The HON Company Introduces Huddle™ Multi-Purpose Tables

Reported by eFurniture for Office Furniture & Design on 2/18/2010

Muscatine, IA – February 9, 2010 – Gone are the days when meetings were held in traditional conference rooms. In today’s office, work happens everywhere – in training rooms, project rooms, large offices – and more often than not, in an impromptu spot where two or three people want to quickly put their heads together to solve a problem. To provide the ideal solution for the today’s office, The HON Company is pleased to introduce the new Huddle™ collection of multi-purpose tables. These thoughtfully designed tables feature smart design, flexibility and a choice of base, edge and finish options to meet the needs of smart, agile businesses.

“Huddle tables provide the perfect platform for training, meetings and collaboration by allowing you to use the same space for a variety of purposes,” said Fred Colony, vice president of products for The HON Company. “Arrange tables in rows for training in the morning; and then reconfigure them into a presentation-friendly ‘u-shape’ just a few hours later. Or, pull one into an office for a spontaneous meeting with a coworker; then push it against the wall to display items for a new business meeting. The possibilities are virtually endless.”

Huddle tables are easy to set up, rearrange and store when not in use. And, Huddle tables are perfectly compatible with any work environment – offering nine rectangle-top work surface sizes, three base options (post leg, t-leg and flip-top for easy nesting), 16 standard laminate finishes, 15 edge colors, 10 base paint colors and three edge detail options.

To allow for space-efficient table storage, Huddle tables offer a nesting base. While nested, optional modesty panels drop down so the tables can be nested together without removing the panels. And to ensure safe, soft and quiet fold-down operation, an innovative dampened articulation function has been added by HON to Huddle’s hinge mechanism. Huddle tables are also available with glides for stationary use, or casters for enhanced mobility and reconfiguration.

Adding further customization, the Huddle collection offers a variety of accessories to tailor the tables for specific uses. Optional ganging hardware allows the tables to be locked into place – ideal for training rooms or areas open to the general public. Optional wire management trays and USB grommets are also available.

An additional benefit of the Huddle multi-purpose tables is their SCS Indoor Advantage™ indoor air quality certification by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). When configured with t-mold or edge-banded tops, the collection meets SCS Indoor Advantage certification – the most rigorous indoor air quality criteria in all of North America.

For more information on the Huddle family of multi-purpose tables, contact Corporate Environments or visit huddle.hon.com.

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KI Furniture Helps Medical center

GREEN BAY, WI (Feb 2010) – Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, WA., recently completed a $7.8 million expansion to its River Pavilion that houses the new Don & Lori Watts Pediatric Center. The new children’s department offers a higher level of care to pediatric patients, allowing local children who have cancer to receive treatment locally, instead of having to travel. Following research into best practices in children’s hospital design and patient-centered care, Curtis Group Architects LTD (Dallas, TX) chose furniture from KI to help create a welcoming and comforting environment for sick children and their families.

The 25,000-square-foot pediatric department expands the hospital’s capacity to treat children from 8 semi-private rooms to 20 private rooms. Each of the private rooms feature a KI Daybed Sofa Sleeper that pulls out into a bed, allowing parents to stay comfortably with their children in the hospital. All rooms feature a soothing underwater theme designed to help lessen the fear and anxiety associated with visiting a hospital.

“We are amazed by the amount of creativity and imagination that was poured into the creation of this facility,” said Don Thornton, Director of Plant Operations, Kadlec Regional Medical Center. “The furniture that fills its hallways, patient rooms and waiting areas complement the relaxing surroundings and offer an added element of comfort for the families who need it most.”

Contributing to the relaxing atmosphere of the children’s floor is a private family room with kitchen and dining facilities. Inside, KI’s Soltice Lounge Furniture adds to the room’s resort style atmosphere with a modern design where parents, siblings and relatives can gather for family time.

The fifth floor children’s department features a fifteen foot curved, 800-gallon saltwater fish tank in the lobby and a welcoming waiting room with fireplace. Each of the patient rooms are uniquely named after a sea creature and feature a hand-painted story about the animal on the inside wall of the room. Throughout the facility, the floors feature sea creatures cut out and inlaid in the linoleum.

“We designed the patient rooms with one thing in mind—putting the children and families at ease during their stay,” said Jennifer Hodges, Interior Designer, Curtis Group Architects LTD. “The concept behind the ‘Under the Sea’ theme was to create a healing, fun and educational environment for children ranging from infant to eighteen years of age and their families. KI’s healthcare furniture and expertise helped us create an environment that enables family members to be an integral part of the healing process.”

The free-flowing concept of the nurse stations enhances the ‘Under the Sea’ look, including the design and colors of the KI Impress chairs and KI Torsion on the Go that emphasize the theme and comfort of the space. Video-conferencing equipment was also installed to help local doctors and nurses stay in daily contact with pediatric specialists at Seattle Children’s Hospital, with which Kadlec has a partnership.

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2010 FGI Guidelines for Healthcare Acoustics

Kenric Van Wyk | acousticsbydesign.com | Healthcare | January 18th, 2010

The 2010 FGI (Facility Guidelines Institute) Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities was published this month and adopted as building code by most states. The new guidelines are the culmination of over five years of collaborative work by researchers, architects, engineers, and acoustical consultants to solve the problems of speech privacy and excessive noise in hospitals. The guidelines are effective immediately for the design of all healthcare facilities. For perspective, consider the 2006 Guidelines which mandated single patient rooms in hospitals. As a result, single patient rooms are the absolute standard in healthcare design today. This was an overnight seismic shift in policy that affected all healthcare building projects. Well, the 2010 Guidelines are no different in their sweeping reforms, addressing a whole new dimension of healthcare design, namely: acoustics, noise, and HIPAA speech privacy laws.

Controlling sound in a healthcare facility is, of course, not as easy as turning down a big knob on the wall. Sound and vibration in a healthcare setting comes from a variety of locations and is a systematic problem. According to JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) excessive noise raises blood pressure, extends patient stays, and can be a safety concern. Thus, for a solution to be effective, it must be holistic and comprehensive. The acoustical portion of the guideline is extensive and covers a wide range of issues including exterior noise to the community, internal noise isolation of patient rooms, speech privacy of your medical information, and vibration isolation for mechanical equipment.

The new 2010 FGI Guidelines, published in conjunction with the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) of the American Hospital Association (AHA), is the kind of reform that is really needed to promote good healthcare today. Your conversations with your doctor about your sensitive medical condition will remain confidential. Sleeping in your hospital bed will be relaxing and comfortable – a respite from the typical noisy patient room

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Corporate Environments OFDealer Profile

Corporate Environments has been profiled in the January 2010 issue of the OFDealer eZine from OFDA. The article, written by Alicia Ellis, discusses what tools and techniques we are using to expand our products and business offerings to our current and future clients in a down economy. You can read the issue in pdf version here

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New Hon Logo 2010

First Mark Alteration in More Than 40 Years
New Logo Reflects The ‘New’ HON 
Smart, Proactive, Responsive and Ready to Serve

Muscatine, Iowa – January 6, 2010 – For some time now, there has been a “buzz” in the office furniture industry… reflecting the direction of the second largest office furniture manufacturer, The HON Company. This “buzz” has been extremely positive… and includes words like smart design… innovative solutions… strategic partnerships… inspiring headquarters and showroom spaces… unsurpassed customer service… and above all, commitment. To better reflect the energy within HON and the “at-your-service” attitude of its members, the company has introduced a new logo and branding initiative – the first such endeavor in more than 40 years. More…

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KI and Kimball Showcase New Products at CES 2010

The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) kicked off yesterday in Las Vegas and the tech world is buzzing with news of ground-breaking gadgets and gizmos. This year, the show has also caught the attention of designers and manufacturers across the country as two of the biggest names in contract interiors launch innovative new products.

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CES 2010: Top Gadgets at CES

Christine Persaud
Published: 01/07/2010 12:34:53 PM UTC in CES 2010

Herman Miller at CES 2010

Herman Miller Ergonomic Desk & Chair: One company I did not expect to see at a show like CES is high-end furniture maker Herman Miller. But the company opted to show off its latest options in the ergonomic office. When you think about it, techies are spending hours on end at the computer playing video games, watching/downloading content, working, or even just surfing the Web and social networking sites. This means just as with the home theatre, comfort is of the utmost importance. More..

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Herman Miller Sense Desking System

Herman Miller has a new addition to their desking portfolio with the November 2, 2009 introduction of the Sense™ desking system. Sense’s simple, modern lines offer an appealing European aesthetic, but the real beauty lies in its ease of assembly. All parts simply lock, click, or snap into place without tools. A desk can be assembled in just seconds, translating into real savings for your customers. For more info click here

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