Keilhauer Addresses New Ways of Working with New Collections at NeoCon

MELETE

Designed for Keilhauer by Afteroom, Melete is a modern, multi-purpose chair that is grounded in timeless Swedish and Japanese design sensibilities. With the versatility of several unique configurations, it has the ability to elevate almost any environment, providing elegance and a unique beauty to the design space. The soft curves of Melete outline the balance between functionality and aesthetics, which are combined with a functional structure that ensures comfort and durability.

“The original goal with Melete was to design a modular seat that could match different backs and legs according to the customer’s needs, thereby creating a single chair that could be extended into a complete series,” say Hung-Ming Chen and Chen-Yen Wei, co-designers and co-founders of Afteroom.
“Melete is a beautiful, durable chair that is all about its sculptural look and feel,” adds Mike Keilhauer. “Whether with arms or armless; café height, bar height or conference height, Melete is a flexible design solution for the office and even the home.”

FORSI

Forsi is a conference furniture collection that is built to meet the needs of the modern meeting. A play-on-words derived from the ideal size of a productive, efficient meeting – four to six people – Forsi creates an environment that isn’t too formal, nor too relaxed. The Forsi chair comes in an innovative working lounge height that is ideal for promoting creative thinking, and the Forsi table is offered in either the same working lounge height, or the traditional conference height. This is Keilhauer’s first product line to feature this unique height option – it sits in the sweet spot between conference room formality and lounge area relaxation. Forsi was designed to encourage and elevate the way people think, create, and collaborate in the office.

“When designing Forsi, we asked ourselves, ‘What would a perfect meeting look like?’” says Gernot Bohmann, EOOS designer. “We came to realize that ‘the perfect meeting’ is the solution between conference and lounge. We wanted to find a new typology, a new height and a new, undiscovered place – this is where Forsi exists.”

“The Forsi chair is a combination of a conference chair and a lounge chair, with a soft, luxurious feel,” adds Mike Keilhauer. “With its matching lounge height, the Forsi table complements the chairs beautifully, but the Forsi pieces were also designed to stand on their own if desired.”

THE GSD COLLECTION

The GSD collection, another collaboration with EOOS, is a multi-piece, configurable collection that provides workplace solutions and supports teams in whatever way they connect and collaborate. With hybrid work being here to stay, the ways that employees interact with office work is changing. Workplaces need to adapt to their hybrid workforce, and products need to work harder to efficiently accommodate the varying needs of their users.

This innovative collection includes a side chair, a benching system and a table system. The benching and table systems include built-in power sources to accommodate laptops, tablets and other devices.

The GSD collection’s range of products provides teams with a plethora of options for various collaboration scenarios, including meeting casually at a standing table, having a formal board meeting to hash out a deal, or pulling up some extra chairs for a quick brainstorming session.

“A new kind of work culture has developed during the last few years, and many people are still working a decent amount from their homes,” says Gernot Bohmann, EOOS. “Now, people who regularly work from home only go to the office to meet people face-to-face. They do not go there to wait, to relax – they go there because they want to get stuff done. These products help them accomplish that.”

PERFORMANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

As with all Keilhauer furniture, Melete, Forsi and the GSD collection are built from the highest quality materials, are designed and manufactured to last for many years, and are supported by Keilhauer’s standard 10-year warranty. All three product lines are expected to carry BIFMA Level® 2 and SCS Global Services certification for Indoor Air Quality at the Indoor Advantage™ Gold level. They are manufactured in facilities that produce zero waste to landfill and offset 100% of electricity use with renewable energy credits.