Davis is a contract furniture company skilled in studying what interior designers and end users want and need from them. It’s not even just what interior designers want in general; The Davis team is great at learning and understanding what its customers seek from them as a company specifically.
And if you ask Davis, designers want “unique design”; they look to Davis for something new.
“The bottom line is that designers like to see new, truly unique products. And we like to take them there.”
Davis will introduce a whopping 14 products at NeoCon in June this year. In early May, we jetted down to High Point, NC, to see the new products and give readers a preview of what they can expect to experience at Davis’ third floor showroom at the Mart this year.
What we came away with is that no matter how many products Davis puts out each year (and that number has been growing for the past few years), it does a remarkable job sweating the details of each and every piece they invest in. The company’s success is built on the confidence it has in it’s understanding of what interior designers want from Davis, and the perseverance it takes to get to that understanding.
“This year we thought a lot about comfort – the feel and comfort of a space, and how products work together to create comfort,” said Rob Easton, VP of Design at Davis. “We want to offer the things that can make that happen, like acoustical screening, seating and tables and the warmth of wood that is a big part of the residential side of the business. We’re making a lot of small adjustments and additions to our finishes.
“We’re also offering a good number of smart extensions because we’ve found that designers really appreciate when they see a manufacturer supporting and extending a product that they love.
“And we wanted to emphasize the significance and feel of a handcrafted solution because designers want it. There’s a lot of solid wood that keeps that handcrafted nature. We also thought a lot about environments, and having products that really speak to the new workspace and new functions in the workspace.”
Below you’ll find our favorites of Davis’ new products, but stop into the showroom at NeoCon to see everything.
HUE by Jehs + Laub
Hue is a simple line of casegoods that looks and works effortlessly; but the effortlessness comes from Davis’ careful approach to design.
“Making something that works with everything very intuitively is not an easy task. The details are very subtle; we don’t want it to mess with the environment.”
Hue is sleek and minimal, but it can also be very warm, depending on how a designer wants to use it. Offered in lowboards, sideboards, highboards and wardrobes, it can move beyond a simple storage function to help create individual spaces in an open plan work area.
Hue is available with cases in two, three, four or five door widths; and in Walnut, Oak or a choice of 26 new paint colors.
Q6 by Jonathan Prestwich
Building on the success of the Q5 modular lounge seating series, Q6 is an all-inclusive line of open seating, screens, benches, tables and ottomans that focuses less on a singular lounge function and more on supporting work. Q6 keeps the silhouette of Q5 while providing a deeper and more cushioned/comfortable seat base, a new seating suspension, options for benches with or without backs, privacy screens, and power-capable tables in three heights.
“Q5 does a great job supporting the waiting and lobby functions, but with no back, it doesn’t necessarily support people actually working. In order to get to that next level, it needed more comfort, it needed a back, and it needed a softer seat. Q6 helps designers create almost anything they want – an inward working team space, individual islands, work booths – it’s incredibly versatile.”
Q6’s endless configurations are deliberate; Davis wants to give designers a collection they can really play with to create places that people will seek out to do their work.
SPAN BAR TABLE and SPAN BENCH by ARCO
Span Bar Table and Span Bench are both extensions to Davis’ ultra-light, minimalist Span Table. The line takes the clean design of Davis’ Prat Table and slims the aesthetic down even more, while still providing a sturdy and reliable enough construction to support high traffic areas like working bar cafés or community table applications.
Designers will have the option to spec a low-profile upholstered seat pad on the bench. The line is embodies a minimalism that is sometimes hard to maintain in office furniture.
CODI by Archirivolto
Codi is a very simple, but very high-design side chair. It’s special because it offers an impressive troop of styles; a mix of materials including plastic, wood, pressed felt and metal combine with colors and texture to give designers choice. The pressed felt version provides just the right amount of flex, and the wood base is our favorite.
HANS by Studio Taschide
Hans is one of our favorites. It’s a small piece that can be placed anywhere – as a small side table, a seat or a place to set your keys and phone.
“Hans is so durable for two main reasons: it is constructed from solid wood, and it is shaped as a single piece…Hans is great for entryways or group spaces where additional seating may be need from time to time.”
Davis is making it available in a few painted colors, but the piece doesn’t need it; the Walnut, Elm and Oak solid wood finishes are enough.
SOFT PRIVACY by Jehs + Laub
Soft Privacy is an extension of the Soft seating line introduced in 2011. The design features the same base and shape as the Soft lounge chair, but adds solitude and discretion through a high back screen flowing naturally up from the base to create an “individual alcove ideal for high traffic areas and open floor plans.”
“This feels unique to Davis. We asked our designers to think about privacy as an individual piece of furniture. As office conditions get more chaotic, designers will need the furniture to do more to help with privacy.”
Soft Privacy is a supportive piece designers can spec for spaces where “individuals need to think, write, work or relax independently.” Designers can use it to create a quiet place for one or small group settings.
It’s a piece that manages to provide both aesthetic beauty and true comfort – simultaneous qualities where similar offerings from many other companies miss the mark.
NORA by Davis Design Team
Nora is a lounge, bench and table series that speaks a residential design language in a contract space. One, two and three seat lounge units and benches pair with tables offered in seven unique sizes and a ton of high quality surface options like marble, solid wood, back painted glass and veneer.
The layering possibilities in this collection are fantastic – which not every lounge series has; the ways a designer can use the pieces together in a space tap into a level of creativity that we love.
“For the seating, we had a lot of discussion about comfort. We wanted to design comfort into something that was also very minimalistic and light. And the design of the tables is so simple that it’s really about materials. Designers can put a lot of different materials on top of a very simple design.”
WEDA by Daniel Wehrli
Weda is a solid wood bench collection mixing sophistication with whimsy. It’s super linear with gentle angles and curves, and precise upholstery covering a soft cushioned seat and backrest. The elegant design puts a premium on materiality, offered in natural Oak or Walnut wood crafted by wood artisans. Weda can be spec’d as a simple backless bench or with an upholstered back; both options are minimal, yet welcoming. The designer, Daniel Wehrli, began his career as a featured student designer at SaloneSatellite in Milan, and this is his first product.
REED by Jehs + Laub
Reed is a multi-purpose chair featuring an Oak wood leg and a colored plastic seat base. Wood and plastic combine to offer natural materiality, a clean design, and durability. It’s thin, stackable, and available with an arm or armless. Reed is a contemporary wood chair that takes a multipurpose chair design one step further by using the concept of mixed materials.