Their Loop screen is beautiful; designed to look ‘woven’ this clever partition has been created to block sound waves, making it perfect for creating private meeting spaces or areas for staff who need to concentrate. Abstracta make Loop in various colours and there are options to suit different office colour schemes.

Another great new product from Abstracta is the Aircone sound-absorbent partition. Made in an eye-catching design that’s been created to replicate snowflakes, the Aircone partition comes in small triangular sections that can be clipped together in different colour combinations to give an almost infinite variety of different patterns. The angles of the individual sections will help to buffer sound and are made from compression-moulded fabric covered fibre felt. This ingenious product can be hung from the ceiling or mounted on a wall. We think it’d make an eye-catching feature in any office and would be a great way to add a touch of interest that’s practical too.
We also really like the Blend table from Abstracta.

his is another product that they’ve recently launched and thanks to its simple design, it would be easy to incorporate in a variety of office design schemes. They key to this table is simplicity but appearances can be deceptive: incredibly functional, it could be put to good use anywhere from the board room to the dining room

Although opinions may differ about the outside of the building, most would agree that the inside is simply stunning. The eight buildings that make up the complex have been completely transformed into very impressive workspaces, designed to inspire creativity. The design brief set by the BBC ñ to ‘provoke smiles’ was enigmatic to say the least but the designers have risen to the challenge and the finished interior is incredibly vibrant and inspiring.

The move up north has been one of the biggest changes in the BBC’s 85 year history and has involved staff relocating from London and in many cases moving to smaller offices than they had been previously used to. Reassuring staff represented quite a challenge but the designers overcame any concerns by working very closely with BBC staff to ensure their needs were met. Incorporating 37 different departments was never going to be easy and dividing up the existing space proved very tricky at times. Creating new rooms by installing floor-to-ceiling walls was out of the questions because of regulations covering sprinkler systems. The designers worked around this issue by creating open-plan areas incorporating small semi-enclosed meeting areas. Termed as ‘thought pods’, these areas have been upholstered in vibrant lime green and magenta and are proving very popular with BBC staff. We think they look great and this is something we’d be very keen to try in the future.
The long history of the BBC hasn’t been forgotten and is successfully represented with a large print of Alexandra Palace mounted in the atrium core in Quay House, while each building has a ‘history wall’ to trace the development of BBC since it made its first broadcast in 1922.

All-in-all we think this is a great example of how a long-standing and diverse organisation like the BBC can successfully re-locate to brand new premises and in the process get to grips with a modern office space, completely different to anything they’d had before.

Floors, walls, cladding, ceilings, illuminated or reflective coatings, living materials – the list is endless and is nowadays only limited by the imagination of the designer! The Surface Design Show attracts some of the very best manufacturers and designers, all keen to exhibit their innovative products. An element that will be new for this year’s show is a ‘Future Thinking’ event which has been created to ‘highlight the thinking that goes into the development and selection of materials for architecture and design.’ We’ll certainly be hoping to pick up some new ideas to try on our up and coming projects.

Roca hold an annual competition, Jump the Gap, which has been created to attract up and coming young architects and designers interested in creating radical bathrooms and bathroom products. Zaha Hadid has a reputation for creating bold, unusual interiors and the architect has stayed true to form on the Roca project. The interior that has been created is like nothing we’ve seen before; it looks incredibly futuristic yet natural. Curving walls, flowing, rippling benches – everything has been created with water in mind. Although the ‘gallery’ is one single space, several semi-enclosed areas have been successfully incorporated which manage to make the space feel bigger rather than smaller which is remarkable. Containing hardly any ‘off the peg’ furniture, the ‘gallery’ has been furnished to great effect with a few very carefully chosen pieces. Roca have been keen to stress that this new space is far more than just a bathroom showroom. Roca are hoping to attract students interested in design and to use the space to host exhibitions, meetings, presentations and to be ‘a celebration of design.’

Above all though Sayl chairs look amazing; the design of the back of these chairs looks amazing and they certainly stand out from other offer seating on the market at the moment. Credit is due to designer Yves Behar – he’s definitely a design talent to watch out for. Available in a range of different models including work chairs, stackable seating and side chairs, the Sayl range is incredibly versatile and we’re very much looking forward to see how they could be incorporated into future office designs.