What a workplace must now provide: Vitra creates the first Club Office
Many offices still remain empty, the meeting rooms and kitchenettes deserted. But as the return to the workplace nears, certain questions become increasingly urgent: Who is coming back to the office? What for? Is the former work environment still suitable? What does the office now have to offer? In response to these questions, Vitra debuted the first ‘Club Office’ at its headquarters in Basel on 10 June 2021.
The office needs to reinvent itself, and not for the first time: from the early writing chamber to the rows of desks in the first open-plan offices, followed by cubicles designed to block out distractions and then modern open office landscapes without permanently assigned workstations – each of these workplace iterations has reflected innovation and progress, as well as cultural and social change. What has transpired over the last fifteen months, on the other hand, is unprecedented: as a result of the pandemic and enabled by long-existing technologies, workforces have become dispersed across regions, towns and villages. People can work wherever they find suitable conditions. A shared physical office now only seems important for certain aspects of work.
‘Those who choose to go to the office today and in the future do so consciously – to meet colleagues and experience a sense of belonging and appreciation. The common mission and organisational purpose should be perceptible. Consequently, it must be more than just a place of work. Today, an office needs to provide added value. If an office has no character and colleagues there hide from one another, it’s better to spare the commute and stay at home,’ states Nora Fehlbaum, CEO of Vitra.
People do not come to the office today for individual activities requiring concentration – they come because they have a desire to feel part of a larger whole, because they want to meet their colleagues, and because they seek new knowledge and experiences. The new Club Office concept transforms the office into a place for collaboration and innovation.
Members of the Club Office deliberately leave the solitude of their home offices behind when there are hurdles to overcome or progress is dependent on others. Their talent is in demand and they are recruited worldwide – regardless of their background, skin colour, gender or where they have established their roots. This workforce has demonstrated their determination and adaptability throughout the recent crisis. In the future, they will insist on organising their own working hours and will optimise their presence in the Club to achieve the best possible results and establish the valuable connections that simply do not occur online.
‘It is often a social component, the cohesion between colleagues, that sparks a new idea. Or the unplanned meeting with exactly that person who can help me solve my problem. We have observed close up that companies – including our own – have had much more trouble retaining new employees during the past months, as the newcomers have not been able to find their feet, don’t understand the culture and don’t become a part of it. Early fluctuation is expensive and time-consuming, and it is not for nothing that companies look to recruit successfully.
The office has a role to play here – because the work environment reflects what the company stands for, and this is visible to the potential candidate right from the first interview,’ adds Nora Fehlbaum.
Three different zones
The Club Office is characterised by an open and inviting atmosphere. At the same time, its furnishings are functionally conceived so that every spot can be used as a productive workspace.
‘For our product development activities, we need spaces that promote direct interaction and the spontaneous exchange of knowledge and insights,’ explains Christian Grosen, Chief Design Officer at Vitra, whose team will occupy the Club Office.
The Club’s ‘members’ – consisting of employees from all parts of Vitra and its close external partners – encounter a whole range of different spatial scenarios, divided into a public and a semi-public area. The Club Office in Birsfelden offers numerous different work settings within a small footprint of less than 300 square metres.
The public section provides members with a welcoming space for spontaneous meetings, a forum for discussion, informal collaboration, debate and mutual learning. Comfortable, inviting furniture such as the sofa systems Soft Work and Alcove Plus are deployed here. The new additions to the Alcove product family have been adapted to the post-Covid needs of office environments.
The second, semi-public area is dedicated to more formal collaboration. Members come together on a planned basis in spaces that can be reserved for project work, for example – often over a period of days and weeks. Yet agility is still required, and thanks to flexible furnishings like Dancing Wall, Stool Tool and Tip Ton, collaborative spaces can be quickly and easily adapted and rearranged – even multiple times a day if needed. This environment is designed for workshops and productive teamwork, allowing Club members to construct their own surroundings to solve the problem of the day, week or month.
A third, private zone of the Club Office consists of workstations that are sheltered from intrusion. This zone also extends into the home office, which has proven particularly suitable for concentrated individual tasks. Remote working and a well-equipped home office are, therefore, an integral element of the Club Office.
Vitra’s first Club Office was developed at the headquarters in Birsfelden near Basel for its own Research & Design team. The public section is open to all employees and close partners of Vitra, and can also be visited by outside guests with an appointment.
Club Office Products
Overview: For decades, Vitra has responded to transformations in the workplace with products for changing working conditions – guided by its own research in this field. As a result, many of the products used in the new Club Office already existed in the Vitra portfolio, while others were specially conceived to meet the new requirements. The new developments have in common a demand for flexibility and high quality, which allows the post-Covid office to adapt to shifting needs while signalling value and appreciation to its users.
The further development and enhancement of products is a central pillar of Vitra’s sustainable product strategy, which avoids trends and instead seeks to build on and continually improve the tried-and-tested. ‘Our greatest contribution is the creation of long-lasting products. We know from caring for our classics that this requires constant work with these existing products. The choice of materials or expanded functions should always reflect our latest findings and insights. Some changes are not even apparent to the user, as we replace interior parts of a product that bring us a step further toward our goals – especially in terms of sustainability,’ comments Nora Fehlbaum, CEO of Vitra.
Product Overview:
Alcove
Developed by Vitra with Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, the archetypal Alcove Sofa with its extra-high back and side panels has been synonymous with modern and inviting office environments since its introduction in 2006. Often copied but never equalled in terms of style and enduring quality, Alcove was one of the first examples of microarchitectural sofas to provide secluded niches or meeting spaces within open-plan offices. Now Vitra and the Bouroullec brothers have teamed up to further develop and expand the Alcove programme. Building on the sofa’s ability to create a room-within-a-room, the new Alcove Plus system takes this idea a step further: the furnishing becomes a partition element with numerous configuration options.
Paravents can be easily attached by the user with a zip fastener to connect Alcove units, creating enclosed spaces or providing a screening function. The configuration can be spontaneously transformed in minutes, going from individual tasks to collaborative teamwork in an open space – and vice versa. Users can employ Alcove Plus to signal openness to outside interaction or a desire for solitude and concentration. In addition, Alcove has also been rethought from a sustainability perspective. A number of even more durable fabrics have been added to the selection and the modularity of the design has been enhanced to facilitate the replacement of Alcove Plus parts. The sturdy inner core of Alcove panels is now made of organic fibreboard, which contains no synthetic resins. The new Alcove range offers flexible, quality microarchitecture in open interiors, making it possible to create exceptional office environments quickly and easily without having to interfere with the building structure.
Soft Work
With Soft Work, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby translate the reality of the ‘work from anywhere’ culture into a modular sofa system for the workplace. It combines the features of a sofa with the functionality and ergonomics required in work environments; with practical table surfaces, power outlets and charging stations, it provides all the necessary technical functions for work activities, while promoting correct seating postures. Soft Work signals comfort and accessibility, making it a popular yet highly productive setting for casual interactions, focussed individual tasks and informal meetings in any work environment. Now Soft Work is also available with a durable water-based artificial leather cover, free of solvents and PVC – and a new side table makes the system even more flexible.
Dancing Wall
Dancing Wall is Vitra’s answer to the needs of flexible working environments. Wherever a team requires the autonomy to shape the space according to its requirements, Dancing Wall is the solution. It can be easily moved around by just one person, and new options introduced in 2021 increase the utility of the mobile partition even further. Video conference screens with discreet cable management and flipchart holders have been added to the existing range of whiteboards, bookshelves, coat racks and vertical gardens – the latter newly equipped with a low-maintenance irrigation system.
‘Maximum flexibility should be as simple and quick as possible. We wanted to have an office environment that employees can adapt at any time, without assistance. Our modern working world no longer requires us to be stationary task managers. In fact, we are dynamic partners in a choreography called teamwork,’ explains Stephan Hürlemann, creator of the Dancing Wall.
ID Chair Concept
Introduced by Vitra in 2010, the ID Chair Concept developed with Antonio Citterio is unique in its diversity and individual configurability, giving interior designers and office planners the freedom to choose from countless variants. As part of an extensive update and upgrade, not least in terms of the sustainability of individual product elements, the ID Chair system has now been expanded: a new and highly breathable PU-foam-free seat – the first of its kind made of a 100% polyester cushion, an innovative material originating from bed mattresses – revised armrests, new colours and materials, and an even wider range of fabrics supplemented with Reflect, a material made of recycled polyester, allow customers to create configurations that are 100% recyclable. The newest member of the product family is the ID Cloud. Its innovative backrest design combines a flexible membrane with a stable frame to enable a novel floating sensation for the sitter with exceptional freedom of movement. And while the new family of ID Visitor chairs can be harmoniously paired with other ID Chair products, they can be used anywhere thanks to the trademark understated aesthetic of designer Antonio Citterio. ‘In the home office context in particular, many have recognised the essential importance of ergonomic seating. When investing in our home interiors, we want to be sure that we’re making the right long-term decision with every purchase. The ID Chair has already proven itself for over a decade, but still embodies the latest findings on ergonomic seating,’ explains Christian Grosen, Chief Design Officer of Vitra.
Tyde 2
In 2012, Vitra and the designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec introduced the sit-stand desking system Tyde to the market. Tyde 2, which will be launched in June 2021, features many improvements, incorporating the innovations and insights of the past nine years. On one hand, the appearance of Tyde 2 is even further removed from the machine-like look of many conventional desks; on the other, the updated system is even more functional, sturdy and user-friendly. A new bracket construction makes it possible to attach desk lamps, monitor arms and other accessories anywhere along the edge of the table top, enabling versatile configurations. Sound-absorbing screens are offered in a wide spectrum of colours, and the technical components underneath the top can be concealed with different covers or cable trays made of moulded polyester fleece, which are also acoustically effective. The versatility of this sit-stand system has been expanded to include meeting tables, which facilitate spontaneous collaborations and discussions and provide touchdown workspaces for project teams.
