DESIGN & INTERIORS
short-term, agile and dynamic settings. FMs will be charged with implementing these changes.
It is not just about the changing demands of employers – dynamic, user-controlled work spaces are also very much geared to the individual needs of staff.
Jonathan Hindle, KI Europe’s Group Managing Director and current Chairman of the British Furniture Confederation, explained: “For decades we have been used to seeing large open plan offi ces with rows of desks. Such a system does not take into account the individual preferences of staff, some of whom need privacy while others are more extroverted and function better in these settings. It also fails to address the different functions that staff perform.”
“By having user controlled, fl exible spaces, it is possible for individuals to create their own ideal environment without the need for fi xed partitioning such as walls and glazing, within a large open offi ce environment. This is better for their productivity and mental health and also means that companies have happier members of staff.”
“By having user controlled, fl exible spaces, it is possible for individuals to create their own ideal environment without the need for fi xed partitioning such as walls.”
Throughout lockdown KI and Chaucer have worked together as large organisations get ready for staff to return to work and both have had to introduce major new innovations as a result. For Chaucer, it has meant the need to embrace even more technology due to the growing and sophisticated needs of a changing furniture market. For KI it has involved the launch of Colonnade, an innovative new product range which has taken the agile working concept a vital new stage further – more about that later.
The technology fi rst for Chaucer Logistics has been a new fully automated ‘proof of delivery’ system or POD. While there is nothing new with this kind of software, it is believed that this is the fi rst time that a freight company has adopted it for furniture deliveries and has helped deliver the multiple components required to create more agile workspaces.
The need to introduce an automated system has become more critical in response to the changing needs of manufacturers such as KI who increasingly demand proof that delivery has been made to the end user.
“The POD system works very simply,“ said Scott Dunn, Chaucer’s Managing Director. “When furniture is delivered, the operative takes a picture of the person who signed for it and this image is automatically sent as an
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e-mail to the client. It effectively means greater peace of mind with these kinds of deliveries and I am delighted that Chaucer has set yet another fi rst for the furniture industry and that it works so well for organisations such as KI. We need to bring in components from their factories across the UK to be made up into orders before being shipped on to the end user. The fact that we can track every single component from factory to fi nal installation has been crucial to the success of this operation.”
As mentioned earlier, the fi nal piece of the jigsaw for agile workspaces comes from KI itself, with the launch of Colonnade, an innovative and exciting new range of furniture especially developed for staff and employers who want to create something a bit different within an open plan offi ce environment.
KI claims that Colonnades have been used in architecture throughout the world for millennia to defi ne spaces and enhance functionality. The idea of creating a forum or functional space within and adjacent to these structures is as old as civilization itself, creating markets, temples, civic structures and more – it is now the turn of the offi ce.
Colonnade was co-created in partnership with one of KI’s longest-standing clients to create a systemised, cost-effective and sustainable solution to create better user-controlled, fl exible workspaces. Made for ‘hacking’ - the system utilises a series of simple components and materials, in different dimensions. Accessories and features can be added and modifi ed as required.
Anchored by 800 Series Storage and Modular Shelving, the system includes stanchions and gantries which can support all sorts of equipment to make collaborative working better - from mobile whiteboards and pinboards, to TV screens, tables, mobile soft seating, power, lighting and acoustic treatments. This system can either be specifi ed as an enhancement to existing KI storage, or be installed as new. Repurposing traditional storage units gives them a new lease of life, reducing waste and carbon footprint.
Even better, for employers planning to move in the short term, the Colonnade system is completely free-standing. By not interfering with the base build in any way allows it to be easily relocated, without adding dilapidation costs at the end of a lease cycle.
www.kieurope.com/ TOMORROW’S FM | 55
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