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Workbench Tailored Collections Horsham / Games Industry Workbench recently partnered with Oktra to design and manufacture tables and credenzas for a suite of meeting rooms at a leading Games Industry company. The emphasis was to provide a non-corporate, rustic environment. The rectangular A-STAR table was selected to meet this requirement, with lino tops in Forbo ’Smokey Blue’ and a polished plywood edge. The central insert to the table with cable access panels is finished in Egger 'Santa-Fe' Oak laminate and accommodates Crestron units. The table is supported on A-STAR steel bases finished in a black powder coat. Burnt orange leather chairs compliment the table to give a carefully tailored solution that perfectly matches the organic nature of the building interior. Workbench Tailored Collections - For more information visit our A-STAR page.

Inspirational furniture that tells a story... The oak for this table comes from a tree planted by Lippold Friedemann von Bredow, Erbherr auf Haage und Retzow, Havelland in 1855. It was uprooted on 30th March 2015 during Hurricane Niklas. The fallen tree was cut into timber and seasoned for four years at a local sawmill. Workbench were asked to design and fabricate a bespoke table for the London Office of an Investment Management Company. We transported the boards from Germany to our UK workshop, cutting to useable sizes and working out how best to join the boards whilst setting out the text for engraving a poem into the surface. Herr Von Ribbeck im Havelland is a beloved German literary ballad written by Theodor Fontane in 1889. It tells the story of the generous and gentle Squire von Ribbeck who would gift pears to passing children from his pear trees. He knows his son and heir to be a scrooge who will stop this benevolence so he asks that when he dies he is to be buried with a pear. He does this in the knowledge that the pear tree which grows from his grave will continue to provide free pears to the children as they pass.

Wow we have missed this! Great to step way from our desks, into our glad rags and catch up with the everyone in our brilliant industry. Congratulations to all the finalists and especially to the winners at Mix Interior magasine Mixolgy South.

Workbench is hosting breakfast talks on the 9th and 10th September 9am -9.30 . If you are new to the industry or just want to refresh your memory we will be giving a short seminar on specifying veneers, laminates and glass. We will be joined by Arpa UK manufacturers of FENIX and GX Glass to discuss applications, tolerances, environmental impact and debunk some of the abbreviations you might find on tenders. There are limited places so if you would like to join us for breakfast please contact Heather@workbenchltd.co.uk.

Contrasting materials in complimentary colours. We @workbench recently completed a project where a palette of complimentary colours were specified for table tops but in different materials. Using different materials on a table top needs consideration. Workbench collaborated with ID:SR and The Furniture Practice detailing a client facing meeting suite with a combination of Fenix laminate, bronze inlay, Corian solid surface and timber veneer. All of these materials move and react to heat and moisture in a different way. Metal inlays in table tops are notoriously temperamental. @Workbench we prefer a mechanical fix detail if actual metal inlays or lipping are used, but a great alternative to this is the specification of a metal laminate. Nearly all of the main laminate manufacturers have metal decorative laminates in their collection that have a very good likeness to the material they replicate. If laid correctly it is very difficult to see the difference from the real deal. The advantage of a metal laminate is that it is much more stable and elimates the movement issue often experienced with metal enabling us to realise our clients vision and remove any potential movement issues in the future. Designed by us, tailored by you.

It has long been the case that corporate furniture demands the inclusion of technology. Over the past year the corporate furniture market has had to leap at warp speed to make sure that technology, and most importantly communications technology, is accessible for teams wherever they may be working. So often throughout history, moments of intense difficulty or crisis have been accompanied by technology and innovation forging ahead at a relentless pace. As we see offices swing back into operation, albeit in a more fluid way, the seamless integration of technology into our office spaces and homes, and our ability as designers to meet these demands, will be ever more critical. Even the most exclusive interiors are having to accept this requirement. @Workbench we believe this doesn't mean that you have to ruin your statement boardroom table with reluctantly installed comms equipment, or for that matter clutter the clean lines of your touchdown collaboration space with the look of a 1980’s dealer desk, because at the same time as the requirement has moved on, so has the technology. Companies like Arthur Holm, Crestron and Office Electrics to name a few, have all developed their product ranges to meet this demand, which means we @Workbench are continually developing furniture that can provide the latest technology driven solutions, without driving out your creative aspiration.

We could argue that we have "done time” over the past year, and as return to work plans start to be confirmed we now need to focus on SPACE. We are all used to talking about office SPACE, but as we make plans to head back to the office we have been talking to clients about SPACE and Social D i s t a n c i n g. Effective use of SPACE is perhaps already the biggest consideration in the workplace, and maybe for too long we have squeezed too many people into the SPACE we have available, especially in city offices. The observation seems to be that although more people will be working from home, the square foot of office SPACE won't change as those that are in the office will be more generously accommodated in line with new health and well being protocols. Communal open SPACE and informal meeting areas within buildings where colleagues can meet and collaborate are already very much at the forefront of office design, and post lockdown they will be top of the list. Creating a SPACE that delivers openness both physically and aesthetically is generating some beautiful designs that are genuinely revolutionising the workplace for the better. Reconnecting with nature in the working environment, quick change furniture, multifunctional furniture and biophilic installations are all influencing the solutions that we @workbenchltd are designing for our clients, and we are not alone. The exciting new Animate charge anywhere products from OE Electrics are trailblazing the options for flexible working, and Innerspace Cheshire continue to deliver innovative natural finishes that bring a some of that great outdoors indoors, enabling interior designers to create the SPACE we all need.

@Workbenchltd - A Road Less Travelled During our journey to ISO 14001, we at Workbench have looked at all the ways we can reduce our carbon footprint, the aim being to deliver projects in a way that enables our clients to achieve their own environmental targets. It is our belief that whilst this starts with the design process, often the biggest impact is manufacture. We aim to source materials as locally as possible and procure from companies that demonstrate the highest environmental standards. By far our biggest push to be carbon neutral centres where possible on manufacturing only in the UK, so our products have literally followed a road less travelled to reach their final destination.

Are you a risk taker or risk averse? As with most businesses we work with all kinds of clients. The projects with the risk takers are always exciting albeit challenging, whilst the projects with the risk averse enable us as designers to reflect on and enhance our offer to our client. Just to define what we mean by risk, remember how the designers pushed the boundaries with the wobbly Millennium Footbridge! Whilst furniture design might not be quite this critical, the stakes are still high when dealing with expensive, fragile materials such as marble, integrating complex performance requirements, and working to tight project timescales where failure is not an option. The key is to find your creative side whilst still keeping the design process sound. Finding your creative side Workbench is no different to any of our clients, but as furniture specialists we use our knowledge and experience to find the middle ground. If you are risk averse we can help you dip your toe into the arena of adventurous design, and if you are a risk taker we can guide you to your creative nirvana without loosing your shirt! Tailoring our tried and tested designs allows our clients to be unique with fewer risks, which at the moment is particullary important as our industry adjusts to the new working normal. Anxieties about material performance, function and aesthetic can all be discussed with our our team of designers, workshops and factories, so that the final design will be both unique and successful.

We have always been somewhat sceptical about ISO14001 certification, as a medium sized business we like many others viewed it as a layer of cost to our overhead for a procedure certification which we already follow diligently. When we were asked two years ago to talk at the Sheppard Robson environmental week, we had just that viewpoint. We talked through the possible negative connotations of insisting that projects should only use companies that are ISO14001 certified, and expressed concern that small craft base workshops were being lost because they don't tick the box, despite following the procedures that these standards set out… so, the question is, can we change our mind? @Workbench we set ourselves a few goals at the start of every year, goals that we aim to achieve by the end of the year. 2019 was to move office and create our showroom, and we love our new home at 3 Sutton Lane! At the start of 2020 we decided to bite the bullet and achieve ISO14001. Going through the process of 14001 certification is creating benefits we couldn’t have imagined, and our goal that certification enables smaller workshops to still serve the market through us has been achieved. We are a medium size business, and we pack a big punch for our size. Workbench has always followed the principals of ISO14001 and 9001 standards, but it soon became evident it was not documented. This was the first thing that we changed, and it was the biggest eye opener, the whole company now knows our supply chain, what they can offer, and our supply chain also know us. Individually the team at Workbench knew certain suppliers very well, but as a team, corporately, we actually knew far less because it was not recorded, just ‘retained in brain’. A simple questionnaire to our suppliers generated an astonishing amount of hitherto unknown information to both parties. We are all now far more collaborative in establishing environmental initiatives, utilising this new knowledge. We achieved ISO14001 certification in December 2020, but the prize is much bigger, a better understanding of our suppliers, and how informed design processes and material choices can offer environmentally sustainable solutions, solutions that help our clients to achieve their own environmental targets. The techniques learned have also enabled us to modify and streamline our own admin systems, and help our suppliers to look at ways to meet the ISO14001 standard, from efficient material use and workshop processes to smart logistics. Most importantly to achieve the best solution within a given set of parameters, supplying products that are built to stand the test of time with an array of solutions for recycle or reuse when they eventually reach end of life. We were guided by the brilliant mentor Chis Passmore at 2SB Management Systems, who helped us navigate the more intense parts of the standard and of course we are happy to chat to anyone who would like to know more about the process, but in the meantime WOOHOO @Workbench is ISO14001 certified and ready for a brilliant 2021!

Return to Office Quarter One 2021 - That’s the hot topic right now and business is getting ready for it. With Q1 not many weeks away the re-organisation of space and furniture begins, and when we say not many weeks, we mean just three manufacturing weeks until quarter one arrives slap bang on our doorstep. So what are businesses doing? Initially we saw heavy demand for screens and the spacing of work areas, however fast changing events dictate that this is now shifting to a more ‘normal’ working environment, albeit with the contingency of flexibility to deal with unforeseen situations. The current emphasis is on simple furniture details, easy to clean, easy to reconfigure, adaptability, and most importantly video conferencing available everywhere, communication between colleagues is key. Business is no longer interested in the sick martyr struggling into the office with flu or worse, the message is 'if you feel unwell stay at home' keep your germs exclusive, but do stay in touch! If we have learnt one thing in 2020 it is how rapidly things can change. Predicting the future is a tricky business, but as quickly as we all fled the office, there are now signs that the office will again become an important part of our working week, and it appears businesses are waking up to this reality. With most furniture manufacturers operating on a 6 to 8 week lead time, focusing on the return to office and the preparations necessary is now the urgent priority. So RTO-Q1-21 sets us another challenge to rise to, a challenge where time is of the essence. And we stand well equipped to meet these demands, working with design practices and businesses to deliver projects tailored to the changing work environment.

An ever increasing request is that we take fully resolved designs and tailor them to our clients' specific requirements. This offers the reassurance of tried and tested solutions, but also gives a level of individuality not available off-the-shelf. We have spent many hours refining our standard furniture collections, perfecting the treatment of interfaces between materials, the integration of technology and ensuring designs exceed expectations. This recently completed project featured a large breakout space designed to have a welcoming, relaxed feel to it. We took the FLITE table base from our standard furniture collection and produced it in natural mild steel with a clear lacquer finish to prevent rusting. Solid table tops were designed in the warm tones of FSC oak with the addition of inlayed butterfly ties, giving a nod to more traditional furniture designs. The end result is a fantastic space where people can relax and enjoy a welcoming, comfortable environment, made possible using honest materials, proven designs and a little originality.