In This Issue:
New offices for the hybrid era? Many companies are on board.
In this issue… commercial furniture and workplace players expand and reposition, with a major dealer rebrand and broader push into new sectors, plus a new ergonomic showroom opening in Sydney and improving distributor sentiment. Commercial real estate wrestles with AI-driven anxiety as brokerage stocks slide, even as some leaders plan to add space and developers move ahead on big New York projects; meanwhile, markets like Austin soften as tenants chase higher-end offices, and UK flexible office demand grows with longer commitments. Workplace research spotlights hybrid work’s potential to support family growth, signs of stabilization in office vacancy as companies upgrade into better buildings, and a productivity crunch driven by meetings and busy work. Design coverage examines why offices are still being designed, how acoustics should balance energy and focus, and how modular rooms can cut cost and carbon; features celebrate Verner Panton, explore “Fourth Place” hybrid learning hubs, and highlight a New York furniture show in an unexpected retail setting. Products roundups include new acoustic PET privacy solutions, expanded outdoor seating, and biobased upholstery and textiles inspired by nature and city skies.
In this issue… Avanto launches Strata, a revolutionary action system for commercial furniture operations, while the industry mourns designer Giancarlo Piretti. Major office market shifts include Anthropic's 484,000-square-foot San Francisco lease and prime office price gains signaling renewed investor confidence. Coworking embraces portfolio discipline. Workplace wellness, smart lighting design, and hypermobile learning environments emerge as key trends. Gen Z navigates social awkwardness at work while Gen X thrives remotely, as device addiction threatens focus and Americans warm to AI automation. Features spotlight Bauhaus's centennial influence, Asia-Pacific's evolving hybrid work culture, Japan's office chair racing tradition, and Steelcase's accessibility initiative. New product launches span Designtex biobased textiles, DEDON's MDEAR modular lounging, Shaw Contract porcelain, Hightower's expanded Arlo seating, HAY's Spring 2026 collection, Herman Miller's Pawson Drift additions, and CBS's Lana ergonomic laptop stand. Home office design shifts toward wall-facing desks for a luxurious aesthetic.
In this issue… ergoCentric acquires Belair Office Products to strengthen market position. Office market shows mixed signals as Deloitte's $2.6B Hudson Yards lease tops NYC's priciest deals, Miami corporates expand aggressively, and venture capital revival signals renewed tech office demand, while lab vacancy dips for the first time since 2022. However, office utilization surges to 53% despite attendance rising only 5.6% with recovery losing momentum. Workplace realities reveal 61% of workers are languishing, employees waste nearly a quarter of work year on low-value tasks, yet most 2025 top leases came from companies adding space. Corporate giants fuel coworking comeback as flexibility becomes the norm. Design perspectives emphasize adaptive workplace design for hybrid era, office lobbies as best amenities, and designing for uncertainty and collective intelligence. Brexit devastates UK design brands, turning "made in Britain" into a costly liability. Product launches include Chemetal's Carve collection, Humanscale's M/Class monitor arms, 9to5 Seating's Cira lounge, and Parador's Flecto flooring. Looking ahead, Gen Alpha sees flexible schedules and remote work as 2040's norm, while 2026 design trends focus on nature, comfort, and biophilic elements.
In this issue, we track continued softness in architecture and nonresidential construction as year-end billings remain below growth territory, projects are delayed, and hiring slows—even as some firms hold onto meaningful backlogs and pockets of regional strength emerge. We examine how coworking, hybrid models, and flight-to-quality leasing are beginning to stabilize office vacancies nationally and in select markets like Denver, while Manhattan enters its next adaptive phase. On the corporate front, we cover showroom expansion and retail-forward strategies, senior leadership appointments, brand recognition at the highest industry levels, and a high-stakes legal fight threatening the future of major design centers. Product and design coverage spans new systems for adaptable, powered, acoustic, and outdoor environments; expanded seating and accessories collections; and lighting, waste, and material innovations with strong sustainability narratives. We also explore how AI is reshaping architecture and workplace strategy, the growing gap between frontline and knowledge workers, shifting remote-work patterns by city, skepticism around the four-day workweek, and the sobering reality of 2025 job losses. Rounding out the issue are features on future-ready workplaces, standout global projects, sustainability funding, notable events and exhibitions, upcoming industry gatherings, awards, podcasts, and a hard-nosed piece of buying advice that applies present-day market logic to vintage design nostalgia.
In this issue… Creative Office Resources pushes further west with its acquisition of HB Workplaces, while DIRTT Environmental Solutions reshuffles its leadership to double down on technology and industrialized construction. An ethics controversy involving a sitting state senator and furniture contracts raises uncomfortable questions about competition and regulation in the interiors industry. Office demand shows renewed momentum, from AI-driven leasing activity in Silicon Valley to declining prime downtown vacancies nationwide, even as nonresidential construction remains uneven outside of booming data centers. Momentum expands its acoustic reach through an exclusive partnership with Autex, as Knoll rolls out a new system aimed at privacy, ergonomics, and flexibility in evolving workplaces. Broader forces—from Elon Musk’s sweeping predictions about AI replacing doctors and redefining work, to microshifting, fashion’s influence on interiors, and the growing case against inflexible corporate real estate—frame a workplace landscape in rapid transition. The issue also includes Office Revolution’s move into Kansas City and much, much more.
Showrooms Are Opening Up In Fulton Market As Manufacturers, Designers See It As An Alternative To The Mart / 6 Unusual Amenities in a Post-Pandemic Office / What Bosses Really Think About the Future of the Office / Sublease Inventory Declining For First Time Since Start Of Pandemic / and dozens more stories.
Majority Of U.S. Employees Skeptical About Return-To-Work Plans
Pilots + Prototypes: When the Workplace Becomes a Laboratory
The metaverse won’t be able to fix this major work issue. Here’s what will
Kimball International, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2022 Results
Beyond Reservations: How Tech Can Make People Want to Come Back to the Office
More people are staying single—and workplaces need to adjust
Coworking Operators Are Adding Locations, Raising Rents As Market Stabilizes
MassMutual Weighs A Hybrid Work Future As Its Seaport Tower Opens
Why fashion brands are collaborating with dead midcentury architects
Ep. 159: Clever Extra - Innovating for the Future of Furniture Design
Two Companies Offer Next-Generation Solutions for Circular Workplaces
This London startup wants you to rent a pop-up office just like a Citi Bike
Where's my order? Tracing one container through a broken global supply chain
The Future Of Work Looks More Flexible And Independent According To A New Report
Report Predicts Remote Work Trends Will Cause Steep CRE Losses, Problems For Cities
PODCAST: NYC Office Owner Chris Schlank On Tenant 'Hubris' And The Future Of Office
Air quality concerns hindering return to five-day office week
Inside one company’s struggle to fix the “monstrosities” of the furniture industry
Eames Demetrios picks five highlights from Eames Office exhibition 80 Years of Design
Springboard’s DOURO Collection Debuts First Horizontal Working Surfaces
LDI Interiors Launches Three New Patterns To Their EnviroLeather™ Prints "Soiree" Collection
The New Raw 3D prints "zero-waste" Ermis chair from studio's own offcuts
heijltjesakkaya's transforming furniture promotes physical activity in the workplace
Allseating’s Prata Wins 2021 GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN Platinum Award
Made in America, The smartBOX Company is Helping Offices Open On-Time and On-Budget
Studio Plow Brings Faire’s Digital Identity to Life at its New Headquarters in San Francisco
The Malin is a New York Co-Working Space for Design-Minded Members
Humanscale Launches Residential Designer Trade Program
DIRTT Third-quarter revenue fell short of expectations as loss grows
Office Furniture Supplier Aims for Record Year Despite Shipping Delays
Flexible workspace provider Uncommon launches first office furniture collection
The office of the future will be a leader-free, social-space
Students are the next target for co-working spaces. Campuses are taking note
Shopify makes a major design industry acquisition
"Woman Made: Great Women Designers" by Jane Hall
The next phase of remote work will be even more disruptive
Here’s what the future of work looks like after COVID-19
Manhattan Office Leasing Hit New Highs In October, But So Did Availability
Workers Aren't Running Back To Boston's Recovering Office Market
Recruitment drive sees majority of firms embed flexible working policies
Remote Work Policies Embroiled in Historic Worker Movement
Herman Miller Dealer Stealer
The ultimate office amenity in 2021? Fresh air
Desperate Office Landlords Are Offering Double Commissions to Brokers
All those people quitting jobs, where are they going?
Announcing the Shaw Contract Design Awards 2021 Winners!
Teknion Introduces WithIn™
Flos introduces Oblique Qi - a compact table lamp with wireless charging base
Zaha Hadid + Karimoku Furniture Collaborate on a Furniture Collection
Recycled plastic REX chair by Ineke Hans is sold with refundable deposit
Spacesmith Creates A New HQ for Nonprofit Legal Provider, NYLAG
Foster + Partners flanks Istanbul Apple store with travertine stone walls
Steelcase Acquires Spanish Design Company Viccarbe
Vinnie Johnson shutters office furniture dealership Airea
HNI Shares Slide As Inflation Bites Into Q3, Margin Shrinks
West Michigan's largest furniture manufacturers to require COVID-19 vaccine
ABI September 2021: Architecture firm billings end the summer on a strong note
Significant Year-Over-Year Growth Across North America - Pipeline Index Remains Robust, above 50%
What Designers Need to Know about Supply Chain Disruption
New Demand for Office Space Drops in September
Designing a Workplace That Optimizes for Movement and Mobility
Soaring U.S. business starts in pandemic show new normal evolving
This is What Hybrid Work Looks Like in Action
Where Flex Fits in the Return to the Office
Covid Acted As A Pivot And Is Bringing New Tech Into The Office World
A burst of technological innovation is reshaping the future of work
How Hybrid Work Will Transform Our Workplaces
Enticing Reluctant Workers Back To The Office Will Test Companies' Leadership
'Stunning' Percentage Of Companies Haven't Set Hybrid Work Plans: EY Survey
Impact of flexible work demonstrates a fragile post-pandemic business world
Employees are designing the workplace of the future
Most remote workers judge how co-workers' home offices look in video calls
Working in an office on Thursdays 4 times more popular than Mondays
The benefits of having dogs at work
WeWork Finally Gets Its Debut as a Public Company Trading on NYSE
Flex Office's Supply-Demand Drivers Point to Further Growth
Returning to the Physical Workplace - What's At Stake?
Future Of Work: Landlords Need To Start Leveraging The Power Of AI, Here's Why.
Chicago's Downtown Office Market's Downward Trend Will Continue For Months As Covid Blocks Typical Recovery
Productivity concerns remain as more people tentatively return to office
Is home working too homely?
Helping the planet one chair at a time
Work-From-Home Successes Prove You Can Live, Thrive in Palm Springs
The Reimagined Workspace: Amobi by AMQ
Tinnef from Scandinavian Spaces Awarded 3 Best of NeoCon Awards - Gold, Innovation, and Sustainability The occasional table is a beacon of what future generations demand from the built environment
Back at the office with noisy coworkers? This privacy hood keeps sounds and nosy people away
Emeco introduces “Truss” collection by Erwan & Ronan Bouroullec
Federica Biasi designs Kokoro Working Box for Manerba
Herman Miller Wants To Put Their Art in Your House As Much As You Do
Normann Copenhagen’s new headquarters-cum-flagship functions as a spatial marketing campaign
Hendy Gives Nogin A Colorful California Office Space
How Younger Workers’ Preferences and Workstyles Will Define the Future Workplace
One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Employees’ Needs Are Changing Work Spaces
Here’s Why Employees at Top-Performing Companies Need the Office
How Working From Home Could Change Where Innovation Happens
5 ways companies are helping employees return to the office
Reimagined office lobbies can serve as shared cultural hubs
Should Your Office Be More Like a Clubhouse? This HQ Makes the Case
Why Technology is Key to Delivering Occupier Flexibility
So what's happening to all the plexiglass we thought was a solution last year?
Texas-based Air Force agency converting to mostly telework in ‘Office of the Future’
How Eco-Friendly Is Remote Working?
Hybrid work attitudes – leadership still face challenges aligning their strategy
VTS To Acquire Workplace Experience Platform Used By Brookfield, Oxford, Hines
Net Office Absorption is Now Trending Positive in Majority of US Metros
The Economic Impact of a Hybrid Office
Goodmans interior Structures becomes Arizona's exclusive distributor for Herman Miller and Knoll
Corporate Interior Systems Establishes Preeminent Partnership with Haworth
New furniture at NeoCon captures today's workplace trends
Configura Wins Best of NeoCon Gold for Stage
10 Questions With… Barber Osgerby
2021 Healthcare Design Awards
Office furniture firm Bisley appoints first creative director
Adela Rex Collection Demonstrates the Beauty + Sustainability of Plywood
This chair style is all over social media—here's how to get one
Koroseal Partners with Stacy Garcia | New York to Launch an Exclusive, Urban-Inspired Wallcovering Collection
MdeAS Breathes New Life into Historic McGraw-Hill Building at 330 West 42nd Street
Take a Tour of Microsoft Australia's Fully Immersive Space By GroupGSA
News, Insights, Research, Trends and Products for Working Spaces.