Home Office, Office Home

With evolving needs in the technology department, the boundaries between home and office are blurring. Beyond putting a sofa in an office and a task chair in a home, designers are taking cues from one environment to use in the other, with very interesting results.

The ambiance in the office has been warming up in the last few years. Lounge areas have been moving outside of the break room and into the business side of the workplace.

At Pixar for example, you might sit on the same armchair during a meeting you sit on by the fire in your living room. (Artek, armchair 400)   

http://www.officesnapshots.com/2012/07/16/pixar-headquarters-and-the-legacy-of-steve-jobs/

Task chairs are also taking on a softer look, closer to that of a fauteuil. The Softshell and Skape chairs (by Vitra) are good examples of this trend.

Vitra, Soft Shell chairs (http://www.vitra.com/en-us/office/products/softshell-chair-1/overview/)

 

Vitra, Skape chairs (http://www.vitra.com/en-us/office/products/skape/gallery/#)

 

In an effort to create a lighter but no less comfortable armchair, some designers have been trading in traditional upholstery for materials more commonly found in an office environment.

Slow Chair by the Bouroullec Brothers for Vitra (http://www.vitra.com/en-us/home/products/slow-chair/gallery/#)

 

Waver, by Konstantin Grcic for Vitra (http://www.vitra.com/en-us/home/products/waver/gallery/#)

 

 

A new trend of cross-over furniture has also been developing, smoothing out the seams between office and home life.

The Alcove Highback Work sofa by the Bouroullec brothers for Vitra includes a table and cubby built right in to the sofa to accommodate working on a laptop. The high sides of the sofa provide a shield against noisy environments and create a small haven in which to get down to business.

Vitra, Alcove Highback Work (http://www.vitra.com/en-us/home/products/alcove-highback-sofa/gallery/)

The SW 1 lounge, by Scott Wilson and Minimal for Coalesse, is designed for both meeting rooms and living rooms.

A little lower than traditional conference room seating, the SW 1 lounge sits in a more relaxed position but keeps the swivel base and mesh back of a conventional task chair, making it easy to prop up a tablet on one’s lap while keeping the conversation flowing in different directions.

Paired with an ottoman, the SW 1 is the perfect place the read the newspaper from and check emails from the comfort of your own home.

Coalesse SW_1 Lounge (http://www.coalesse.com/products/sw_1-lounge/)

by Claire Toussaint