Each year, the design world convenes at NeoCon in Chicago as more than 500 exhibiting companies unveil thousands of the industry’s most cutting edge, beautiful, and innovative products. I had a chance to attend the 2019 event, which took place June 10-12. Here are my nine favorite new products from NeoCon.
1. Watson Furniture Group – Cloud 9
This agile and mobile workstation is perfect for hot desk environments. Stations can be turned, rotated, rolled, and angled, connecting to countless configurations. Ideal for space saving while still providing plenty of usable and effective storage. This piece will function efficiently in a variety of office environments.
2. Andreu World – Conference Tables: Reverse Wood & Status
These tables bring a high-end design at an affordable price. One is solid ash and the other you can mix and match with a variety of tops, heights, and power configurations.
3. Clarus Glassboards – Flex Wall
These room dividers have a simple, elegant shape and add dimension to any space, as the glass follows a concave bowing to reach the floor. They are also highly functional with a hidden piece in the base that allows users to pick them up and easily roll them without having an exposed mobile base.
4. CF Stinson – designMix
CF Stinson came to play this NeoCon, including showcasing their new online tool, designMix. This free tool for designers is simple, easy to use, and provides excellent assistance when choosing color and fabric pallets.
5. Haworth – Digital Knitting
Haworth digital knitting for furniture is an innovative way to produce textiles. It allows for designers to completely customize each piece, all with zero material waste.
6. HBF – Lost & Found Fabrics
These fabrics look handmade but are extremely durable. Commercial textiles are expected to last longer, wear better, and be higher quality than ever before. Lost & Found is a creative option.
7. OFS – Obeya Room Division System
Rich wood tones in this room division system are unique, warming up an office space and making it feel more like home. Not to mention, the configurations and accessories are seemingly endless: cork board, slatted wood walls, counters, dry erase surfaces, curtains, frosted glass; you can practically build an office from it.
8. Steelcase - Flex Collection
If you have highly mobile and collaborative teams, Steelcase Flex Collection is a great option. Specifically designed for spontaneity, you can stay in the space and reconfigure the system to suit any office task, adapting on demand. When you’re done, convenient storage carts allow you to pack up and roll away, saving space and helping to maintain multifunction rooms.
9. Milliken – Change Agent Carpet
This modular carpet collection has two options: Brushed Metal or Magnetic Field. Brushed Metal features unidirectional movement in gradient alternating tones, while Magnetic Field features multi-directional movement with coarse accents. These carpets offer high-performance without sacrificing luxury design.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary Bartlett, AIA, RID, LEED AP, is a Partner and interior architecture leader with Marmon Mok Architecture
Related Stories
| Mar 27, 2014
Develop strategic thinkers throughout your firm
In study after study, strategic thinkers are found to be among the most highly effective leaders. But is there a way to encourage routine strategic thinking throughout an organization?
| Mar 27, 2014
16 kitchen and bath design trends for 2014
Work on multifamily housing projects? Here are the top kitchen and bath design trends, according to a survey of more than 420 kitchen and bath designers.
| Mar 26, 2014
A sales and service showcase
High Plains Equipment, a Case IH dealership in Devils Lake, N.D., constructs a larger facility to better serve its customers.
| Mar 26, 2014
Free transit for everyone! Then again, maybe not
An interesting experiment is taking place in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, where, for the last year or so, its 430,000 residents have been able to ride the city’s transit lines practically for free. City officials hope to pump up ridership by 20%, cut carbon emissions, and give low-income Tallinnites greater access to job opportunities. But is it working?
| Mar 26, 2014
Callison launches sustainable design tool with 84 proven strategies
Hybrid ventilation, nighttime cooling, and fuel cell technology are among the dozens of sustainable design techniques profiled by Callison on its new website, Matrix.Callison.com.
| Mar 26, 2014
Zaha Hadid's glimmering 'cultural hub of Seoul' opens with fashion, flair [slideshow]
The new space, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, is a blend of park and cultural spaces meant for the public to enjoy.
| Mar 26, 2014
First look: Lockheed Martin opens Advanced Materials and Thermal Sciences Center in Palo Alto
The facility will host advanced R&D in emerging technology areas like 3D printing, energetics, thermal sciences, and nanotechnology.
| Mar 25, 2014
Sydney breaks ground on its version of the High Line elevated park [slideshow]
The 500-meter-long park will feature bike paths, study pods, and outdoor workspaces.
Sponsored | | Mar 25, 2014
Johns Hopkins chooses SLENDERWALL for a critical medical facility reconstruction
After decades of wear, the hand-laid brick envelope of the Johns Hopkins nine-story Nelson/Harvey inpatient facility began failing. SLENDERWALL met the requirements for renovation.
| Mar 25, 2014
World's tallest towers: Adrian Smith, Gordon Gill discuss designing Burj Khalifa, Kingdom Tower
The design duo discusses the founding of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architects and the design of the next world's tallest, Kingdom Tower, which will top the Burj Khalifa by as much as a kilometer.
