Grafeoiphobia is a furniture collection for desk-shy, bed-happy workers

Different adaptations and foam upholstery allow the user to work in positions that emulate being in bed but also support the body

Anna Winston

Geoffrey Pascal has created a collection of office furniture that responds to the growing number of people working at home in their beds.

The three pieces in Pascal's Grafeiphobia: Unexpected Office collection are each based on the frame of a basic, slatted wooden bed. Different adaptations and foam upholstery allow the user to work in positions that emulate being in bed but also support the body in NASA's Neutral Body Position.

Developed to promote health in astronauts in zero-gravity, the Neutral Body Position spreads the user's weight over multiple points across the body. This contrasts with the typical seated desk position, which concentrates force downwards on the lower back.

Pascal began working on the idea during his studies at Design Academy Eindhovenafter analysing his own difficulties working at a desk and after reading about a growing number of people that are working at home in their beds.

The name Grefeiophobia relates to a fear of desks.

"When I am working behind a desk sitting on chair, I always have the feeling of being forced to work, that I have to get it done. I feel stress and pressure, which doesn’t make me more productive, it is rather the opposite," explained Pascal.

"I decided to experiment on myself and to work in bed everyday," he told Dezeen. "And it is true that when lying down in bed your relation with work changes, you have more comfort, the aspect of time changes too, you become less stressed and more focused."

The Basic Besk was inspired by sitting in bed with a laptop on the lap