Kimball Office, in collaboration with Primo Orpilla of Studio O+A, is thinking beyond, designing beyond, and going beyond benching as we know it.
Work is not simply sitting at a desk or in a cube–it’s about choice and variety. With the “beyond benching” concept, we respond to the individual user as well as to group and team activities–maximizing both flexibility and freedom in the workplace.
“Current benching that we are all familiar with in the office furniture market has its limitations,” said Orpilla. “We are finding that not all open plan strategies are easy for people to adapt to. Or perhaps they don’t adapt at all–they simply cope with the rigid platforms out there today.”
He continued, “New revolutionary pieces are being developed for Kimball in response to the variety of work styles needed to support individuals and groups in the contemporary workplace. This will benefit the individual user, as well as enhance group and team activities.”
Mike Wagner, Kimball Office General Manager, concurs.
“In the ever evolving office furniture landscape, who says you can’t have enhanced efficiency and functionality that enables you to work the way you want?” he said. “Or as we like to call it: Your Work. Your Way.”
“Our beyond benching thinking will give individuals the ability to choose a set up that helps them work the way they want,” continued Orpilla. “The design that will soon come to fruition as a finished product will demonstrate to the market how elegance and simplicity do not have to be mutually exclusive of each other,” says Orpilla.
Beyond Benching is the latest example of the Kimball Office continuing evolution into the New Kimball Office.
“Working with the Kimball Office team continues to be a great experience for us,” says Orpilla. “With the Beyond Benching project, their design team started from my rough, very figurative sketches to a highly refined product. The nice thing is the finished product really matches the spirit of the original design sketches. It was very much a blend of engineering, good design decisions, and process.”
Mixing West Coast design sensibilities with those in the Midwest resulted in a big a-ha for Orpilla.
“Studio O+A works in a part of the world where anything is thought to be possible. The west coast is about innovation, and that attitude creeps into our work,” he says. “What we found was the Kimball Office team feels the same way. All ideas were seriously considered with no hesitation. The desire to change them and take the easy way out was never considered. Somehow the good ideas made it to the other side and a great design happened!”
He continued, “What we have jointly created with Kimball Office is a major workplace platform. It will help redefine the category. We don’t work the way we did five years ago: we interact, ideate, and share ideas more. Workstations and space can hamper or help–this new product will help.”