SENSIBILITY OF DESIGN
As working practices have evolved over the past few years, it’s the forward-thinking businesses creating a new typology in office interior design that are reaping the benefits. An emphasis on interiors and especially furniture and lighting that feels approachable and welcoming becomes somewhere to be creative and productive for both staff and visitors.
Where furniture consultancy OW-N adds value to design-led office décor is by exploring new ways of sourcing and placing furniture that takes its design cues from residential settings but sits effortlessly in a commercial space. The aim is to generate a more social way of working, where people interact more, engendering a sense of togetherness and well-being.
One such tool that OW-N opts for is creating a showcase piece of furniture used as a focal point, a familiar landmark in the geography of a space that draws in a community. A successful example is at Barley Mow, the co-working space in Chiswick, West London designed by interiors studio Bluebottle, a project led by its creative director Charlotta Faulkner. OW-N designed a sunshine yellow steel communal high table specifically for the site. Faulkner explains its significance.
“The large communal table at Barley Mow provides a touchpoint. It’s the centrepiece of the overall design where people come together to meet, collaborate, and foster ideas. It’s a transient piece in the way people interact with it – they gather for a quick chat and exchange of ideas; they can stand around it or sit for longer, but it remains central within the main atrium of the design.”Its slimmer depth more akin to a dining table (D850mm) encourages a closeness of communication between users as does its height and size which helps to give it its own zone. As Faulkner says: “Zoning gives anchor points, comfort which negates the awkwardness of floating furniture on the floor plan. Zoning creates a more welcoming environment producing a calming effect which feels just like home.”
Elsewhere, OW-N created a freestanding banquette for a project at co-working space Brickfields in East London. This, as Matt Short, OW-N’s founder explains this is more of a “settling in piece of furniture, a place to grab food, drinks and for working.” He describes the objective. “We wanted to design an active piece of furniture, neither hard nor soft, but versatile and encourage different ways of working.” The project overseen by Faulkner aims to challenge traditional ways of working at a desk or in solitude at home. “The aesthetic qualities of the design take a more domestic approach owing to the organic form: soft curves and deep foam padding,” she explains. “The banquette at Brickfields mirrors a much more residential sit and feel approach to design which feels contemporary and vibrant.”
“Matt Short, OW-N’s founder explains this is more of a “settling in piece of furniture, a place to grab food, drinks and for working.” He describes the objective. “We wanted to design an active piece of furniture, neither hard nor soft, but versatile and encourage different ways of working.”
Photography by: Charles Hosea