The new way of working also shows what the office of tomorrow will look like. The proportion of stacking work is reduced, and the office becomes a place of permanent communication. Transparency and openness are the trump cards. In this office, the team is composed of all the respectively necessary specialists. And these again have to communicate and speak to one another constantly – to discuss, to inform one another, to think and plan together, to accept and reject suggestions. What used to be regarded as impermissible chatter has now developed into a highly welcomed approach.

For this face-to-face spontaneous communication, which time and again turns out to be necessary in the course of a project, the conventional arrangement of an office proves to be unnecessary. Dauphin, one of the big three providers of office seating on the market, is therefore presenting “Join Me“, with two innovations for the communication and seminar field which are unique in their formal and functional refinement: a folding table in three variants and a new type of chair, which we have called a “push stacker”.

The folding table: three out of one
The “Join Me” folding table transforms from a narrow piece of filing furniture (90 x 30 cm) into a training table twice the size with knee screen (90 x 60cm) or into an even bigger, square table (90 x 90cm) that can be linked up for discussions, seminars and the like. When the work is over, it is folded up and placed against the wall like a sideboard, saving space.

This can be done simply with a few pulls, because the top – the same part three times, with a hinged connecting piece – is made from aluminium and therefore light. Depending on the size of top being used, only the legs still need to be swung in. Both legs on each side are synchronised, so that only one leg ever needs to be moved.

The patent-protected high-tech table is as big as is required at the time, and can be linked in rows as well as around corners.

If you like your chair, give it a push!
The accompanying “Join Me” – conference chairs bear the descriptive name “push-stacker“, because when the seat is folded upwards they can be pushed together like shopping trolleys, thanks to the well thought-out geometry of its frame. The smart folding mechanism saves a lot of storage space and is substantially more user-friendly than having to make high stacks of seating.

The result of this innovation is that, with the folding table and push-stacker, seminars, training, spontaneous conferences and rounds of discussions with any number of participants can take place swiftly and simply. Martin Ballendat, the renowned designer from Simbach in Passau, calls his rollable “Join Me” conference ensemble “clever soloists”, that can form a well coordinated orchestra at any time.

The suppliers Dauphin and the designer Ballendat are as a result in full agreement: “We would much rather come up with a product that can do a lot and can be adjusted swiftly and flexibly to all conceivable situations than a complete seminar programme!“