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    Building meeting rooms costs 55 per cent more than buying office pods according to research

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    Promotion: buying office pods instead of building meeting rooms could save companies in the US around $30 billion by 2030, according to research by soundproof booth manufacturer Framery and real-estate investor CBRE.

    Post-pandemic working habits are driving a transformation in office layout and design worldwide says Framery.
    More people working from home means employers are scrambling to use costly office space more effectively, while the increasing prevalence of video calls has resulted in growing demand for small, acoustically insulated meeting spaces.
    The coronavirus pandemic triggered a sea change in office layouts”Office occupiers are investing more and more into flexible spaces and different types of adjustable spaces to meet the demand of flexibility and to attract their workforce back to the office after the pandemic years’ remote working,” said CBRE’s Jussi Niemistö.
    A study by Framery and CBRE found that as well as offering options for changing office setups, pods are more cost-effective than constructing new meeting rooms.

    CBRE compared the costs associated with getting one-, four- and six-person Framery office pods with the cost of building meeting rooms of equal size in different cities around the world.
    The research indicates that many offices will need to be refurbished to accommodate new working demandsIt found that meeting pods tended to be significantly cheaper – with constructing equivalent meeting rooms costing 55 per cent more on average.
    Building a permanent phone room in a New York office is 155 per cent more expensive than getting a one-person Framery booth, according to the study.
    A separate study by real-estate firm Cushman & Wakefield found that more than 41 per cent of office space in the US is in need of refurbishment in order to support hybrid working by the end of the decade – around 241 million square metres.
    CBRE’s research indicates that meeting pods are a far cheaper option than constructing new meeting roomsFramery’s analysis based on CBRE’s research indicated that building new meeting rooms in that amount of space would cost more than $85 billion. By comparison, the same area of Framery pod space could be purchased for around $55.5 billion.
    Framery CEO Samu Hällfors also argues that meeting pods reduce office running costs.
    Framery claims to have manufactured the world’s first meeting pod”Pods are compact and make better use of existing space,” said Hällfors. “They allow for greater flexibility in rearranging and reconfiguring offices and they can be moved to a new location when needed.”
    “That all greatly reduces the lifetime costs associated with running an office, especially in larger cities with high-priced real estate,” Hällfors continued.
    Founded in 2010, Framery claims to have invented and sold the world’s first office pod, and its Framery O is the world’s best-seller.
    The study looked at costs of building meeting rooms in cities across North America, Europe and AsiaThere are now more than 200 pod manufacturers around the world, according to Hällfors.
    “The increasing demand for these office pods isn’t coming so much from management as it is from employees themselves,” he said. “Reimagining the workplace in these innovative, cost-effective ways is what is going to get employees excited to return to the office.”
    To view more about Framery and its products, visit its website.
    Partnership content
    This article was written by Dezeen for Framery as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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      Ten designers create products from a single dying ash tree for SCP

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      Furniture company SCP has tasked a group of British designers including Faye Toogood and Sebastian Cox to craft objects from the wood of a tree infected with ash dieback disease for this year’s London Design Festival.

      The resulting pieces, ranging from furniture and lighting to decorative objects, are currently on display as part of the One Tree exhibition the brand is hosting in its Shoreditch showroom.
      One Tree includes works by Moe Redish (above) and Wilkinson & Rivera (top)The project saw ten designers make use of a tree on SCP founder Sheridan Coakley’s property, which had to be felled after being infected with a highly destructive fungal disease called ash dieback. Eventually, this is expected to kill around 80 per cent of ash trees in the UK.
      “Most fallen ash trees are getting just cut down and used for firewood,” Coakley told Dezeen. “But rather than burning the tree or letting it rot, we wanted to capture the carbon that’s in the wood by making something out of it.”
      Faye Toogood made an organic love seat from a tree forkA group of ten designers and makers, including Cox and Toogood alongside industrial designer Matthew Hilton, carpenter Poppy Booth and design duo Wilkinson & Rivera, was invited to observe the tree being felled in April 2022 and to select the pieces of timber they wanted to use.

      Toogood created a stool from the fork of the tree, which forms a natural love seat. This effect was highlighted by stripping off the bark of the wood but leaving its shape largely unadulterated.
      Flat facets allow the wood grain to become decoration in Sarah Kay’s piecesAlso making use of the thick, solid parts of the tree was designer and maker Sarah Kay, who chose to bisect a log to create a series of geometric side tables.
      The logs were given flat facets to highlight the gnarled grain of the wood. This swirling, almost psychedelic graining is also apparent in Wilkinson & Rivera’s three-seater bench.
      Poppy Booth’s cupboard is based on an abstract paintingHusband-and-wife duo Grant Wilkinson and Teresa River used rudimentary forms to construct the bench, allowing the grain of the wood to serve as decoration.
      Another furniture piece in the exhibition is a corner cupboard designed by Poppy Booth based on Black Square – an abstract painting by Russian-Ukrainian artist Kazimir Malevich from 1915.
      Mirroring the painting, the cupboard front features a square of blackened ash surrounded by a non-burnt frame. The piece is intended sit high up in the corner of a room to act as a kind of memorial for all the ash trees killed by the dieback.
      Max Bainbridge created a bench, vessels and wall pieceEast London designer Moe Redish created a series of glass vases and vessels, which were mouth-blown into natural voids in the wood made by birds, insects, weather damage and the fungus that causes ash dieback.
      Taking a similar approach, artist and craftsman Max Bainbridge chose to work with pieces of the tree that had apparent fissures, splits and raw edges, and turned them into a series of organically shaped vessels, a bench and a wall piece called Portrait of Ash.

      Two Kettles, No Sofa installation playfully explores tensions between cohabiting couples

      A number of designers took a more sculptural approach, with Oscar Coakley creating a giant wall fixture in the shape of an acid-house smiley while Hilton designed a helical Jenga-like sculpture made from repeating elements of carved wood.
      Cox, who took charge of cutting up the ash tree using his portable sawmill and dried all of the wood for the exhibition in his South London studio, created two lights using the branches that were left behind after all the other designers had made their selections.
      Long sections from the tree’s branches were used for Sebastian Cox’s lightsThe branches were cut into thin, raw-edge slivers and fashioned into triangular prisms to act as shades for a pendant and standing lamp.
      The pieces are being presented as part of SCP’s Almost Instinct showcase at LDF and are all for sale, with the aim of putting a selection of the items into production in the future.
      Oscar Coakley created a wall fixture in the shape of a smiley”I think this is a project that might continue,” Sheridan Coakley said. “There are other trees that have got to come down, why not make something with them?”
      This year’s LDF saw a slew of brands open their showrooms and run events, many returning for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
      All the pieces in SCP’s show were made using wood from this ash treeOther projects on show as part of the festival include an installation by architecture studio Stanton Williams that was informed by Stonehenge and Shakespearian theatres, and an exhibition of furniture by James Shaw that pokes fun at the tensions that arise between cohabiting couples.
      Photography is by Robbie Wallace.
      One Tree is on show between 17 and 25 September as part of London Design Festival. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Tristan Auer designs Blade Runner-inspired bathroom for Axor

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      Promotion: drawing on the aesthetic of the film Blade Runner, architect Tristan Auer has designed a neon-lit bathroom concept for Axor to suit an imagined male client.

      Auer created the concept as part of the German brand’s Distinctive project, which tasks some of the world’s leading architects with creating highly individual bathrooms.
      Auer was free to design whatever he wanted, but had his imagination sparked by a suggestion in the brief that the bathroom sit in a high-rise apartment in Hong Kong.
      Tristan Auer’s bathroom concept was partly inspired by the aesthetic of Blade Runner”You know Blade Runner from Ridley Scott? Hong Kong is like that — something that is building on top of itself. Different layers,” he said.
      “You have the crowd on the street level, and then, as you elevate, it’s more and more futuristic. It’s why I combine old antiques pieces with very modern textures.”

      From this starting point, Auer developed a dark bathroom that combines reflective stainless steel elements with neon lighting and a mix of different travertine stones.
      He wanted to give the bathroom a masculine feel with ’80s touchesAxor’s Edge faucets, designed by Jean-Marie Massaud, further fuelled his worldbuilding around the design, as he says their diamond-cut pyramidal pattern reminds him of an 80s icon, the ST Dupont lighter.
      “I don’t smoke, but I like to touch. So that sets the stage — Dupont, those colors, those ambiances,” he said, explaining that, in combination with the “masculine” travertine, it helped him to build a picture of his imagined client.
      “It’s for a man. Definitely selfish. The guy is only thinking about himself. He likes to collect. He’s a hedonist.”
      The pattern on the Axor Edge faucets fuelled Auer’s imaginationAs well as the Axor Edge washbasin faucet and freestanding bath faucet, Auer’s bathroom features the Axor ShowerHeaven and Axor Edge thermostat in the shower and Philippe Starck’s ultramodern Axor Universal rectangular accessories.
      They all have a polished gold optic finish, which adds to the bold and moodily space-age look of the bathroom.
      “Axor Edge is great, and not only because Jean-Marie is a good friend,” said Auer. “I would have liked to have designed it before him!”
      The Axor Edge tapware is by Jean-Marie MassaudAuer describes himself as an “interior and emotion” architect, because of how he reads and interprets his clients’ wishes, drawing inspiration from them rather than imposing his own style.
      He started his career with French interior designer and architect Christian Liaigre, who worked wholly bespoke at the time, and says he learned to design everything down to the door handle.
      Auer mixed layers of modern elements and antique pieces in the bathroom concept”I know the artisans,” he said. “I know the process. And individualisation is very interesting because, for me, that’s luxury, to have something made for you.”
      Individualisation of living spaces is the focus of Axor’s Distinctive project, for which Auer and fellow architects Sarah Poniatowski and Hadi Teherani have all designed highly personalised bathrooms.
      Axor sees individualisation as a growing trend, with people seeking more personal expressions of style following decades of globalisation and standardisation.
      To view more of Axor’s products, visit its website.
      Partnership content
      This article was written by Dezeen for Axor as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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      Sarah Poniatowski designs teal and teak indoor-outdoor bathroom for Axor

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      Promotion: interior designer Sarah Poniatowski has drawn on her connection to the French seaside to create a tranquil bathroom concept for Axor combining teal tiles, teak wood and bronze fittings.

      Poniatowski, the founder of Maison Sarah Lavoine, designed the concept as part of Axor’s Distinctive project, which presents personalised bathroom ideas from leading architects and designers.
      The Paris-based designer answered the brief with a coastal indoor-outdoor bathroom, referencing the place where she feels most connected with nature.
      Sarah Poniatowski’s seaside bathroom concept for Axor includes an outdoor shower”I have a deep connection with the south-west region of France,” Poniatowski said. “It’s so authentic, and nature is everywhere. It’s the most relaxing place in the world for me.”
      “The goal was to emphasise the surroundings with an indoor-outdoor bathroom and create a relaxing space with a summer holiday feeling.”

      Poniatowski’s concept includes an outdoor shower area that flows on from the main bathroom, where multiple doorways, large mirrors and louvre windows allow in plentiful light and enhance the feeling of being immersed in nature.
      The design combines raw pine and teak wood with a travertine stone washbasinWood floorboards and panelling along the walls and ceiling give the space a cabin-like feel, but one enlivened by Poniatowski’s material and colour combinations.
      Along with raw pine wood panelling and teak frames, the interior features a travertine bathtub and washbasin, teak tiling and, in the indoor shower, a feature section of multicoloured Zellige tiles that introduce blocks of deep purple and pale pink.
      Poniatowski describes it as “a place where you can daydream yet relax, be creative yet stand still, enjoy the outside while being in your very own bubble”.
      The indoor shower features multicoloured tiles”It’s all about balance,” she said. “Hence the choice to play with contrasts.”
      Poniatowski completed her bathroom concept with Axor’s Starck fittings, designed by Philippe Starck, in the brushed bronze FinishPlus surface finish.
      The fittings include the Axor Starck Nature Shower outdoors, another slender shower column indoors, two faucets on the washbasin and a floorstanding faucet at the tub.
      The bathroom is completed with Axor Starck fittings in brushed bronzePoniatowski sees the tapware as creating another opportunity to bring balance through contrast, with the Starck designs having linear, contemporary forms and smooth finishes that punctuate the organic-looking bathroom surfaces.
      “The design of the Axor Starck collection is very distinctive,” she said. “It was important to create a setting in line with it: emphasise it but don’t overwhelm it, and vice versa.”
      Poniatowski created her concept bathroom to suit an imagined personality who loves to travel and appreciates a fast-paced life while also knowing when to stand still and contemplate.
      The fittings provide a contrast to the raw and natural materialsShe designed it as part of Axor’s Distinctive project, which explores the rise of individualisation in personal living spaces via concept designs and discussions with experts and partners.
      The brand sees the trend as a response to decades of globalisation and standardisation, with people now seeking more personal expressions of luxury and style.
      “No one is the same, and this is what I love about my job — meeting people and creating something like nothing before,” said Poniatowski.
      To view more of Axor’s products, visit its website.
      Partnership content
      This article was written by Dezeen for Axor as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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      Hadi Teherani designs Middle East-inspired bathroom under a cupola for Axor

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      Promotion: architect Hadi Teherani has designed a bathroom concept for Axor based on Middle Eastern bathhouses, imagining the room as a place of retreat and holistic cleansing.

      Teherani designed the concept as part of Axor’s Distinctive project, which presents bathroom ideas from renowned architects as a way of exploring the trend of individualisation.
      Teherani was asked to create a personal “bathroom with personality” for the project and answered the brief by creating a circular, cupola-topped room meant to provide a sense of security and serenity.
      Hadi Teherani’s concept bathroom for Axor has a central tub that sits under a cupola”I see the bathroom as a space where I can clean myself – in a metaphorical sense as well,” said Teherani. “Here is where I arm myself for the day. This space protects me, offers me security, but at the same time, it doesn’t restrict me but rather gives me a feeling of space and infinity.”
      The concept takes the form of a cupola, which is Teherani’s way of conjuring those seemingly contradictory feelings of safety and liberation, security and freedom. It is “enveloping but not narrowing”.

      The cupola would sit at the centre of a home or hotel suite and be accessible from several points. It is inspired by Middle Eastern public baths, which would typically have several individual cupolas accommodating different functions.
      An oval double washbasin is located along the wallIn Teherani’s design, an organically shaped bathtub sits directly under the cupola, with a spacious shower area and oval double washbasin around it.
      “For me the cupola symbolises openness and secureness,” said Teherani. “The vastness comes from the high arched ceiling with a glass mosaic that stretches across the room like the sky.”
      “When you lay here in the bathtub placed in the centre of the room you get the feeling of looking into the vastness of the starry sky.”
      The circular room can be accessed from several pointsThis effect is enhanced by the chosen materials, which include glass mirror mosaic tiles that stretch from the floor to the cupola overhead. These reflect the light marble surfaces below, creating a glittering panorama of silvers and golds.
      Teherani’s bathroom concept is completed with Axor fittings in matt black: Axor Citterio E lever-handle and pin-handle faucets, Axor overhead and handheld showers, as well as Axor Universal Softsquare Accessories. He sees them as fulfilling the role of “functional jewellery”.
      “The faucets crown the bathroom concept with their timeless elegance and transport the water to the washbasin,” said Teherani. “The overhead shower is a recharging area for new energy, the bathtub faucet the water source at the bathtub.”
      The bathroom is finished with Axor fittings in matt blackThe bathroom demonstrates how linear fittings can be made to work in a round space, which Teherani said he accomplished by making “little cuts into the walls” and planning the positioning carefully.
      “The good thing about Axor is that the brand offers so many individual product variants so that it’s always possible to find a solution,” he added.
      Axor’s Distinctive project explores the trend of individualisation in personal living spaces through interviews and conversations with experts and Axor design partners, as well as bathroom concepts designed by leading architects.
      To view more of Axor’s products, visit its website.
      Partnership content
      This article was written by Dezeen for Axor as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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