Future-proofing the office with Boss Design

While the work from home/back to the office debate rages on, designers of workplace furnishings Boss Design view the problem with pragmatism: Employers want people back in a place where the company’s internal culture and the cross-pollination of ideas can be nurtured with ‘real eye contact, natural conversation, intuitive evaluation of ideas and a sense of togetherness.’ 

To make it an attractive proposition to those reluctant to leave the safety of home following pandemic confinement and unsettling world events, we need to install homely comfort in the workplace, and to reflect in furnishings the blurring of lines between focused work, informal collaboration, formal meetings, and coffee-fuelled social time.

Ola Tub is a new iteration of the brand’s Ola chair that willingly adapts to these new workplace needs; in its finished form, it can fulfil functions as diverse as coffee break perch and seating support for head-down graft. But details can also be honed from the outset since the design is highly modularised. At its core, it is a sculptural polypropylene shell, either with a cushioned seat, or a fully upholstered interior. The legs can be tubular, sled, straight wooden, four-star fixed or castor and five-star castor, while there is the option to add a writing tablet. There are multiple colour, finish and upholstery choices, too. 

The aspect, however, that perhaps most integrates it into a contemporary office layout is comfort. ‘We put comfort first. Even from the very first prototypes, we’ve never deviated from that. Our design process has been all about fine-tuning the details that wrap around the comfort offered by Ola, and now by Ola Tub,’ says Mark Barrell, design director. If you want people to put their heart into their work, you need to bring the home to the office.