Keep it in the family: Steelcase Cavatina

The days of the cubicle-bound office drone are long gone. Office spaces today must cater to a wide variety of working styles and needs, from individual, focused work to big, collaborative teams. But a recent study by Steelcase has found that office design is failing to keep up with the demands of the modern workplace.

Companies that encourage people to work in teams are five times more likely to be high performing and teamwork can also boost profitability. There is plenty of evidence to show that teamwork promotes innovation and job satisfaction too. Steelcase’s study of workers across Europe, the Middle East and North America found that teamwork was often hampered by office design, with most workspaces still designed to suit a more linear approach. It also found that workers felt a need for a space they could claim as their own within the office. In response, the brand’s new Cavatina chair collection is designed to encourage a more team and human-focused approach to office life.

“The gradient between working and living is shifting,” said Cavatina designer Odo Fioravanti. “For decades work was transforming us into tools, gears in a big machine, avoiding things that make us different than machines. But we can’t give just a part of us, we also bring our human side to work and this tension is changing office spaces.”

Known as The Chairman thanks to his success in chair design, the Milanese designer has kept abreast of shifts in office culture through his work, making him the ideal choice to create a chair for Steelcase that is both relevant both aesthetically and functionally.

“Cavatina is how new working spaces should be made,” he said. “There are many different versions to fit any need for people designing these new workspaces. Chairs are human, democratic, accessible, they become a companion for the people that use them every day.”

Where an ergonomically complicated task chair is suited for long hours of desk work, Cavatina offers a simpler approach for a workplace where people often move between formal meeting rooms, hot-desking, open collaborative spaces and more casual briefings and conversations over a coffee. The lightweight design means that it’s also easy to use the chairs to adapt spaces for different purposes, offering workers more control over their environment.

The name Cavatina is taken from musical composition, where it refers to a short song or movement with a particularly strong character. Cavatina is an instantly recognisable design, with a subtle, contemporary nod to the styles of the 1970s with bold colours and a distinctive curved shell. It is also versatile with eight different styles suited to different environments and modes of working, including versions with sled-style legs, cantilever frames, castors and high stool legs. The shell itself is available in 14 different colours of plastic or two types of wood, and can also be painted and upholstered.

"In the Steelcase portfolio we were lacking a family of chairs," explained Anna Renn, Steelcase product manager. "In open space office concepts you often see different chairs positioned in one open, visible floorplan – different kinds of chairs, using different colours and options but with similar design elements and using the same design. Architects and designers like to play around with a family of chairs because you can functionally adapt the chair to each setting while still applying a harmonious design language."

Although team and group working might be the key to a more successful business, individuality and identity are still important in creating a space that feels comfortable and welcoming. Cavatina offers both – a strong, unique aesthetic and a flexible tool for working.

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