What designers are planning for the office of the future
In response to growing demand for offices to dump the cubicle desk and foster a more welcoming environment for talent, designers at the Neocon trade show for commercial interior design have unveiled their innovative ideas for the future of work.
As businesses are disrupted by movements like flexible work and companies such as WeWork that offer ways to conduct business in less traditional office environments, revamping the traditional office seems like the logical next step.
The longest-running trade show in the commercial design market featured nearly 50,000 attendees and took place at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago on Tuesday.
Designs on display included desks with built-in bikes and soundproof wall tiles made from live moss.
"It's no longer really called the office -- it's called the workplace," Byron Morton, vice president of the Merchandise Mart told WBBM reporter Rob Johnson in an interview.
Morton sat in a private glass pod called the "Dream Box." It carries a $20,000 price tag and can transform from a private office to a meeting room to a bed in an instant.
"You have a 15-minute power nap, and you're rejuvenated for the rest of the day," Galia Jabos of Silence Business Solutions told WBBM in an interview. "Instead of taking a 15-minute coffee or cigarette break, it's better to improve and restore your body in a healthy way."
