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
| Sep 30, 2022
Lab-grown bricks offer potential low-carbon building material
A team of students at the University of Waterloo in Canada have developed a process to grow bricks using bacteria.
| Sep 29, 2022
FitzGerald establishes Denver office
The new location bolsters FitzGerald’s nationwide reach and capitalizes on local expertise and boots-on-the-ground to serve new and existing clients seeking to do business in Denver and the Front Range, as well as the Southwest United States, California, and Texas.
| Sep 28, 2022
New digital platform to foster construction supply chains free of forced labor
Design for Freedom by Grace Farms and the U.S. Coalition on Sustainability formed a partnership to advance shared goals regarding sustainable and ethical building material supply chains that are free of forced labor.
| Sep 27, 2022
New Buildings Institute released the Existing Building Decarbonization Code
New Buildings Institute (NBI) has released the Existing Building Decarbonization Code.
| Sep 23, 2022
High projected demand for new housing prompts debate on best climate-friendly materials
The number of people living in cities could increase to 80% of the total population by 2100. That could require more new construction between now and 2050 than all the construction done since the start of the industrial revolution.
| Sep 23, 2022
Central offices making a comeback after pandemic
In the early stages of the Covid pandemic, commercial real estate industry experts predicted that businesses would increasingly move toward a hub-and-spoke office model.
| Sep 22, 2022
Gainesville, Fla., ordinance requires Home Energy Score during rental inspections
The city of Gainesville, Florida was recently recognized by the U.S. Dept. of Energy for an adopted ordinance that requires rental housing to receive a Home Energy Score during rental inspections.
| Sep 21, 2022
New California law creates incentive for installing outdoor dining safety barriers
A new California law provides an incentive for commercial property owners to install barriers to protect outdoor diners.
| Sep 21, 2022
Demand for design services accelerates
Demand for design services from U.S. architecture firms grew at an accelerated pace in August, according to a new report today from The American Institute of Architects (AIA).
K-12 Schools | Sep 21, 2022
Architecture that invites everyone to dance
If “diversity” is being invited to the party in education facilities, “inclusivity” is being asked to dance, writes Emily Pierson-Brown, People Culture Manager with Perkins Eastman.
