Steelcase and its community of brands invited workplace leaders and designers into its refreshed Chicago spaces during NeoCon 2022 to experience new settings, solutions and partnerships created to support the needs of hybrid workers and learners today. Everyone had the chance to see how the workplace can give people what they need — focus, collaboration and a sense of belonging — and remain flexible and adaptable for organizations seeking to stay nimble.

Today’s hybrid workplace is designed more like the neighborhoods where we live — filled with energy and life, but also spaces where people can find moments of quiet solitude. It shifts away from standards planning (everyone gets the same thing) and toward a range of diverse spaces (more inclusive because people can find what they need each day). Judges awarded Steelcase, Steelcase Learning, HALCON and AMQ with recognition.

Here’s a closer look at which new solutions and partnerships for today’s hybrid workplace made a splash in Chicago.

Steelcase Karman™

Steelcase Karman won a HiP (Honoring Industry People & Product) Award presented by Interior Design. A first-of-its-kind ergonomic chair, Steelcase Karman is designed to naturally respond to the body’s movement and deliver comfort in an entirely new way. Its 21st century design combines a new proprietary mesh textile, Intermix, with an integrated cushioning system that doesn’t sag or feels stiff, with an ultra-light, flexible frame that eliminates stiff edges, so people feel less pressure on the seat and back than other, traditional mesh chairs. Weighing only 29 pounds, it’s designed for sustainability, using minimal materials and resources, yet strong enough to support all body types.

HALCON Furniture

HALCON HELM won Best of NeoCon Gold in both conference tables and height adjustable furniture tables. HELM also won Best of NeoCon and Best of Competition. HELM is an executive desk and meeting table that is perfectly proportioned, appointed with luxurious materials, sleekly integrated with technology, and unexpectedly equipped with an adjustable-height surface.

Steelcase recently announced it has added HALCON, a Minnesota-based designer and manufacturer of precision-tailored wood furniture for the workplace, to its community of brands. This acquisition complements the current portfolio of Steelcase wood products, offering uncompromising design and master craftsmanship to A+D professionals and customers.

Amobi Collection by AMQ

AMQ Amobi won the Best of NeoCon Innovation Award in the furniture systems category. The Amobi collection includes Desk – a fully integrated workstation that folds up to store when not in use – and Team, a series of mobile walls and carts that allow for impromptu collaborative hubs and space division. All individual touchpoints are highlighted in blue for ease of use, and felt inlays and infills add acoustical absorption and soft storage.

Steelcase Flex Personal Spaces

Steelcase Flex Personal Spaces was a finalist for an Interior Design 2022 HiP Award. People want and need a place to call home where they can control and adapt their environment and the new Personal Spaces addition to the Steelcase Flex Collection offers them just that. Whether they need to get on a video call or do some heads-down focused work, Personal Spaces can be easily and quickly adapted to achieve the level of privacy people need. The simple and flexible set of products allows changes to be made fast and on demand.

Steelcase Flex Perch Stool

Steelcase Flex Perch was a finalist for a 2022 HiP Award presented by Interior Design. Steelcase Flex Perch offers a quick place to sit – while staying fully engaged in mind, body and collaboration. It’s part of the Steelcase Flex collection made for dynamic teams. Space-saving and sustainability-forward, this stool makes room for new possibilities. It’s also 100% recyclable — made for circularity, Steelcase Flex Perch contributes to a system that recycles more effectively and productively for future applications.

Everwall™

Meet Everwall – a new architectural wall system designed to quickly and easily transform interior spaces. Simple to reconfigure or relocate, Everwall’s flexible architectural elements allow for spaces to transform — from small enclaves to meeting rooms, or from floor to floor — all while using the same kit of parts. A simple statement of line creates versatile, reconfigurable solutions for any application and space.​ And a wide array of finishes—including new lux paints—and ​a broad range of new hardware allows Everwall to meet any designer’s vision.

Steelcase Series 1 with CarbonNeutral^® Product Certification

The new Steelcase Series 1 with CarbonNeutral^® product certification is the first entry into the Steelcase carbon neutral portfolio and gives companies more options to reduce their carbon footprint. It includes the same design, ergonomics and quality engineered in the existing Steelcase Series 1 task chair with the added benefit of offering carbon offsets for organizations seeking more environmentally-friendly options. Carbon emissions are measured, calculated and verified by a third party across every stage of the chair’s lifecycle – offsetting 100% of emissions through projects like forest management, renewable energy, cleaner cooking and electric transportation.

Hybrid Collaboration Table

Steelcase and Microsoft have been working together since 2017 to share research, prototype and co-develop hybrid spaces and solutions for the future of work. Through recent work with Microsoft, Steelcase discovered that shifting space design from portrait to landscape creates a more equitable hybrid meeting experience for all attendees — in-person and remote. Co-designed and developed with Microsoft, the Hybrid Collaboration Table augments the Teams Room Front Row meeting experience. The table accommodates the appropriate camera angle and view of the large screen. It’s designed to bring the camera to eye-level height, allowing both in-room and remote participants to be more a part of the conversation.

Frank Lloyd Wright Racine Collection by Steelcase

Steelcase and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation debuted a new creative collaboration at NeoCon 2022. This relationship will range from launching reintroductions of iconic pieces to newly authored designs rooted in Frank Lloyd Wright’s principles. This fall Steelcase will launch the first product line cultivated from our new relationship which was on display in Chicago — the Frank Lloyd Wright Racine Collection by Steelcase. Reflecting our common ground, this debut will include pieces that are both reintroductions and reinterpretations of the original furniture, produced by Steelcase back in 1939, from the SC Johnson Administration Building in Racine, Wisconsin — Wright’s revolutionary design of one of the first open plan office spaces.

Tenor

Steelcase Learning Tenor won Best of Neocon Gold in the education solutions category. Tenor was also a HiP award finalist. The chair and stools deliver the value of an active learning chair at an attainable price point for schools in today’s ever-changing learning landscape. Tenor is designed for ultimate comfort sitting, stacking and stowing. With a flexible back, non directional seat, easily stackable and stowable, intuitive back hook and vibrant finishes with a choice of glides or casters, Tenor lets students easily adapt to any learning mode.

Numbers™ Chair + Desk by Smith System

Numbers Chair and Desk provide the practicalities of comfort, strength and versatility with the visual subtleties of great design in classroom furniture. Unlike most traditional school seating made from injection molding, Numbers uses blow-molding technology which allows variable thickness in the chair’s shell. The front is ergonomically sculpted for a more cushioned effect, good posture and 360-degree-seating. The backside reinforces maximum durability. The height-adjustable chairs and desks are easy to lift, with stacking components that deter damage to frames and paint. Even the youngest students can slide-and-stack a few chairs and desks at a time.

West Elm Health Collection

The combined expertise of West Elm and Steelcase help create inspiring spaces that meet the evolving needs of patients, families and clinicians. The West Elm Health Collection by Steelcase Health is created to hold up to the rigors of healthcare spaces while feeling welcoming and inviting. It includes features designed specifically for the clinical environment such as an appropriate recline, metal legs, crumb sweep and high-performance fabrics.