cobi: comfortable collaboration
Designed by the Steelcase Design Studio in collaboration with Luke Pearson of PearsonLloyd

In case you haven’t noticed, we spend more time in meetings today than ever before. Meetings in any office set-up (at home, meeting rooms, teleconferencing) requires changing postures and various degrees of support us.

We’ve all been there…squirming, fatigue, and loss of focus (sound familiar?) are unavoidable. Enter cobi.

Every part of cobi was designed to flex and adjust to your body. cobi’s top flexing edge lets you comfortably rest your arm on top of the chair. You know, like you’ve tried to do on every chair you’ve ever sat in, but this time it feels good.

cobi’s seat encourages you to move and shift, allowing you to sit centered or off to the sides. It’s even comfy to sit with your back against the arm…seriously.

cobi is great as a conference chair because it offers one manual adjustment (seat height). Research says we don’t adjust more than seat height on conference room chairs anyways. We sit down and move into the first item of discussion on the meeting agenda.

And, if you’re in meetings as often as I am (more than I’m at my desk), cobi is perfect! I’m not at my desk long enough throughout the day to require more adjustments…and if I had more adjustments, I don’t think I’d have the time to use them!

i2i: an intuitive seating arrangement
Designed by the Steelcase Design Studio in collaboration with Thomas Overthun of IDEO

Sometimes, you don’t need a conference room for meetings. You may only need a few chairs in which you and a small team can connect. And those big, stuff lounge chairs don’t cut it (unless you’re looking for a place to nap). You need a chair you can move, shift, and breathe in (not to mention looks nice too).

So…picture yourself in your non-conference room meeting. You have a lot to take in: people to your left and right, people straight ahead, and often a screen or laptop as a centerpiece. And don’t forget to say something intellectual. With all of that going on, how do you maintain focus and orientation without losing comfort? Answer = i2i.

i2i’s dual swivel mechanism keeps you focused where you need to be: keeping eye contact. The back and seat swivel independently, allowing you to change your posture without changing your orientation…and vice versa. You kinda got to see it to get it.

Your body requires you to move and shift. Tilt back, forward, left, or right. Slant your body in any direction. Slouch if your mother isn’t looking. i2i keeps you comfortable regardless of position. One less thing you need to think about.

When I was a kid, I refused to let the different types of food on my plate touch each other. No peas in my mashed potatoes!

For a while, as an adult, I actually tried to do the same thing, creating a proverbial “divided plate” to separate the various components of my world. No work at home! No home at work! But, you know what? That’s just not realistic. Sadly, they don’t make those cute plastic plates for life…

You Can Run, but You Can’t Hide

In today’s world, the lines between work and life have blurred for two obvious reasons:

• Technology. With Smartphones, email and Instant Messenger, we’re always reachable. Private networks, remote computer access and collaboration tools mean we’re never more than a mouse-click away from our offices.


• Expanded Hours. Research shows that the average American work week is 54 hours. In an average week, only 14 percent of us work 40 hours or less.

I’m not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing; it’s just the pace of the world in which we live. But it does mean we have to change the way we think about the separation between work and life. Instead of viewing them as opposing forces, we need to focus on work-life integration.

We should start by asking ourselves: What kind of environment can we create at home and at work to maximize our productivity – and ultimately, our satisfaction – with both?

For one thing, we can stop thinking of “the office” as a boring, stiff, drab place where fluorescent lights flicker and the smell of burnt coffee fills the air. We spend far too much time at the office to be surrounded by such unpleasantness.

And let’s start creating a home office that helps facilitate productivity, so that – when we have to bring work home – it’s comfortable. Yes, office furniture can be both stylish and functional. You don’t have to hide it away in a back room somewhere.

Here’s the good news: We are beginning to catch on. We have created the new brand Coalesse specifically to reflect this new “integrated” work-life reality.

“Coalesse is about a belief that the boundaries between work and life have blurred. With products that fit as naturally in to the office as the living room, Coalesse focuses on the increasingly growing similarities between work and life.”

Office furniture – whether at home or at work – no longer has to be dominated with harsh lines and glaring surfaces. Instead, it can be full of chic, modern designs that reflect the way we really live.

Work is all around us. And so is life. Why not create an environment that respects both?

Are your worlds blending? If so, check out the Coalesse brand by Steelcase to create your perfect space.

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Republished from our friends at Office Arrow

In a world where connecting and collaborating is vital to success, the role of the workplace is to connect: people with people, people with information, people with tools they need to do their job and with the culture of their organization. The landscape of today’s workplace is changing. Footprints are shrinking while expectations are growing. People are looking for a variety of settings to choose how and where they want to collaborate. Today’s workspace needs to work harder by working smarter.

Because of this Steelcase created a whole new category of seating products designed specifically for the needs of collaboration. The cobi and i2i chairs were designed specifically to foster collaboration and were based on three key research observations that resulted in three key insights:

• Chairs should promote movement and be comfortable for long periods of time
• Adjustments should be automatic and intuitive
• Chairs should support multiple postures

Live/Work Collection by Coalesse

With products that fit as naturally in the office as the living room, Coalesse focuses on the increasingly growing similarities between work and life.

Coalesse is about a belief that the boundaries between work and life have blurred.

This is the inspiration for our new collection of products for live/work environments, and it brings together the rich design histories of three brands from the Steelcase family of companies – Brayton, Metro and Vecta – as part of the new Coalesse brand.

Coalesse’s premium live/work furnishings are for enlightened workers; it offers an opportunity for a new approach and feel to how people really work.

Where work is going.

Coalesse. Inspiration, everyday.

Uno ready to take flight

Have you ever taken a hot air balloon ride? If so, were you filled with excitement, fear, and amazement? There was only one thing that you trusted that day…the basket. You had faith that the basket was strong enough to hold you and the other people. Now imagine for a moment that the basket was an office chair. You may think this is an absurd possibility, but in reality it has happened.

Jonathan R. Trappe, a cluster balloonist, placed his complete trust in an office chair. He used his Uno chair as the gondola for his balloon flight. With helium balloons securely fastened to the chair, Jonathan and the Uno chair took flight. He reached a maximum altitude of 14,783 feet.

Next time you look up at the vast wonders of the sky…don’t just look for the shooting star or the jumbo jet or the bald eagle…look for the flying Uno chair, now that is a sight to see.

It is pretty evident that Jonathan loved his office chair. Have you ever traveled, gone out to eat, or been to the park with your chair? Let us know the great things that your chair has experienced with you.