Architects and designers from top firms along with influencers and experts will examine strengths and weaknesses of current design thinking and practices, exploring issues like research, technology, and wellness.

Register Now

Metropolis Editors, Natural Habitat, sustainability, sustainable architecture

METROPOLIS Introduces Natural Habitat, a Sustainable Homes Video Series

The series debuts with a tour of a tranquil upstate New York retreat designed with Passive House principles.

Read more

November 8, 2021

Four Outdoor Furniture Options for the Workplace

As interior designers use biophilic features to bring the outside in, the idea of adding more outdoor office spaces to immerse workers in nature is also gaining traction.

By: Kelly Beamon

Pre-pandemic, studies of people’s time budgets found Americans spending roughly 87 percent of each day indoors. Post-COVID, though, offices need more than a nice view to support health and morale. Many companies are locating presentations, brainstorming sessions, onboarding activities, and even their corridors outside. That, in turn, is creating an uptick in work-centered site furniture—a special category that brings the connectivity, power, and ergonomics of the office out into the open air. Here are some Metropolis has spied.

Ottomans in the FLET, Room & Board’s outdoor furniture collection, are made from woven polypropylene to provide versatile, weather-resistant seating and surfaces.

FLET

Ideal for focused work and lunch breaks, the Flet collection of quick-drying, easy-to-clean chairs and ottomans in woven polypropylene rope, is designed to work with the manufacturer’s steel Penelope dining table.

roomandboard.com

ROOM & BOARD

SOLUTION DYED ACRYLIC AND POLYESTER

These first-ever outdoor fabrics from Brooklyn-based fabric manufacturer Fil Doux Textiles add a UV- and water-resistant upholstery option across five patterns and 29 colors. 

fildoux.com

FIL DOUX TEXTILES

FORMULA CONTRACT

The debut rug collection from nanimarquina’s contract division includes outdoor area rugs, which are also sustainably woven by hand using 100 percent recycled PET. 

nanimarquina.com

NANIMARQUINA

 MARINA

The residential style of this low-maintenance, weather-resistant chair provides work-from-home comfort with access to nature—for commercial and domestic environments.

andreuworld.com

ANDREU WORLD

Would you like to comment on this article? Send your thoughts to: [email protected]

Latest