The New Cubicle

Let’s face it, cubicles are back.

We’re not talking your garden ‘Dilbert’ variety though; gone are the days of three walls surrounding an individual rectangular desk you wheel your task chair around in.

Cubicles today are about escaping the hustle and bustle of the open-plan office for specific tasks: meeting, emailing, napping, etc. They help office workers join and separate from the rest of the team when needed, and create different environments to provide a change of scenery and seating positions.

Premiered at the Orgatec 2012 Office furniture fair, Workbays by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec are a system of sheltered work spaces which let each individual pick the environment that suits them best for the work they are planning on doing.

Another Bouroullec Bros. design, the Alcove, which started as a sofa in 2006, has now morphed into a workstation.

 After the Alcove Work, which provides a space for an individual to work on a laptop, the new Alcove Meet creates a meeting space wrapped up in a cozy sofa, insulating a group of up to four from the sights and sounds of the rest of the office.

For those less fortunate workers in a spatially challenged office, there is also the option of making a cubicle directly out of the office chair to find a little relief from their open-space neighbors; like in this hooded configuration of Citterio’s ID chair concept.

To escape the office completely, there is always the option of Vitra’s 15 minute Power Nap; or in extreme cases the Ostrich pillow by Kawamura-Ganjavian should do the trick.

Cubicles can also be used to encase other activities which would normally disrupt the work environment. Docklands by Bene and Pentaphone by Robert Stadler are designed to muffle mobile phone conversations for a little privacy.

With offices so well endowed, home offices have developed major cubicle envy. Here are a few of our favorite home versions:

By Claire Toussaint