. Catherine’s college, where the original Oxford Chair by Arne Jacobsen is still in use. Now, how about that for return on investment?

Then there are these other issues, which many have a hard time finding a solution to: the ambiance of a space is directly related not only to the furnishings of a room, but also to its lighting, colours and acoustics, as well as the general climate or quality of air. Interestingly enough, the use of plants as natural providers of air is increasingly coming back into our working spaces. Another area, which has evolved enormously, is acoustics, with companies providing not only elements as building components, but also for later use in existing rooms. And lighting, as we all know, is an area which can ultimately make or break the experience of a space. Briefly, these non-tangibles are the “feel” and the products the “look” of an interior.

How would you like to work?

The Zones

So how do you put it all together? Welcoming your clients, patients, employees or guests requires a reception, which leaves a mark, which corresponds to your brand and that makes you special, and at the same time shows your clients that they mean a lot to you. Maybe a reception is not only a reception, but has to double up as an informal meeting space for your employees, which offers space for quick breaks as well as inspires for longer one on one talks. Many times, it is when you leave your desk or workplace and meet with people in a different area that new ideas are born or a solution to a problem suddenly comes up – rooms for privacy are just as important as rooms for encounters. A challenge is to plan meeting places so that they can serve the everyday situation, can cater for events that occur less frequently, and to use the space you have in the optimum way, without anyone noticing you’re even trying. One of our favourite designers, Cecilie Manz, created the minuscule for just these spaces. A formal, informal chair, which does exactly this: provides enough variety to adapt to the look of a place as well as a comfortable seating position for many purposes.

Another topic is digitalization, which will continue to revolutionize the way we work and the places we work at. Increasingly, workstations will become impersonal. Nevertheless, people still need inspiring spaces where they can work and interact with people, whether this is an office, a restaurant, a reception or a home office. The current and future challenge will be to find solutions for these work places, so that people will feel good about them even if they’re shared with others, whether this is in a corner of your home or at your office.

Fritz Hansen, Gärsnäs and more

News

Minuscule – as mentioned before – is a lovely new series by one of our favourite designers: Cecilie Manz. We suddenly ask ourselves why it has become so hard to find this combination in an armchair: good looks, comfort and perfect seat height. Cecilie Manz has answered a question many weren’t aware of that they should be asking! Hats off! The fact that the matching table also comes in trendy Oregon Pine makes the series even more attractive to us. And she hasn’t stopped there, but has also created a beautiful lamp for Lightyears: Mingus, in colours so special you have to see them for yourself. More products from Gärsnäs are now in the showroom. Please welcome the sofa Kvilt, the lamp Orbit and the table Bond – a perfect combination and again pieces that work just as well in private as in public settings.

Fritz Hansen launches another task light in the Kaiser idell series, the 6556-T and our personal favourite in the original series. Artek celebrates one of the oldest modern classics around: the 60-Stool by Alvar Aalto. It is now available in an anniversary edition with legs in birch and seats in a wonderful range of colours.

Artek

Stool 60 from Artek

Gärsnäs

Orbit from Gärsnäs

Lightyears

Mingus from Lightyears

What we would wish for...

My favorite working space

We at holm° asked ourselves to imagine a dream work space and came up with the following:

Anna Berg, owner, managing director and consultant
I dream of a space in my home, which is all mine. A combination of a large practical table, the height adjustable HS from Montana, with a fancy chair on castors, the 3117 from Arne Jacobsen in rustic leather, for everything from filling out tax forms to creating a mood board for a client and a space on the side with a view out the window featuring the amazing Flag Halyard Chair by Hans J. Wegner with a cool reading lamp: the Grasshopper by Greta Grossman, for those rare moments of slow reading or listening to music to get into the mood for some more creative thinking. Now, all I need to find is that extra space somewhere…

Denise Cerf, interior planning and consultant
My vision of my own perfect working space includes the beautiful CH110 desk in oak from Carl Hansen together with the anniversary edition of the Oxford chair in oak veneer. On top a task light classic, the PH 2/3 in Chrome by Poul Henningsen and I’m inspired! Moreover, I would love to be able to hang out in the Bubble Chair from Adelta, when I am in the mood for some chilling.

Peter Kaufmann, owner and managing director
My ideal office space would probably include the comfortable yet beautiful Oxford chair in leather by Arne Jacobsen. I’d combine it with his table from Montana, the AJ table, in anthracite top and legs. As a task light I’d choose to stay with Arne Jacobsen and select his classic, the AJ table lamp by Louis Poulsen. Next to this, I’d set up my reading corner featuring the Teddy Bear Chair by Wegner.