Systems Furniture: An Historic Way Forward?
by Valerie Glander
Systems furniture, better known as cubicles, has gotten a pretty bad rap over the years - and for pretty good reason, I suppose. Consider this: even the man who invented panel-based systems furniture, Robert Probst, is quoted as saying, “The cubicle-izing of people in modern corporations is monolithic insanity.”
Let’s take a look back at the beginnings of systems office furniture and how the office furniture industry has adapted to meet the needs of the 21st century office.
Introduced in 1968, the core design idea was that office design needed to be ‘forgiving’ and allow for flexibility and personalization. Probst’s Action Office II, produced by Herman Miller, was developed with 120 degree partitions, room for both a seated desk and a standing desk, and several levels of shelving and storage options.
In practice, however, as more and more companies adopted the new system - and its many knockoffs - efficiency dictated the layout and the concepts of flexibility, personalization and visual sightlines were largely ignored. The energy crisis of the 1970’s and the productivity-focused 1980’s solidified an era now known for bad fluorescent lighting and cubicle farms.
Today’s office design philosophy is much more human-centered. The belief that productivity is improved with a healthy work environment is well supported in both research and practice. It seems the 21st century is taking us back to our Office Design roots - Probst’s original design features are very much built into the most popular system furniture offerings today.
Divi Panel System, from AIS
There are a great many modern benefits to today’s systems furniture as well. Modular panel systems offer a wide range of functions in today’s market - from the most basic, a monolithic (solid fabric) panel, to frame-and-tile, which allows for thousands of combinations of fabric, laminate, metal, glass and accessories. Panel raceways still allow the tidiest way to run power and data cables, with newer systems such as lower beam systems (shown below), offer additional flexibility for running power through open offices.
Today, in light of the world’s COVID-19 pandemic, systems furniture is proving its worth yet again. The modularity of office furniture has long been touted as one of its greatest strengths. As Interior Designers, we have always spent a lot of our time reconfiguring space plans to accommodate changes to companies’ team structures and technical needs. This year, in preparation for reopening of workplaces in the midst of crisis, we are utilizing modular furniture to keep people safe.
For many clients, this means adding frameless screens or stacker panels to existing partitions to create the required separation between employees. For others, we look at moving stations apart or reconfiguring the orientation of stations to support new recommendations on traffic patterns and distancing.
We know that life is going to change, but over time a new “normal” will emerge. Systems furniture is ready for the challenge - the adaptations we make today can be removed later. By using modular and interchangeable components, we are able to update your space quickly and efficiently to make office spaces safer and more comfortable than ever before.
Sources:
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/081197cube.html
https://www.history.com/news/why-the-inventor-of-the-cubicle-came-to-despise-his-own-creation
https://www.wired.com/2014/04/how-offices-accidentally-became-hellish-cubicle-farms/
https://www.hermanmiller.com/products/workspaces/workstations/action-office-system/design-story/
