Steelcase jets don't survive industry headwinds / AIA: Billings Slow Again in November / MillerKnoll orders decrease 12.5% in latest quarter / Office Occupancy Is Too Complicated for One Number / Big Tech Like Google, Meta And Others Ditch Office Space In London And Europe / Did offices come back in 2022? / For some employers, remote work is here to stay / As offices evolve, is the role of receptionist dying out? / Plot Twist: Award-Winning Design and Universal Appeal


The Working Space
Monday, January 2, 2023

Industry News

Steelcase Inc. reported third-quarter revenue of $826.9 million, net income of $11.4 million, or $0.10 per share, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.20. In the prior year, Steelcase reported revenue of $738.2 million and net income of $9.6 million, or $0.08 per share, and had adjusted earnings per share of $0.11.
 
Orders declined across all segments, with a decline in volume partially offset by pricing benefits. Orders were impacted by softening industry demand patterns believed to be driven by reduced sentiment related to growing macroeconomic and geopolitical concerns.
 
Steelcase also announced that they would be dismantling their aviation department, and selling their two private jets, saving the company an estimated $10 million per year.
Second quarter consolidated net sales were $1.07 billion, reflecting an increase of 4.0% on a reported basis and 7.6% organically compared to the prior year. Orders in the quarter of $1.01 billion were 12.5% lower on a reported basis and decreased 9.2% organically year-over-year.
 
In addition to current economic uncertainty, the decrease in orders this quarter reflects higher orders experienced in the prior year as a result of pandemic-driven pent-up demand for projects associated with return to office.
MillerKnoll Inc. and Steelcase Inc. both expect flat to lower sales for the present quarter going into 2023 amid softer order rates. MillerKnoll Inc. and Steelcase Inc. both expect flat to lower sales for the present quarter going into 2023 amid softer order rates. MillerKnoll expects organic sales for the second quarter of the 2023 fiscal year to decrease 0.7 percent to 2.9 percent from the same period a year ago, to $980 million to $1.02 billion.
The American Institute of Architects monthly Architecture Billings Index came in at 46.6 in November, a 1.1-point decline from October's score of 47.7.

The pace of decline during November accelerated from October, posting an Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score of 46.6 from 47.7 (any score below 50 indicates a decline in firm billings). The pace of inquiries into new projects slowed, but remained positive with a score of 52.0, however new design contracts remained in negative territory with a score of 46.9.

“Given the slowdown in new project work, many architecture firms will rely on their near record levels of backlogs to support revenue,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “Still, firm leaders remain largely optimistic about future business trends. Almost two-thirds of architecture firms project that 2023 will be either a good year or great year for their firm.”  

The Value of Inscape Deposited Shares Transferred to Hilco in successful Takeover Bid amounted to just $88k

Financially-distressed Inscape, once one of Ontario’s largest office furniture manufacturers, is now a subsidiary of HUK 121 Ltd., a subsidiary of Hilco Capital Ltd. Hilco picked up the company for less than $100k.

As of 5 p.m. Dec. 23, 12,661,625 common shares, representing approximately 88% of outstanding common shares, were deposited to HUK 121. The aggregate consideration payable for the deposited shares was (only) approximately $88,631.38, Hilco said. The company also announced that it was extending its offer for hold-out shareholders to tender their stock for $0.07 per share to 5 p.m. ET Jan. 3.

Through the first six months of fiscal 2023, Inscape sustained a $14 million net loss on $17.2 million in sales.

Jennifer Smith was an empathetic, creative business owner who shared credit for success, colleagues said.

"Relationships mattered to her," said her husband, Brooks, chief financial officer of the company Smith started, Burnsville-based Innovative Office Solutions. "It was never a win at all costs for her. It had to be a win-win, for a customer, a vendor or an employee."

Smith, 56, died Dec. 3 of complications from leukemia.

Smith started her career as a shoe buyer at Dayton's after college. Launching Innovative in 2001, she went on to expand the company from an office supplies business to include furnishings and services, and from 20 employees to 350.

Smith, treated for acute myeloid leukemia at City of Hope cancer center in Los Angeles, raised more than $1 million for leukemia research in the weeks before her death.

Herman Miller, a member of MillerKnoll's collective of brands, was named a Frontrunner and Disclosure Leader in the Chemical Footprint Project (CFP), by Clean Production Action in December 2022 for its work in 2021. The CFP is the first-of-its-kind initiative to measure chemical footprints and assess business progress away from hazardous chemicals to safer solutions.
Big Tech groups dumped offices that were part of their European headquarters as macro headwinds halted the sector's years of rapid expansion. Office values tumbled on both sides of the Atlantic due to rising interest rates, bleak macro outlook, and increased remote-based work, Financial Times reported.
Hybrid work plans are starting to become set in stone across more of corporate America, and as more companies finalize their policies, how much office space they are going to cut from their footprints is becoming clearer.

More than 71% of corporate real estate professionals say they expect hybrid work to result in space demand reductions of at least 20%, according to a survey from Colliers and CoreNet Global. Almost 19% expect that demand to shrink by 40% or more, while just 7% believe that the move to hybrid work will either not impact office demand or lead to a need for more space.

The metric that most people use when they talk about building occupancy is purely the percentage of people who have access to a building, enter the building on any given day. This is helpful, it gives an idea of how many people are entering a building on an average day in the week, but it can misrepresent the value of the visit to the occupant.
Flexible office and events space company Convene - which temporarily shuttered all of its locations in the early days of the pandemic - has laid off dozens of workers after its CEO said it expanded too fast in its comeback. Convene laid off 54 staffers in New York City on Dec. 16, according to a filing with the New York State Department of Labor. Of those who lost their jobs, 34 worked at the company's 101 Greenwich St. headquarters, and the rest worked at locations across Manhattan.

Features

The future of office space has been heavily debated last year. The only consensus seems to be that hybrid or fully remote teams have evolving needs that require novel solutions.
The pandemic emptied offices around the world, and dramatically altered expectations about where work can happen. In 2022, many companies decided that, after months or years of their employees working from home, it was finally time to come back to the office. To help convince people that this might not be such a bad thing, many companies, designers and developers began thinking much differently about what and office should be.

Workspace News

Technology titans were among the first to make drastic and permanent flexible-working policy changes in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, unsurprisingly. After all, if the last three years have taught us anything, technology is an excellent enabler for remote working.
A number of people in their 20s who participate in the labor force have mysteriously vanished — and analysts are divided on exactly why. As The Wall Street Journal reported, those over the age of 15 years old who are either employed or are looking for a job fell from an average of 63.1% in 2019 to 61.7% in 2021, rebounding to 62.2% this past October. However, for workers aged between 20 and 24 years old, the 72.1% average recorded in 2019 was stuck at 70.8% as of this fall.
The future of office work is quickly evolving in front of employers' eyes. A generational shift in working habits, rapidly changing technologies and a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic that sequestered employees in their homes has expedited a change in how offices are set up.
Shearman & Sterling LLP's newly renovated headquarters in Midtown Manhattan boasts a slate of amenities such as an on-site wellness center, yoga studio and nap rooms, as well as an expanded cafe space with a bowtie-wearing barista taking free coffee orders.
Before the pandemic, an estimated 70% of U.S. companies worked out of open plan offices. Their employees, by and large, hated them. With few, if any, walls separating them, workers were constantly distracted by each other’s noise. And when there was a need to get away from that bustle, for a private phone call, a small meeting, or just to quietly sit and do some focused work, the open plan office did not provide many options.
Offices are undergoing necessary changes in design, but there are side effects. Receptionists have always played a central role in the office experience: they're the first person a client or staff member sees when entering the office for the day, and the last person they see when they leave.

Design

The home, for most of us, is the backdrop of our personal experience with the coronavirus pandemic and will remain connected with it in our memories. The understanding of the function and meaning of our residential environments has been changed as a result.
Because brains interpret physical environments differently, designing intentional, sensory-aware and brain-friendly environments helps us get one step closer to creating diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces that empower people to feel safe and supported, to self-manage and to do their best work. 
Many workplaces are designed for extroverts, but stage-like spaces are challenging for those who experience the world in a different way.

Trends

In the coming year, designers will be more intentional in their use of technology in office design, says John Rothenberg of SOSO. - Stay tuned as we share more 2023 trends for the entire month of December & beyond - Gone are the days when the workplace was just a place to sit at a desk and do work.
There has been a huge shift from working in the office to folks working from home. There was also a push to get people to go back to the office. But this report doesn’t reflect any significant success in that regard and suggests that the last six months or so have been relatively static regarding those coming in and those remaining remote.
We won’t be returning to the days of private offices and endless seas of cubicles, but will instead better balance collaboration and privacy within the context of the modern-day office environment. Adapting for the need for privacy does not require a complete overhaul of existing spaces but instead can be managed with a few key moves and insertions.

Latest Products

Attesting to its unusually adaptable, intuitive, and innovative features, OM Seating's Plot Twist™ has been recognized as a ground-breaking design for healthcare, educational, and commercial environments. Plot Twist™ is a mobile, swiveling pouf, with options including a connected, sit-stand/height-adjustable tablet that orbits around the seat for ambidextrous use. Supremely functional and utterly playful, Plot Twist is a surprisingly self-contained and multifunctional mobile workseat that easily adapts to multiple contexts. Plot Twist changes the way we think about movement, function, and collaboration across all sorts of doing-thinking-gathering environments.
Clear Design announced the launch of the Acacia Series to its resimercial brand, Willow Park. The one-of-a-kind, handcrafted tables are made with sustainable Acacia wood and embrace the natural beauty of its grains, knots, and grooves. The Acacia Series allows you to create inviting conference and collaboration spaces with beautiful, textured tables.
This simple, handsome Fondina chair features a trick that many chairs with upholstered seats do not: It's easy to pop the seat off, so that you can remove the upholstery cover and wash it.
Saitama, Japan-based stone workshop Factory-M is selling this magical office chair fashioned from a huge hunk of amethyst crystal. It weighs around 218 pounds and, according to creator Koichi Hasegawa, you can actually sit in it. Of course, you can also sit on a pile of barbed wire but that's doesn't mean it's comfortable. The chair is available for around $3,300 and would make a lovely throne for the New Age cult leader in your life.

Other News

The Office of Good Intentions: Human(s) Work (Taschen, 2022), a collage of images, essays, and a small number of drawings put together by Florian Idenburg, Intl. Assoc. AIA, LeeAnn Suen, AIA, and Dutch photographer Iwan Baan. Here you find some of the most valiant attempts, created at what we now realize was Peak Office at the end of the last century, to turn the office landscape into a place of beauty and even delight within the terms of the type.
Millennial parents have a different approach to home design than previous generations, according to the founders of Lalo, a three-year-old brand that sells high chairs, baby bath tubs, and play sets.
For design retailer Blu Dot, the Office of Charles F. Bloszies FAIA debuts a second showroom store in San Francisco

Following Bloszies's award-winning 2013 design of the previous San Francisco location, the firm collaborated again with Blu Dot design director Maurice Blanks and his visual merchandising team to adapt two vacant buildings into a serene, comfortable retail setting spanning 13,000 square feet on a prominent corner site.

Trends in Commercial Projects from Around the Globe

Betwin Space incorporated its approach of creating alternative interactions between (seated) people and objects into the store's interior.
St James Power Station is the site of many engineering firsts. Established a century ago, it was the first municipal power station in Singapore and one of the first industrial buildings of its kind in Southeast Asia. The legacy of innovation continues as Dyson reinvents a historic national monument as its new global HQ. People and ideas power future growth in this Singapore office design for Dyson.
The open office, which includes a house-like meeting room, mezzanine, and terrace, features a wood-clad pitched roof that warms the space. Natural materials are paired with a neutral palette to elevate the feeling of home. Large windows on three sides keep the interior light and bright, and the employees connected to nature.
WeWork Singapore, which opened in September 2022, is the latest flagship opening from the fast-growing co-working enterprise. The new site is set at 21 Collyer Quay, at the heart of Singapore's Central Business District and is the second largest WeWork space internationally.

Upcoming Industry Events

NeoCon 2023
June  12-14, 2023 | Chicago, IL
 
NeoCon has served as the world’s leading platform and most important event of the year for the commercial design industry since 1969. A launch pad for innovation—NeoCon offers ideas and introductions that shape the built environment today and into the future.  

National Ergonomics Conference & ErgoExpo 2022
November 8-10, 2022 | Paris Las Vegas Hotel, Las Vegas

National Ergo 2022 returns November 8-10 bringing the Ergonomics community together for the industry's longest running conference and trade show. Learn from the Nation's top Ergonomic and Safety executives with over 40 educational sessions, keynotes and workshops.  

Milan Design Week 2023
April 18-23, 2023 | Milan, Italy

Milan design week is the biggest annual design event in the world and takes place from 17 to 23 April 2023. The week includes the furniture fair Salone del Mobile, which takes place at the Fiera Milano exhibition centre and is the largest event to take place during the week. The selection of fringe events collectively named Fuorisalone also takes place across the city.

hd expo+conference
May 2-4, 2023 | Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas

HD Expo + Conference is the largest hospitality event of its kind in the country, showcasing the latest products, services, and innovative developments from the industry’s leading manufacturers.  

Clerkenwell Design Week 2023
May 23-25, 2023 | London

Clerkenwell is home to more creative businesses and architects per square mile than anywhere else on the planet, making it truly one of the most important design hubs in the world. To celebrate this rich and diverse community, Clerkenwell Design Week has created a showcase of leading UK and international brands and companies presented in a series of showroom events, exhibitions and special installations that take place across the area.

Orgatec 2024
October 22-26, 2024 | Cologne, Germany

Orgatec is the International trade fair for office and property equipment. Held in Cologne, Germany.
Find the best Contract Furniture Industry jobs and hire the best talent.
Dear Stephen, It's a new year and time for a new job for me. I'm on the hunt. I'm currently employed. I have a good job, but it's just not good enough. I don't see career advancement in my current role, I just see more income because of increased sales, and I'm tired of being just a salesperson.
NDI Office Furniture LLC, one of the nation’s largest stocking office furniture importers and distributors, is seeking an individual or group for Sales Representation in the South Florida territory. NDI is based in Nashville TN with warehouses in FL, AL and TX. We utilize our own fleet of trucks and drivers to provide industry-leading service to our customers.  The successful candidate may be either an employee or an Independent Representative.
WIELAND is a leading provider of patient room and seating products to healthcare facilities across the country. We are seeking a sales professional to represent our healthcare products Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Alaska. Our continued growth provides significant income potential for the right individual. This is an employee position with full benefits. 
Baresque, a leading supplier of architectural acoustical solutions for the hospitality, contract furniture, commercial and healthcare markets, is seeking an experienced Project Manager - Furniture to join our team in Garland, Texas. This position will be work directly with our customers and is responsible for interpreting architectural intent. This individual will also work closely with our design team, customer service department and third party fabricators. Excellent communication skills and a high attentional to detail are essential.
We are looking for a dynamic and experienced A&D Sales Leader who is looking to take their career and earnings to the next level. In this position, you will be paid a salary plus a commission. You will travel the United States to establish clients, develop relationships, and generate sales.
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