As Asia-Pacific moves away from being perceived as a place known predominantly for production, manufacturing and tech support, to a region increasingly leading global innovation, organizations must seek to maintain their competitive edge.
“In an extremely short space of time, we are seeing the transition from task-based work to innovative and generative work. Many workplaces have struggled to evolve and adapt to support the organizational cultural change,” says Elise Valoe, Global Research Manager at Steelcase Inc.
Diversal, the latest workplace solution from Steelcase, seeks to cultivate diversity and address the need for flexibility, both in how companies operate and how people work and collaborate.
Diversal’s dynamic components are designed to be easily reconfigured to accommodate a diverse range of needs, supporting both short- and long-term layout planning. From blade-shaped work surfaces that efficiently provide additional work space, to podiums that allow for break-out collaborations and a change of posture, the Diversal system offers a range of features that can be interchanged and combined to create the right environment.
Joe Ho, Senior Industrial Designer at Steelcase Asia Pacific, comments, “With teams working in dramatically different ways, we sought to design a system to support a new set of behaviors— rapid learning, swift decision making, and increased collaboration— that are integral to innovation.”
To enable the sharing of ideas out in the open, zig-zag configurations encourage spontaneous collaborations, while interactive shelves can be added between colleagues to support paired collaboration. Movement enhances wellbeing in the workplace, so height-adjustable work surfaces and freestanding elements allow teams to vary their postures throughout the day.
To deliver a truly customizable solution, Diversal finds the perfect balance between personal focus and collaborative mobility. For specialist residents, including programmers, designers or financial analysts who require personal focus, customizable privacy options such as screens and dividers are available in varying heights. Convenient access points for data and power, plus the ability to include fixed dual monitors and worksurface partitions, amplify individual performance and provide an oasis of concentration.
When it comes to aesthetics, no detail has been overlooked. Through a simple kit of parts and rich materiality, Diversal empowers organizations to customize their spaces in ways that will facilitate and inspire creativity and innovation. Discreet, sleek and lightweight frame designs help to maximize space, while a host of fabric colors and metal finishes allow Diversal to seamlessly fit the feel of your organization or team.
