​Zones

In 2014, Teknion and PearsonLloyd began to explore design concepts that would reflect the social and technological changes driving new behaviours at work. This Creative Collaboration™ resulted in a poetic expression of a humanistic work culture, which has evolved into a robust solution for workplace design.

Building upon the original response to concepts of community, fluidity and well-being, zones emerges as a comprehensive series of furniture products that transforms the office, challenging convention and changing the way people experience work. Zones is comprised of seating, tables, screens, easels and accessories, as well as semi-private hubs which can act either as an intimate collaborative set ting or as a place of retreat when privacy is desired.

access replaces the concept of ownership

As forward-looking organizations begin to challenge the orthodoxy of an assigned desk or office, the shared office is becoming a more persuasive concept. Rather, companies are opting for an activity-based model that flexes to accommodate the different kinds of work a person needs to do—a workplace that offers unrestricted access to people and spaces, technologies and experiences. With its “loose fit” and inherent flexibility, zones provides the framework for an office that can be fine tuned to support workers’ most creative energies.

Liberated from the confines of a fixed workspace, today’s workers find greater value in shared and social settings, as evidenced by the emergence of “third space” alternatives to the traditional office: cafes, libraries and hotel lobbies, as well as coworking spaces where freelancers and remote workers come together in a spirit of community, collaboration and learning. People want a choice of welcoming venues in which to work and connect with others in a natural, informal way.

Loose fit/Workspace mix

Zones gives people choice and enables access, and at the same time, creates an environment that is visually, mentally and physically stimulating. Zones’ loose fit promotes a healthy level of physical activity that sustains vitality and helps to maintain mental acuity. Concurrently, a combination of desking and systems furniture typologies working in concert with Zones can yield an office landscape that is visually varied and interesting—and thereby, more engaging—as well as providing a more mature response to the ways in which work is evolving. Zones builds a bridge between today’s needs and a workplace that remains essentially a work in progress.

As Teknion looks to developing patterns of work, and the emerging needs and concerns of business, Zones represents a growing attention to how people interact with their surroundings and how environments enhance or compromise human vitality and creativity. In concept and form, Zones is designed to contribute to a workspace that not only attracts, motivates and enables employees to do their work, but that also speaks to the fundamental connection of human, economic and environmental health.

Developed to challenge the dominance of conventional office layouts, Zones creates a landscape less bound by fixed structures, one in which people can freely network, meet, retreat or gather for a presentation or sociable conversation. Each element feels natural and intuitive in application, with a simplicity and neutrality that allows Zones to work in tandem with other furniture typologies. Zones acts as a seamless overlay to the Teknion portfolio, adding another layer to the workspace mix.

Taking a fresh approach to form and function, Zones employs a branched 108-degree angle that acts as a visual language or dna running through the entire collection. Rather than yielding a compressed, high-density environment , the 108-degree angle creates a circulation space around the furniture, one in which it feels easy and natural to move between one zone and another and make a more complete use of space. By using a 108-degree geometry, Zones delivers a welcoming and ergonomic setting with no sharp edges or demarcations.

Soft forms/material richness

Zones contributes to an inviting and uplifting workspace via a skillful mix of materials and textures—even within products. Wood plays a strong par t along with textiles, offering visual and tactile warmth that sets a tone of domestication. Simple, soft-edge forms—which are both informal and familiar—depart further from traditional workstation typologies, finding a balance between comfort and function, softness and rigor, craft and precision engineering.

Drawing upon the inherent warmth of the material, Zones uses wood in an honest, expressive way, utilizing its ability to be shaped into soft-edge forms and preserving its intrinsic character. Textiles allow for the full play of color, pattern and texture, acting as an antidote to the cool, hard surfaces of technology. Taken together, Zones expresses an approach to design that recognizes the human need for spaces that are both practical and pleasurable to inhabit , that help people to feel at home in the office—safe, comfortable and grounded.

Ultimately, while a complex narrative informs Zones, the collection succeeds in adding all those layers—organizational stresses, technology, demographics, emerging workstyles and so forth—to deliver a workplace solution that is authentic and self-evident in form; natural and intuitive in application.

While high-density desking and other open-plan solutions have promised to promote a livelier interaction among colleagues, these plans present other challenges, notably, the control of noise and distractions that compromise productivity. Stemming from the observation that people need places to escape from the buzz of the workbench, Zones includes a series of compact, semi-private hubs that provide a sheltered place to read, think, talk and write. The ability to step away from the workstation, to change one’s perspective and germinate ideas in comfort, helps to mitigate stress and to preserve cognitive acuity and emotional health.

Zones makes it possible to create open or semi-enclosed collaborative settings that may be lounge- or table-based, designed for sitting or standing and supported by digital and/or analog tools. ​Tables in a variety of sizes and shapes serve meetings of two people or half-a-dozen, and are equally suitable for touchdown or hot-desking scenarios. Simple chairs, benches, sofas and stools provide practical support and comfort in the spaces in-between or across the footprint of a company, small or large. screens can be positioned to lightly define a semi-private space in a dynamic office, where agile, fast moving teams require just-in-time settings to support ever-changing activity.

Beyond spaces for informal collaboration in the modern office, there is an emerging need for group settings that fully engage participants in project-centered work. Zones seating, tables, screens and easels combine in multiple ways to fulfill this function, inviting people to gather for an intensive period of direct interaction and creativity.

In the workshop context, Zones standing-height tables help to keep meeting participants alert and focused, of ten effecting shorter, more productive and less enervating meetings. Easels with writeable and pin-up functions facilitate the free exchange of ideas, as do screens that shield against interruptions that break the flow of work. Digital sharing is supported by the Zones power tower.

As a collection based on familiar forms, Zones also provides key pieces that act as natural humanizing touch points, including accessories that support health and productivity, as well as a sense of community around the workshop table and a simple hat rack that offers a convenient place to hang personal items. At every point, Zones recognizes the human context of the workplace.