(MUSCATINE, IA – JUNE, 2016) – Distraction and the inability to focus are major challenges to productivity in today’s open-plan office. Reflect, a newly introduced personal seating solution from Allsteel Inc., supports individual and small-group concentration within a busy, collaborative environment. Developed in partnership with Designworks, a BMW Group Company, and HOK Product Design as an addition to the Gather collection, Reflect is a comfortable seat, its back and sides enclosed by a tall upholstered shell that not only provides a degree of privacy, but also signals the occupant’s unavailability. Shielded from the distractions of the workplace, the Reflect user can undertake tasks that require uninterrupted focus.
“Reflect incorporates a swivel base that gives it extraordinary flexibility that allows for multiple applications,” said Darren Keele, product manager at Allsteel. “Picture a row of Reflect seats near a window wall. When all the units face the window with their backs to the open workspace, each is like a corner office. Turn a pair of neighboring units 90 degrees to face each other, and instantly a one-to-one collaborative microenvironment is established. Turned another 90 degrees to face the workspace, each Reflect becomes an open office. Arranged in a pod of three or more units, Reflect offers small teams a semi-private space for concentrated, collaborative work.”
Reflect is generously proportioned, with a wide, deep seat and soft back cushion that allow the user to adjust position at will, choosing whatever posture is personally most comfortable for long periods of seated work. One armrest is wider than the other, giving Reflect a pleasingly asymmetrical design that is at once playful and professional. The broader armrest provides a highly functional worksurface, ideal for laptops, electronics and paperwork. The shell is upholstered with sound-absorbing fabric, which helps promote acoustic isolation while providing the option of choosing a contrast with the seat and cushion coverings. The base and arms form a single, molded element available in a choice of wood veneers that accentuate Reflect’s clean, eye-catching lines.
Reflect can be positioned anywhere in the open office—in a hallway, near a bank of workstations, in the center of the floor or beside a wall of windows. Because of its swivel base, Reflect transforms from a solo getaway to a group get-together space on the turn of a dime, making it also suitable for use in hospitality, higher education and other settings.
“Reflect is a study of space and volume,” said Johannes Lampela, Director of Design at the Los Angeles studio of Designworks, a BMW Group Company. “Depending on orientation reflect either opens up to its surrounding or shields from it. And when two chairs are placed directly across from each other they form a connected space, a sort of a bubble of concentration.”