Stories

Orgatec and adaptive workspaces

adaptive workspaces

The development and design team from wp_westermann products is behind the concept of wd3_spatial design. wp_westermann products relies on the Stuttgart design and development office for the entire product development process, from conception and construction to design and product communication. The 758divide, flomo, motu and Xbrick® product series developed for wp_westermann products were presented at Orgatec 2022, the leading trade fair for modern working environments. Under the slogan “in good company”, the new product and space solutions that support agile work processes were presented. Experts, manufacturers and designers met in Cologne, presented product and space solutions and provided impulses for new ways of working. The focus was on the needs and requirements in the work context that have arisen during the pandemic. Solutions for hybrid working methods, furniture for the home office, room divider systems and collaborative areas were to be discovered at Orgatec. From individual workstations to team-oriented creative spaces to communicative and movement-promoting places, wp_westermann products invited visitors to immerse themselves in their adaptive working world.

OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces

Minimalist work environments that create space for creativity and communication

A minimalist trade fair concept was used to respond to the uncertain planning phase caused by the pandemic. The concept combined factors such as uncertainty about whether Orgatec would take place, material availability, transport times and a low budget with a reduced and sustainable approach. The design language was designed with a sustainable and minimalist product and brand world, which was reflected in the design of the furniture, the trade fair stand and the choice of materials. Shape and color language created a flowing trade fair concept between the brand, the working world and the adaptive tools. The space gave space to what seemed particularly important, creativity and communication. Shelves and room dividers on castors, height-adjustable desks, furniture for plugging, connecting and building stimulated the playful sense and encouraged visitors to discover the space through their own interaction and to design new environments.

OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces Xbrick Holzsystem nachhaltig Materials4Future
OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces Xbrick Sitztribüne Tribüne Gelb

in good company

These are the customers at wp_westermann products, the users of the furniture and the products themselves. As a product division of Westermann, wp_westermann products, with the fourth generation of the family business, combines the development and manufacture of adaptive furniture and room systems with over eighty years of experience in carpentry and interior design. The reference to craftsmanship was represented by the “Show-Frame” construction made of wood. Tradition and craftsmanship came to life in serially produced products with a high degree of customizability. The color scheme used analogies to typical design principles and machines from the craft industry. Overall, the young brand exuded a reduced, down-to-earth and relaxed overall image in times of uncertainty.

Urban, flexible and agile working landscapes

The wp_westermann products exhibition area was a place for meetings, interaction and exchange, and allowed company presentation and culture to merge into a three-dimensional experience of brand values. The exhibition stand was an interaction area that created an inspiring and changeable working environment with a stimulating atmosphere. As flexible as the products themselves, the 100m² exhibition stand also impressed with plenty of movement, promoted active interaction and stimulated exchange. The central exhibition module was the show frame for the presentation of the 758divide room system and the flomo wall sliding wall system. Resembling the Japanese Torii, an architectural entrance gate, it formed the entrance to the wp_westermann products brand world. The show frame was constructed using squared timber in a reduced wooden design. The squared timber framework formed a stable framework around which the individual workspaces were structured. Based on the six different working styles, places were opened up for meeting, exchanging, concentrating, doing, moving and presenting.

OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces Xbrick Mobile Arbeit dynamisch Höhen
OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces Verschiebbare Wände Wandsystem 758 divide
OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces verschiebbare Aufbewahrungssystem Kasten

Adaptive tools for adaptive work environments

The working environment for wp_westermann products, conceived in the magazine “adaptive workspaces” and the brochure “adaptive tools”, was reflected 1:1 in the exhibition stand. The guiding principle “in good company” could be experienced in three-dimensional form at Orgatec.

OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces Xbrick adaptive tools 758 divide flame motu Xbrick

The toolkit for agile work environments

The product division wp_westermann products develops furniture series that are compatible with one another, mobile and flexible, and thus allow for simple applications and transformations of the room. From the smallest furniture to room divider systems, wp_westermann products offers solutions for flexible work spaces.

At the front corner of the stand, various seating islands made of colorful Xbrick® invited people to linger and encouraged them to assemble their own furniture. The Xbrick grandstand was used as a seating gallery for presentations. The three different heights of the multifunctional stool demonstrated how different sitting and standing heights can be achieved.

The space companion, an exhibition and seating module made of a U-shaped wooden profile and Xbrick, was designed for Orgatec and showed how event areas can be furnished.

Individual workspaces were found on the other half of the exhibition stand, showing how team work zones, individual workstations and movement-promoting areas for active breaks can be designed.

Larger groups and teams come together at the motu table A+. Meetings can take place here, brainstorming sessions can be carried out or break rounds can be organized. Not sitting down as usual, but standing up. The electric height adjustment brings movement into teamwork and the work process, which stimulates creativity.

OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces Xbrick Sitztribüne Tribüne Gelb
OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces Xbrick adaptive tools Sitztribüne agile
OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces Tisch höhenverstellbar xbrick
OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces Xbrick x-table Tisch Tischtennis

The X-table, which was converted into a table tennis table, provided even more activity and play, encouraging visitors to actively compete.

Everything that is needed at the workplace can be ideally stored in the mobile flomo train organization trolley. The shelf on wheels has several shelves and offers space for work materials, and can be used as an acoustically effective room divider or pinnable presentation wall. With the practical hook-in retaining plates, a flomo board can be attached to either side of the shelf. The mobile room divider flomo train S is another functional and versatile companion in everyday work. Equipped with acoustic felt fillings, it provides visual and acoustic insulation.

The little brother of the train series is the flomo trolley. A compact piece of organization furniture that is also a trolley or practical standing table. With its drawers, it offers plenty of space to store work materials or to keep them ready for workshops and creative sessions.

The mobile secretary on wheels, flomo labcase, provides a micro-workstation where it is needed, shielded and, if desired, acoustically effective. The flomo labcase is the place for concentrated work phases or for the next video conference. The manual crank allows you to switch between sitting and standing desk work, thus ensuring movement in the open space and comfort in the home office. At the end of the day, the table top can be folded up so that the work disappears from view.

OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces verschiebbare Aufbewahrungssystem Kasten

The flomo wall turns the flomo series into a room system. With the floor and ceiling frame construction, open spaces are zoned and create different work zones. The two-sided attachment of the flomo board whiteboard creates drawing surfaces, pin boards and presentation boards at eye level. By running sliding walls in parallel, teams have the opportunity to shield themselves, organize themselves or create ideal environments for creative work phases and workshops. Changing teams exchange ideas and can organize themselves in new and different ways again and again. The easy transport of the flomo board enables interdisciplinary teams to hold meetings, brainstorming sessions and presentations both indoors and outdoors.

With the 758divide room system, wp_westermann products creates entire room structures and divides open office landscapes into units. The glass wall system was presented in the show frame and combined with the flomo wall. The show frame demonstrated how open spaces can be zoned and how teams of varying sizes can be accommodated in the office. The 758 divide system was also equipped with acoustically effective broadband compact absorbers, which ensure improved room acoustics.

The product portfolio and toolkit for adaptive working environments from wp_westermann products showed at Orgatec how rooms for work can be subdivided, furnished with flexible products and thus create tools for agile teams that organize themselves independently and develop creatively.

OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces nachhaltiges Möbelsystem Pausenraum

Circular design from mushroom based material

Research into circular design approaches does not stop at Xbrick. A prototype of the multifunctional stool Xbrick made of mushroom-based material was presented at Orgatec, showing the extent to which the bio-based material can be used in the furniture industry. At the Materials4Future special area, the Xbrick grown from hemp snippets and mycelium was an exhibit between pioneering material research and products made of organic composite materials. The Materials4Future area was curated by Sascha Peters, who heads the future agency HauteInnovation. The future agency publishes and publishes news and concepts that deal with material innovations, sustainable materials, new manufacturing techniques and smart technologies.

Flexible exhibition showcase for future concepts

At the stand itself, Xbrick grown made its appearance in the show train. The flomo train, a flexible shelf, was transformed into a mobile exhibition showcase covered with a printed textile banner. Both sides of the show train were filled with future concepts for Xbrick. On one side, Xbrick grown presented itself with various mycelium material samples and surface tests on mushroom-based material samples. The other side showed the COM’MOVE concept, which was developed as part of Dorothee Bitter’s master’s thesis and deals with the future requirements of work culture. The work environments designed for creative processes were visualized with Xbrick and a future image was created that provides an outlook on the future of collaboration.

OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces Show Train Pilz Xbrick Rohling
OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces Show Train Pilz Xbrick Rohling

The flomo labcase studiolo networked the analog with digital brand space

Der physische Arbeitsort wurde um die digitale Dimension erweitert und fand sich im Konzept flomo labcase studiolo wieder. Das Konzept entstand in Kooperation mit der halbautomaten Kommunikationsdesign GmbH. Studiolo ist ein mobiler multimedialer Mikroarbeitsplatz mit Greenscreen für das Homeoffice, Office und Remote Work. Als technische Set Up Ergänzung zum flomo labcase lässt sich ein hybrider Arbeitsplatz für Videokonferenzen einrichten. Der Greenscreen rückseitig des Sitzplatzes schafft einen digital gebrandeten Raum zur dreidimensionalen Marken- und Produktpräsentation. Damit lassen sich interaktive Produktpräsentationen abhalten sowie Produkte, 3D-Objekte, Videos und Materialien gezeigt werden, ohne selbst hinter diesen zu verschwinden. Die mobile Stromversorgungseinheit Xbrick power sichert die Versorgung von digitalen Endgeräten und ermöglicht das flexible Arbeiten von unterschiedlichen Orten aus.

OrgaTec Adaptive Workspaces zusammenarbeite Greenscreen innovativer Arbeitsplatz

Ecologically sustainable trade fair design

The stand concept was based on an ecologically sustainable approach, the conscious handling, use and utilization of materials. During transport and assembly, care was taken to produce as little waste as possible and to use pure, recyclable materials. The show frame, rear wall and exhibition box were planned as reusable units. Four-meter-long pure textile panels “Moon” from Rökona, which are manufactured using a special knitting process and without chemical treatment, lined the back of the stand. The textile panels are being used again for brand communication and are being made into shoulder bags. By omitting the lining of the exhibition floor, an urban atmosphere was created. After the trade fair, the squared timber from the show frame was returned to the production process and used in the next interior design project.