How responsive design can innovate, not alienate

A recent study by researchers at Herman Miller found that office workers spend 93 per cent of their time sitting in a chair. It’s no wonder that up to 80 per cent of us are prone to back pain!

It’s long past time to take a stand. From the partnership between Fantoni and Metrica comes a streamlined collection of furniture: Woods, responsive desks that merge functionality with comfort like never before.

A complete series of workplace tables, Woods includes large executive desks, meeting tables, fixed office desks and height-adjustable workstations. Different combinations of the legs and tabletops provide a customizable interplay of styles and aesthetics to accommodate different interiors.

The key feature of the innovative collection is the materiality of solid beech or oak. It was important to both Fantoni and Metrica to use wood as a material. ‘We like to see the wooden leg as a connection to the earth,’ says Robin Rizzini, chief designer and partner at Metrica. ‘Especially in the height-adjustable desks, you feel like the table is growing like a tree.’ The ‘ultimate natural material’, wood imparts warmth and visual comfort – the perfect complement to the comfort offered by the functionality of the collection.

The sloped design of the leg gives the height-adjustable table a simple yet sophisticated look. Each leg comprises two telescopic cylindrical elements – one of which is wood – which contain an electronic mechanism that effortlessly takes the user from a sitting to standing position. Electrical connections are hidden under the tabletop, while the modesty panels can be fitted with storage accessories and a USB socket for charging electronic devices.

‘I’d like to see more offices with fixed and height-adjustable tables working together,’ says Rizzini. ‘The ability to work for a few hours while standing rather than sitting, including during meetings, will provide a whole new perspective on the way we work.’