Downtown Design
redazione 21/10/2022

Islands of silence

Acoustic comfort becomes a key feature of offices, with new furnishings to ensure personal wellbeing

Alcoves for isolation, niches of acoustic and visual privacy, or simply zones of the office where concentration is possible. All these things are required in offices today, in occasional workspaces but also in gathering places. Workers are more nomadic than in the past, and demand furnishing solutions that put them at their ease, even for people who are just passing through.

Buddyhub by Pedrali, Design Busetti Garuti Redaelli, Art direction Studio FM - Photo © Andrea Garuti

Buddyhub by Pedrali, Design Busetti Garuti Redaelli, Art direction Studio FM – Photo © Andrea Garuti

Buddyhub by Pedrali, designed by Busetti Garuti Redaelli, is a niche with sound absorbing panels at the perimeter that embrace the upholstery, creating a refuge from the surroundings. The rounded forms and volumes of the seat and back are supported by slender legs. Buddyhub is available in armchair and settee versions. Placing two units face to face, spaces can be created for informal meetings and break-out areas.

Comma by Vitra

Comma by Vitra

Created to be flexible, Comma by Vitra (designed in-house) is based on the functional efficacy and image of scaffolding. The basic modular structure is made with just six single parts in steel tubing, which can be assembled in infinite configurations: workstations, shelving units, telephone booths, teamwork benches, workshop areas, and so on. The screens in single-use plastic, ready for recycling, function as sound-absorbing back walls for the shelving units or dividers, also to boost privacy. 

Eidos Pro by Newform Ufficio

Eidos Pro by Newform Ufficio

Screen by Lapalma - Photo © Salva Lopez

Screen by Lapalma – Photo © Salva Lopez

In the new Eidos Pro line launched by Newform Ufficio the accessorized glass panels form individual workstations and define a secluded space in which it is possible to find a balance between individual concentration and teamwork. The glass partitions are combined with advanced sound-absorbing panel technology. The combination of glass dividers and sound-absorbing surfaces with harmonious colors transforms the workspace into a coworking facility with micro meeting rooms.

The Screen system of panels offered by Lapalma permits easy formulation of workstations, or the creation of small meeting rooms, also thanks to the addition of wheels. The dividers are composed of tubing covered in fabric or wood, or panels made with sound-absorbing fabric. The variety of heights and curves, fixed or mobile, permits extreme freedom of configuration and color combinations. 

Napwork by Caimi Brevetti, Design Paola Navone - Otto studio

Napwork by Caimi Brevetti, Design Paola Navone – Otto studio

Napwork, the modular sofa system by Caimi Brevetti, designed by Paola Navone – Otto studio, has been created to bring comfort and elegance into collective spaces thanks to the soft lines of the design. It is composed of two modules: a double-face sofa ready to comfortably seat six people, available in the version with low or raised back, and a three-seat island sofa for the creation of corner compositions. The ample forms and padding take good advantage of the Snowsound Fiber technology, for exceptional acoustic wellbeing. 

Nucleo Freestanding by Martex, Design Monica Graffeo

Nucleo Freestanding by Martex, Design Monica Graffeo

Nucleo designed by Monica Graffeo for Martex is a complete collection of furnishings to respond to changing working methods: no longer standardized and fixed workstations, but dynamic settings for easy reconfiguration. In the collection, Nucleo Freestanding is a divider with combined panels to create secluded areas of small or large size, thanks to the modular design. The two-sided partitions, standing on wheels or feet, can be outfitted with hooks for handbags, slates and coats.

Kokoro by Manerba, Design Federica Biasi

Kokoro by Manerba, Design Federica Biasi

People Home by Milani, Design Alessandro Crosera

People Home by Milani, Design Alessandro Crosera

The Kokoro Meeting&Seating system designed by Federica Biasi for Manerba is growing. It now offers the new Kokoro square panel, with a sound absorbing function, which without seeming like a true acoustic panel can be intuitively attached, for quick configuration of acoustic islands with two parts. All the panels are ready for wiring and can be accessorized with coat racks, shelves for objects in ton-sur-ton or contrasting coated metal.

People Home (designed by Alessandro Crosera) is the office pod by Milani, formed by two high-back sofas facing each other, and an interlocking lateral partition that connects them. The cabin roof rests on the backs and protects the space, generating a secluded space with sound-absorbing properties. People Home is equipped with LED lighting, electrical sockets, USB ports, magazine racks and tables. It is possible to choose the monochrome or two-town covering from over 300 options available in the Milani catalogue, including the Reviva and Seaqual® Yarn sustainable fabrics. 

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