‘Routes’ by Pearson Lloyd for office furrniture specialist Teknion is a new collection of office furniture for the post-pandemic workspace, the result of an in-depth exploration of the changing ways we work.
Founded in East London in 1997 by Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd, design studio Pearson Lloyd works to ‘respond to the challenges of the day and enhance our experience of the world.’
‘Routes’: a collection of office furniture for the post-pandemic office
The ‘Routes’ collection of office furniture was conceived for what Pearson Lloyd call an ‘intelligent space’, and it includes desks, tables, task chairs, lounge seating, screens, storage and accessories – covering all office essentials. Each piece is designed to allow teams full flexibility, at the same time, the designers explain, ‘breaking with convention and introducing a sense of play into the world of work.’
The office furniture becomes ‘a toolbox to make working environments that encourage movement, creativity and collaboration, and to rapidly and easily reshape the space as needs change.’ Hence the name, referencing the possibility of a team to create its own ‘route’ by designing a workspace using functional objects and furniture.
It’s a flexible furniture system which can be applied to small studios and larger spaces, with flexibility and the needs of an ever-changing environment a focus of the collection. ‘Routes’, the designers explain, give teams ‘the ability to swiftly make, unmake and adapt workspaces in response to the changing requirements: an essential capability in the new, post-Covid working world.’
Office essentials by Teknion and Pearson Lloyd to encourage ‘workplay’
Key pieces in the collection are a mobile screen that features a writing board and can be used to divide a space, or a stool inspired by colourful builders’ buckets that are often transformed into impromptu seats (and can be stacked when not in use) – pieces that exemplify the double nature of the collection, somewhere between work and play.
The collection is also made for kinetic work, a trend of the past decade and, the designers note, which has been accelerated due to the working-from-home pandemic revolution. The office furniture designs ‘empower users to determine their optimum mode of work: standing, sitting, or lounging,’ the designers explain: there is definitely space for spontaneity.
At the core of the collection is the concept of ‘workplay’. ‘At their best, both work and play fire the imagination and are truly creative forms of activity,’ observes Tom Lloyd. ‘‘Workplay’ acknowledges the meeting point between both, to create a new form of inspirational space and place.’
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