Knoll

A furniture company committed to design and to designers

Hans and Florence Knoll

Hans Knoll, founder

At Knoll they believe good design is good
business.
Since their founding in 1938, they have been
recognized as a design leader worldwide.
Their products are exhibited in major art
museums worldwide, with more than 40 pieces
in the permanent Design Collection of The
Museum of Modern Art in New York.

 Knoll has a commitment to innovation and modern

design has yielded a comprehensive portfolio of office
systems, seating, files and storage, tables and desks,
wood casegoods, textiles and accessories.
Knoll operates four manufacturing sites in North
America: East Greenville, Pennsylvania; Grand Rapids
and Muskegon, Michigan; and Toronto, Ontario. In
addition, they have plants in Foligno and Graffignana,
Italy.

Florence Knoll
While a student at the Kingswood School on
the campus of the Cranbrook Academy of Art
in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Florence Knoll
became a protege of Eero Saarinen.
She worked briefly for Walter Gropius, Marcel
Breuer and Wallace K. Harrison. In 1946, she
became a full business and design partner and
married Hans Knoll, after which they formed
Knoll Associates.

 She was at once a champion of world-class architects

and designers and an exceptional architect in her own
right.
As a pioneer of the Knoll Planning Unit, she
revolutionized interior space planning.

 Her belief in "total design" embracing architecture,

manufacturing, interior design, textiles, graphics,
advertising and presentation and her application of
design principles in solving space problems were radical
departures from the standard practice in the 1950s, but
were quickly adopted and remain widely used today.

 Since it was founded, in 1938, Knoll has invited

designers to submit proposals, and Knoll has then
manufactured, and sold, this work.
The list of highly regarded designers Knoll has
worked with includes many of the best furniture
designers, interior designers, and architects of the
20th century.
http://www.knoll.com/designer/designer_category.jsp

Lounge seating designed by Florence Knoll

early 1960s

Credenza, designed by Florence Knoll

The furniture designed by Florence Knoll

is characterized by clean, simple lines, expressive use of materials
and efficient use of space

Steelcase
Steelcase began in 1912 as The Metal Office Furniture
Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
We received our first patent in 1914 for a steel wastebasket -- a
major innovation at a time when straw wastebaskets were a
major office fire hazard.
That led to metal desks, and we've led the way with product and
service innovations ever since.
Today, our portfolio of solutions address the three core elements
of an office environment: interior architecture, furniture and
technology.
We changed our name to Steelcase in 1954 and became a
publicly held company in 1998.

Steelcase history
1912-Peter M. Wege, Sr., Walter Idema and 10 other
stockholders form the Metal Office Furniture Company on March
14 in Grand Rapids, MI. The company has 15 employees and
specializes in filing cabinets and safes. First year`s sales are
$76,000.
1914-Metal Office begins diversifying with a new product, the
Victor fireproof steel wastebasket.
1915-First sale of desks: 200 fireproof steel desks for Boston's
first skyscraper, the Customs House Tower.
1916-E.A. Holscher starts an office furniture business in St.
Louis, MO and becomes Metal Office's first dealer.

 1921-Metal Office offically registers the "Steelcase" name as a

trademark and adopts a new advertising slogan: "Found Where
Business Succeeds.
1926-The company opens a new manufacturing plant on
Division Avenue in Grand Rapids.

 1937-Metal Office creates oval-shaped desks based on the

design vision of Frank Lloyd Wright.
They're used in the S.C. Johnson and Company building, which
Life magazine calls "the most inspirational office building of the
20th century."

Johnson Wax building, Racine, Wisconsin

designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, 1936-39
The Great Work Room

Johnson Wax Building

parking garage

 1945-The surrender documents ending World War II are signed

by General Douglas MacArthur and Japanese officials on a
Steelcase table aboard the USS Missouri

 1953-Metal Office introduces Sunshine Styling, the industry's

first office furniture in colors.
1954-Corporate name changes to Steelcase, which has been a
brand name for many Metal Office products.
Steelcase launches international operations with a 15,000
square-foot plant in Toronto, Canada.
1958-Establishes California operation with a 70,000 square-foot
plant in Fullerton,

 1964-Purchases Attwood Corporation in Lowell, MI, a

manufacturer of marine hardware and injection-molded plastic
parts.
1968-Introduces Mobiles , the first product using concepts of
systems furniture.

1971-Introduces Movable Walls, Steelcase's first comprehensive

systems furniture line.
1972-Enters the wood office furniture market with the introduction of
Designs in Wood.
1973-Introduces Series 9000 systems furniture.Builds manufacturing
facility for wood furniture in Fletcher, NC.Forms a 50 percent jointventure interest with Kurogane Ltd., with manufacturing in Osaka,
Japan.
1974-Forms a 50 percent joint-venture interest with Forges de
Strasbourg (Strafor S.A.) to manufacture seating in Sarrebourg, France.
1977-Initiates an extensive dealer distribution organization in the Middle
East.
1978-Purchases Vecta Contract in Grand Prairie, TX.
1979-Purchases new manufacturing plant in Athens, AL.

Office Systems Furniture

Panel Systems, Workstations

Office furniture has become a design specialty, and a major part

of modern working life.
Free standing desks, and separate, hard walled, offices, have
been largely replaced with a complex of work surfaces, screen
panels, and storage units that serve as partioning as well.
the workstation occupies less space, and when well designed,
provides a higher level of efficiency than separate office rooms.
The constantly changing nature of office environments had led
to the development of office systems furniture that is focused on
flexibility both within the individual workstation, and in the
grouping of clusters of workstations.

The Herman Miller office system

Ethospace
designed in 1984 by Jack Kelley

Ethospace is based on a 120 degree angle, which

opens up workspaces to teamwork and communication

Ethospace--a frame-and-tile system

In the Ethospace frame-and-tile system, structural steel

frames define the work space, provide the foundation for
hang-on components, and house electrical and data wires.

Individual segments called tiles attach to the frames, allowing

tremendous variety and control of the design and function of
individual frames.

 Application freedom. Designers can create a variety of

layouts, from individual workstations to collaborative
spaces to enclosed offices; the choice of 90-, 120-, and
135-degree connectors maximizes planning possibilities.

 Supports Technology
Huge capacity. The open frame interior holds up to 49
Category 5e, 4-pair UTP cables in the base and an
additional 32 cables at every 8 inches of frame height.
Flexible power. The 8-wire, 4-circuit electrical system
allows circuit configurations of 3 general and 1
dedicated, 2 general and 2 dedicated, or 1 general and
3 dedicated.
Wide corners. Corner connectors turn with a wide arc,
safely accommodating stiff or fragile fiber optics cables.

 Earth-Conscious Design
100 percent recyclable steel frames. Strong and durable
for a long life; the system is 78 percent recyclable, and
recycled content is 35 percent.
Powder coating. On all metal parts and Formcoat
surfaces; no VOCs.
Water-based stains. No solvents.
Sustainable wood supplies. Only from managed forest
resources.

Herman Miller Resolve

system, designed in 1997 by Ayse Birsel

 The elegantly simple structure is based on poles with

screens attached at 120-degree angles.
This inventive approach provides all the intelligence and
function of panels while allowing greater diversity of
workstation patterns and more cost-effective use of real
estate.
There's also more openness and flexibility for
collaborative environments.

The Resolve system has a built in

sound masking system

Rolling screens let users adjust privacy and reduce

glare on computer screens

 Resolve--a pole-based system

Vertical poles in three heights (96, 60, and 48 inches),
work with horizontal support arms to define work areas,
provide a structural foundation, support hang-on
components, and make power and data accessible to
the user.
Trusses attach to tall pole tops to route power and data
cables overhead and delineate space.
They can also help people find their way in a
workspace.

 Personalization Screens, canopies, and floor mats.

Define personal territory. Rolling screens.
Users control privacy and enclosure. Custom graphics.
With the Customer's Own Image (COI) program,
customers can have their own graphics digitally printed
on screens, canopies, and flags. Work tools.
People can place and move them right where they're
needed. Human scale.
The design is based on the size, reach, and movements
of people

Herman Miller
V Wall

 V-Wall works in any environment, with any furniture

requirement. A two-person crew can reconfigure walls
with minimum disruption.
Single-source supply simplifies coordination, reduces
trades in the work area, and reduces interruption in
occupied workspaces.
V-Wall is available in a variety of vinyls, fabrics, veneers
and glazing options.
Herman Miller trims and finishes make coordination
easy with all freestanding and office system solutions.
Panel modules come in standard heights of 9' and 10',
and widths of 24-30", but custom widths and heights to
12' are also available. also available

 V-Wall offers panel and component integration with Action

Office Series 1 & 2, Prospects and Ethospace.
V-Wall can be pre-wired with UL-labeled power or open boxes
for field applications. Telecommunications and power can be
distributed both vertically and horizontally, allowing walls to
provide cabling to systems as required by project design.
V-Wall can be installed directly over carpeting, reducing waste
and labor costs.
Unlike drywall, V-Wall is up to 99 percent reusable, making it
the environmentally friendly alternative.

Herman Miller Vivo Interiors

designed by Douglas Ball

 Crisp Aesthetic
Clean lines. Trim pieces have a thin profile and interlock
for precise alignment.
Visual highlights. Furniture-style glides have a
progressive appearance and let in light; open work
surface supports are light scaled; a horizontal bead
between tiles has a reflective surface.
Purposeful palette. The concise selection features lightto-dark, warm-to-cool finishes that combine
harmoniously; glass, laminate, veneer, and textiles offer
sophisticated choices.

 Sustainable Design
Strict standards. Vivo was designed according to Herman
Miller's cradle-to-cradle protocol; also GreenGuard certified.
Recyclable. Vivo is 69 percent recyclable; frames are 100
percent recyclable steel; a typical workstation has 36 percent
recycled content.
Powder coated. All trim, supports, and storage components
are powder coated, eliminating polluting VOCs.
No solvents. Stains are water based.
Good wood. All wood is harvested from managed forest
resources.
Earth-friendly textiles. Most textiles are made of a single
material for easier recycling; many lines are 100 percent
recycled polyester.

Steelcase Pathways
technology wall and ports system

 Ports to manage your tools and technology

Maximum flexibility for planning
Unmatched cable capacity and access virtually anywhere on the
panel
Wide array of aesthetic options with refined details
Environmentally-friendly wheatboard worksurfaces available

Steelcase Kick system

Steelcase Kick system

Wide range of function and aesthetics
Flexible layouts, including 120 degree
Kick Freestanding blends seamlessly with Kick and other
Steelcase systems
Stackable panels are load-bearing and stack to 78" h
Easy to order, simple to install and reconfigure

 From looking at just a few examples of current systems furniture

it is clear that there is an increasing emphasis on team
organization in office work.
Privacy has been replaced by organizations that allow for easy
voice and visual communication among team members.
Office chairs have been the subject of intense, focused study of
ergonomics.
The shape, dimension, and adjustability of a chair directly
affects human comfort and muscular stress.

 Office systems furniture are a direct response to a

space utilization concept called open office, or
landscape planning.

A typical open office, or landscape environment

A very open office area

A typical office floor: 22,867sq.ft.

Vertical section of the same building