Office Without Chairs Aims To Boost Collaboration And Productivity

Every now and then, it seems like an office or two go way outside the norm to design a new office setting to get people talking. This time around, it’s a Dutch designer who has created an office without chairs. The office simply has walls to lean on, areas to stand and places to perch, but nowhere to sit. The results is something that looks almost like a M.C. Escher painting. The design’s merits are currently being tested by researchers at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands.

Photo Credit: Jan Kempenaers

According to Factscoexist.com, RAAAF, the design team behind the project, wanted to create an office not based on tables and chairs. They wanted to create an environmental theme, and not just furniture. The design is made to help workers with common ailments caused by sitting down all day such as heart disease and diabetes. Throughout the day, employees are supposed to move around to different positions that feel comfortable and that promote maximum productivity and collaboration. The designers are looking at ways to promote more standing and a shift in the way society operates; instead of sitting everywhere, every day, altering the thought process in a way that makes standing more optimal.
The office design is currently not available to be purchased or placed in an actual office. The design team behind it has the design as an art installation right now for research opportunities. RAAAF says they designed the office to help people think about working in a different way and to bring new ideas into the office space.