Flexible design responds to contemporary workspace culture

A new furniture collection designed by Tenderstream member OMA - with global workplace furniture designer and manufacturer UniFor - has been unveiled for Milan Design Week 2022. The design seeks to answer questions about the appeal of contemporary offices at a time when remote working is increasingly commonplace, while offering alternatives to both plain cubicle workspace arrangements and the playful style of Silicon Valley interiors. Originally created for the Axel Springer Campus in Berlin, the PRINCIPLES collection has been expanded to over 100 elements, providing flexible furnishings that can be configured in varied combinations to suit the needs of diverse workspaces and companies. 

One of the families - the ‘spines’ of the collection - includes straight and curved partition panels that can be joined to form individual pods for private calls and focused work, or semi-secluded nooks for smaller meetings. Another family comprises ring-shaped sofas and soft islands that allow for more informal interaction. Desks and tables have double-layered surfaces for multiple uses such as eating, working, and organising. The furnishings are fully wired, giving users the flexibility to work anywhere in the office, while soundproof materials provide elevated acoustic performance. 

UniFor and OMA re-engineered and optimized the 2018 pieces created for the Axel Springer Campus into a collection that combines OMA’s design ideas with the precise application of UniFor’s technical and manufacturing expertise. Rem Koolhaas, partner at OMA, stated: “OMA and UniFor have worked in close collaboration to create a unique furniture line that responds to the needs of workspace culture in the 21st century. This experiment started with the Axel Springer Campus, an office building in the heart of Berlin welcoming about 3,000 employees every day. The result generated successful new ways of interacting and communicating within the office and is now available for a broader audience. We are curious to see how the modules – colours, materials, functions and shapes – of the PRINCIPLES collection will come together and serve different work environments globally.”

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

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