Thinking inside the box: better focus at work with Strähle

When the German company Strähle talks about ‘free-dimensional space’, there is more to it than just a nice play on words. It reveals how Strähle thinks about space: creative freedom, flexibility when it comes to use, a sophisticated choice of materials, quality manufacturing and features that improve comfort, such as reliable sound insulation. All of these factors are once again brought together in the shape of its new Teambox – a product whose benefits are completely tailored to the omnipresent world of New Work.

One of the things that makes Strähle so unique is its know-how, based on a company history that spans over 110 years, beginning in a joinery shop in Waiblingen in Southwest Germany where the family business is still based today. At one time, construction elements and furniture for private and commercial use were manufactured here, later wooden partition wall systems, and from the mid-1980s, its System 2000 in steel post construction – a breakthrough at that time for the company and foundation for today's further production sites in Borkheide near Berlin as well as Guntramsdorf close to Vienna.

Strähle has long been considered a market leader in the field of modular partition wall systems, thus, for Paul and Florian Strähle, fourth generation in the company since 2005, the focus remains on the constant optimisation of this area of business, established by their father Werner Strähle. ‘As a manufacturer and specialist company for interior fittings, we feel connected to the tradition of craftsmanship,’ Florian Strähle emphasises. At the same time, they are constantly coming up with new innovations to meet the multi-layered requirements and often individual needs of users in office, educational and business environments. Take, for example, the addition to the portfolio of acoustic systems such as the System 7400 glass acoustic wall, with which the transparency of open room concepts and a quiet working atmosphere can be combined. The newer room-in-a-room range, on the other hand, can be used to create islands of concentration in the middle of a multi-use space – as an individually configurable solution from the Kubus series or now, as a easily available and quickly assembled ready-to-use system.

And that brings us back to the Teambox, which represents nothing less than the logical answer to life in the much-discussed new flexible working world, in which workplaces can be chosen according to the task at hand or individual needs at a particular time. Anyone who is familiar with working in an open-plan or multi-space office will have longed for it at one time or another, a discreet room into which one can withdraw to make a phone call or drown out the sound of loud-voiced colleagues. With Teambox, Strähle offers it as a ready-to-use solution in two sizes: as TB.1 with dimensions of 1.6 x 1.1 metres and as TB.2 which doubles in width to 2.2 metres. Both versions are 2.3-metres high and have an internal height of 2.1 metres. Both offer power supplies in the shape of  wall sockets and can also, on request, be furnished with a fixed or height-adjustable table and a stool or bench.

While the smaller version is designed more for telephone calls or video conferences and focused, individual work, the larger Teambox can accommodate up to four people for meetings or brainstorming sessions. For this purpose, Strähle has equipped it with efficient sound insulation (R'w 37 dB) so that neither distracting noises nor sensitive details can penetrate respectively from outside or inside. In this respect, the importance of integrating an acoustics-related solution is clear. In order to achieve pleasant room acoustics (reverberation time < 0.5 s), the two solid walls are fitted with an inner lining of recycled PET felt and micro-perforated metal absorber elements are integrated into the ceiling.

Transparency – after all, no one should feel cramped in here – is provided by two opposing structural glazed walls, supplemented by a flush-mounted glass door. The solid wall surfaces are optionally available in powder-coated sheet steel or rear-lacquered glass in black or white. On a practical level, the sheet steel surfaces can be used as a magnetic whiteboard while the glass surfaces can be written on, and so support agile forms of work. In addition, the Teambox can also be moved. Strähle has thus created a kind of multidisciplinary work cave with two visible sides where curtains can optionally be hung, and which, together with the warm white light of the dimmable LED light lines recessed in the ceiling as standard, creates a sense of comfort. These rooms are supplied with fresh air via a sound-insulated ventilation system installed in the ceiling, while the air exchange and light are controlled via a touch control panel on the inside of the frame.

For flexible office spaces, Strähle's Teambox represents a crucial component, one that can be seamlessly combined with other of its system solutions, installed as a pop-up or retrofitted at any time.

Photos © Huber Fotodesign | Michael Hedl | Sabine Schirdewahn

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