Clear stage for the office

Good storytelling is not only recognised by the fact that it entertains its audience in the best possible way. It also opens up new perspectives on a topic – and may even inspire further reflection and participation. From this perspective, Wilkhahn, the furniture manufacturer from Bad Münder in Lower Saxony, has chosen the ideal location for its new marketing concept: the stage itself.

‘Office on Stage’ is the name of a series of events that presents agile office interaction between the coffee machine and the photocopier as a theatre play. People take centre stage, while the modular and multifunctional furniture from Wilkhahn serves as both backdrop and props. The actors are products that have long been a natural part of modern office architecture – and yet need to be rethought in the age of ‘New Work’: whiteboards, mobile shelving units and conference tables on the one hand, such as the Confair folding table, which has become a functional design classic. On the other hand, there are also elements such as seat stools, acoustic walls and standing tables, which can be flexibly rearranged in open-plan offices to change perspectives both physically and mentally during meetings. Last but not least, there is a need for players that easily break down the barriers between digital and physical presence in a hybrid working environment: the Confair Buddy, for example. But more on that in a moment.

The aim of ‘Office on Stage’ is to enable office workers to design their own ideal workplace with the right equipment and furniture, according to company spokesman Burkhard Remmers. And to do so independently, interactively and with minimal effort. He came up with the idea for the concept during a photo shoot at the Wilkhahn Academy last summer. There, new additions to the range were to be photographed as cut-outs. However, there was no hollow moulding, just a curtain in front of which the office furniture was quickly arranged. The ‘appearance’ of each piece of furniture reminded him of a theatre play, says Remmers. The ‘Office on Stage’ principle was born.

Wilkhahn's ‘Confair Next Ensemble’ can now be staged in a variety of ways within the diverse office settings of this world, which is the subject of the first themed issue of the series entitled ‘Corporate Hybrid’ in five acts. There, the furniture is playfully arranged to furnish all the meeting rooms of modern offices: conference and meeting rooms, executive suites and café lounges, workshop areas and interstitial spaces. Intuitive to use, from display racks to lecterns, they invite you to become the director of the next possible work scenario.

This collaboration is increasingly taking place in a multimedia mix of physical presence and digital communication – a state of affairs that took a long time to establish itself in Germany, says Burkhard Remmers. It was only the coronavirus pandemic that accelerated this development enormously. And this is exactly where ‘Office in Stage’ comes in: ‘The audience is now ready, the actors are perfectly trained for their roles, the programme is set, the plays have been written and rehearsed. All that's left is to put on the show.’

Which brings us back to ‘Confair Buddy’. Anyone who joins a meeting virtually is literally displayed at eye level via the wireless stele with height-adjustable tablet holder. An AI-enabled camera that can be rotated 180 degrees can be controlled as an ‘eye’ using the keyboard of remote participants or by gesture from participants who are physically present. If the group changes its location in the room, the ‘Confair Buddy’ can be set to standing height and easily carried along.

The product represents a new type of hybrid working, with which Wilkhahn bridges the gap between human interaction and technological empowerment. If it were up to the furniture manufacturer, this would also unfold in places that at first glance have little or nothing to do with collaboration among colleagues. The way to the copy room, the walk to the snack machine, the corridor to the restroom, the stairwell or the neighbouring office: all are potential meeting places where conversations can arise and ad hoc exchanges can take place.

Wilkhahn calls them ‘interstitial spaces for empowerment and improvisation’ and equips them with mobile servers that hold mini-liteboards, pens, cards and magnets. Equally attractive are ‘parking bays’ that offer storage space for coffee cups and mobile phones or create a protected atmosphere with sound-absorbing wall panels made of virgin wool and Trevira. ‘Carpe momentum’, seize the moment, says Burkhard Remmers. It is perhaps the most exciting idea, because it is one that has so far remained unfulfilled in many office complexes, with which Wilkhahn is contributing to the working model of the future. In an actual theatre setting, this final act would probably depict the foyer: a place where people come together before and after the performance of the actual play to exchange ideas or even share personal anecdotes unrelated to work.

With the multi-layered concept of ‘Office on Stage’, Wilkhahn enables companies to stop viewing the office as a rigid synthesis of presence and workplace and instead focus on it as a ‘resonance chamber’. Trend researcher Birgit Gebhardt explains: "Our interpersonal collaboration needs spaces for experience that activate and structure us. The office of the future is not a space. It is a resonance chamber for joint thinking, action and learning." Seen in this light, history can be written anew every day in the office – with people and furniture alike. Shakespeare would be delighted.