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@Workbenchltd - A Road Less Travelled During our journey to ISO 14001, we at Workbench have looked at all the ways we can reduce our carbon footprint, the aim being to deliver projects in a way that enables our clients to achieve their own environmental targets. It is our belief that whilst this starts with the design process, often the biggest impact is manufacture. We aim to source materials as locally as possible and procure from companies that demonstrate the highest environmental standards. By far our biggest push to be carbon neutral centres where possible on manufacturing only in the UK, so our products have literally followed a road less travelled to reach their final destination.

Are you a risk taker or risk averse? As with most businesses we work with all kinds of clients. The projects with the risk takers are always exciting albeit challenging, whilst the projects with the risk averse enable us as designers to reflect on and enhance our offer to our client. Just to define what we mean by risk, remember how the designers pushed the boundaries with the wobbly Millennium Footbridge! Whilst furniture design might not be quite this critical, the stakes are still high when dealing with expensive, fragile materials such as marble, integrating complex performance requirements, and working to tight project timescales where failure is not an option. The key is to find your creative side whilst still keeping the design process sound. Finding your creative side Workbench is no different to any of our clients, but as furniture specialists we use our knowledge and experience to find the middle ground. If you are risk averse we can help you dip your toe into the arena of adventurous design, and if you are a risk taker we can guide you to your creative nirvana without loosing your shirt! Tailoring our tried and tested designs allows our clients to be unique with fewer risks, which at the moment is particullary important as our industry adjusts to the new working normal. Anxieties about material performance, function and aesthetic can all be discussed with our our team of designers, workshops and factories, so that the final design will be both unique and successful.

We have always been somewhat sceptical about ISO14001 certification, as a medium sized business we like many others viewed it as a layer of cost to our overhead for a procedure certification which we already follow diligently. When we were asked two years ago to talk at the Sheppard Robson environmental week, we had just that viewpoint. We talked through the possible negative connotations of insisting that projects should only use companies that are ISO14001 certified, and expressed concern that small craft base workshops were being lost because they don't tick the box, despite following the procedures that these standards set out… so, the question is, can we change our mind? @Workbench we set ourselves a few goals at the start of every year, goals that we aim to achieve by the end of the year. 2019 was to move office and create our showroom, and we love our new home at 3 Sutton Lane! At the start of 2020 we decided to bite the bullet and achieve ISO14001. Going through the process of 14001 certification is creating benefits we couldn’t have imagined, and our goal that certification enables smaller workshops to still serve the market through us has been achieved. We are a medium size business, and we pack a big punch for our size. Workbench has always followed the principals of ISO14001 and 9001 standards, but it soon became evident it was not documented. This was the first thing that we changed, and it was the biggest eye opener, the whole company now knows our supply chain, what they can offer, and our supply chain also know us. Individually the team at Workbench knew certain suppliers very well, but as a team, corporately, we actually knew far less because it was not recorded, just ‘retained in brain’. A simple questionnaire to our suppliers generated an astonishing amount of hitherto unknown information to both parties. We are all now far more collaborative in establishing environmental initiatives, utilising this new knowledge. We achieved ISO14001 certification in December 2020, but the prize is much bigger, a better understanding of our suppliers, and how informed design processes and material choices can offer environmentally sustainable solutions, solutions that help our clients to achieve their own environmental targets. The techniques learned have also enabled us to modify and streamline our own admin systems, and help our suppliers to look at ways to meet the ISO14001 standard, from efficient material use and workshop processes to smart logistics. Most importantly to achieve the best solution within a given set of parameters, supplying products that are built to stand the test of time with an array of solutions for recycle or reuse when they eventually reach end of life. We were guided by the brilliant mentor Chis Passmore at 2SB Management Systems, who helped us navigate the more intense parts of the standard and of course we are happy to chat to anyone who would like to know more about the process, but in the meantime WOOHOO @Workbench is ISO14001 certified and ready for a brilliant 2021!

Return to Office Quarter One 2021 - That’s the hot topic right now and business is getting ready for it. With Q1 not many weeks away the re-organisation of space and furniture begins, and when we say not many weeks, we mean just three manufacturing weeks until quarter one arrives slap bang on our doorstep. So what are businesses doing? Initially we saw heavy demand for screens and the spacing of work areas, however fast changing events dictate that this is now shifting to a more ‘normal’ working environment, albeit with the contingency of flexibility to deal with unforeseen situations. The current emphasis is on simple furniture details, easy to clean, easy to reconfigure, adaptability, and most importantly video conferencing available everywhere, communication between colleagues is key. Business is no longer interested in the sick martyr struggling into the office with flu or worse, the message is 'if you feel unwell stay at home' keep your germs exclusive, but do stay in touch! If we have learnt one thing in 2020 it is how rapidly things can change. Predicting the future is a tricky business, but as quickly as we all fled the office, there are now signs that the office will again become an important part of our working week, and it appears businesses are waking up to this reality. With most furniture manufacturers operating on a 6 to 8 week lead time, focusing on the return to office and the preparations necessary is now the urgent priority. So RTO-Q1-21 sets us another challenge to rise to, a challenge where time is of the essence. And we stand well equipped to meet these demands, working with design practices and businesses to deliver projects tailored to the changing work environment.

An ever increasing request is that we take fully resolved designs and tailor them to our clients' specific requirements. This offers the reassurance of tried and tested solutions, but also gives a level of individuality not available off-the-shelf. We have spent many hours refining our standard furniture collections, perfecting the treatment of interfaces between materials, the integration of technology and ensuring designs exceed expectations. This recently completed project featured a large breakout space designed to have a welcoming, relaxed feel to it. We took the FLITE table base from our standard furniture collection and produced it in natural mild steel with a clear lacquer finish to prevent rusting. Solid table tops were designed in the warm tones of FSC oak with the addition of inlayed butterfly ties, giving a nod to more traditional furniture designs. The end result is a fantastic space where people can relax and enjoy a welcoming, comfortable environment, made possible using honest materials, proven designs and a little originality.

Quite a topical question at the moment At Workbench we have long practised sustainable design, material selection and manufacture. Sustainable manufacture raises a lot of questions and this is where Workbench can offer its knowledge: what is the largest core board available for a table top, will that fit on a veneer press, is there a laminate sheet wide enough, what is the length of the veneer, how thick is the material, how heavy is that to manoeuvre, will it fit in the building, what impact does that detail have on cost, material wastage, labour time, energy and recyclability at end of life? The last point is an initiative gaining momentum in interior design. Recyclability at the end of a products life can have a bigger impact on the environment than its fabrication. Designing, at the point of creation, how a product can be dismantled and recycled could be the biggest benefit to its environment impact and significantly reduce the carbon foot print of a product. Perkins and Will is one architects practice that has recently identified this as an important area of focus in their seminar on Net – Xero Interiors. The thinking goes far further than the usual lip service to using a material that can ‘technically’ be recycled. It investigates how possible that actually is once the material is fabricated, joined to other components, finished and perhaps most important how compelling it is for the owner to recycle rather than dispose of. It is this process, recyclability at the end of life, that we at Workbench along with our clients have a great opportunity to contribute to and it will form a key part of our design process as we champion ISO14001 certification. How you end a term of service could have a bigger impact than how you start.

What’s trending… looking forward...We are looking forward to being back in the office. Our main workshop has remained where possible in operation, mainly due to the diligent planning by Production Director Terry,  in implementing social distancing. It has been a humbling experience to be able to support all our clients through this, not least Johnson + Johnson and AstraZeneca as they trail blaze with undimmed determination to supply tests and research vaccines for the global good in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Having product in manufacture for them in the workshop, designs in development and mockups being tested has certainly kept the team very busy. We are looking forward to delivering these projects over the coming weeks and months. So how are we all coping in lockdown? From the London team Heather and Paul have stepped aside from work temporarily and like many have the joy of home schooling, possibly the hardest job ever, Ofsted rating due anytime now!  At our company well being meeting we have enjoyed seeing the tomato plant progress and the Lego so we know they are covering Biology and DT at the very least. Darrell our Design Director has been enjoying some quality Air-fix time in between working on projects and developing a new over sized rise / fall meeting table, watch this space. Emmanuel, Head of Purchasing has also become Chief Communications Officer and has tirelessly spoken to all our suppliers on daily/ weekly basis to keep our projects on track…. slightly regretting not getting the camera on his laptop fixed before lockdown, company note to make sure we keep on top of the ’tomorrow jobs' when we are back in the office. Our suppliers and workshop partners have been amazing, UK manufacturing certainly knows how to step up in difficult times! Joe our Managing Director has had to juggle running the company from home with two children aged 2 and 4, not an easy task by any means, we have enjoyed the singing in the back ground on conference calls.  Wendy, in between work, has been defending the fridge from two teenage boys, and running a lot. Lee who oversees all our site installations has been busy setting out social distancing requirements on sites and making sure projects can be completed on time and safely. And finally everyones pets, well they have become Zoom superstars! We hope that everyone is staying as positive as possible, we are looking forward to the new normal, whatever that looks like and seeing everyone ‘in the flesh‘ really soon.

...back painted glass Variation of colour. When installing identical coloured panels of back painted glass in the same location such as a full-length splashback and returns, there will likely be a visual colour variation as the painted surface is being viewed on different sized panels and on different planes. Colours play a part in how much they may or may not change in certain light. Whites and off-whites may seem vanilla, but they are often very adaptable to all light conditions. This can also be said of pale shades of other colours. However, whites and other light colours can sometimes reflect hues from objects in the room, such as furniture, flooring, etc. Brighter, richer colours can often be problematic and colours like khaki, sage and taupe are some of the worst offenders when it comes to changing under different lighting. Hopefully this will provide some pointers when choosing painted glass and understanding how light can affect paint colour. Natural Light Natural light affects the way colours appear in various locations. And the effect this light has depends on the direction in which it comes into the room and the position of the sun. If your room is north facing, the light that enters will be softer and will produce a warmer effect, with darker hues looking darker and light colours a touch more subdued, this is because light from the north adds a touch of blue. If the location has a southern exposure, it will receive the most intense light. Darker colours will be somewhat brightened and light colours (especially white) have the potential to leave the room washed out. In the evening, a west facing room will have warmth from the setting sun, adding orange hues and can leave room’s that are orange, red, or yellow looking over saturated. Likewise, eastern exposure adds a bit of green. #everydayisaschoolday Thanks to to GX Glass for their expert knowledge!

We at workbench were due to start a series of breakfast chats with the A&D community about specifying veneer, laminate and glass for furniture. Whilst we look forward to inviting you all along to these in the future we thought we would share a few sound bites over the next few days & weeks of what we try to keep in mind when specifying and selecting these materials.

We would like to let you know what we are doing regarding Covid-19 Our showroom remains open with a skeleton team present, for showroom visits by appointment only. In line with government advice from today most of our team are working from home to protect themselves and minimise the risk of any infection. The systems we have in place enable our team to work at near full capacity wherever they are over the next few weeks to ensure we provide you with the best service possible. Our UK workshops remain fully operational and we have put measures in place to ensure if one closes we can call upon our partners to deliver existing projects and take on new orders. These are uncertain and challenging times and we will be looking closely at the situation over the coming days to see if we need to take further action. We are all in this together and we will offer our support to our clients and suppliers alike over the coming weeks. Thank you for your continued support and business.

We launched our standard furniture range last year consisting of over ten designs, all of our standard ranges have their roots in the bespoke projects we have worked on over the last 10 years. The whole Workbench team have influenced the final design detail looking at the best way to source materials, fabricate, finish and deliver. Whilst we love a standard product we also love the creative design process of getting to one. Estee Lauder with MCM Architecture is a perfect example and has resulted with our Astar table and Whitchurch trestle table about to join our standard range of furniture. If you would like our specification guide then let us know! www.workbenchltd.co.uk

Bold colours will to continue to rise in popularity during 2020. The new Fenix laminate colour way is focused on primary colours, they have been accurate when predicting the direction of colour trends in the past so look out for bold and primary colours. The Pantone colour for 2020 is a primary colour this year and RAL go a little further with RAL Colour Feeling 2020+ have a look at the article https://www.ral-shop.com/product/ral-colour-feeling-2020 for a glimpse at what to expect. Geometric patterns An ongoing the theme from 2019. We are seeing this influence even in the layout of designers mood boards. Geometric patterns can provide a feature for an interior at low cost and often without the requirement for huge structural input, making it easy to change in the future. Influencers like Kvadrat with their Soft Cells http://soft-cells.com/ and Buzzi Space with Buzzie Blox https://www.buzzi.space/products/buzziblox have led the way. Co working influence. Co working is not a new concept but its influence is transforming permanent office spaces as well. We have seen hot desking and collaborative spaces appearing in even the ‘most traditional’  offices. We look forward to the new concepts and designs that the interior industry continues to develop for these spaces. 9 of the best Co working spaces according to Hubble. https://hubblehq.com/blog/the-coolest-co-working-spaces-in-london Biophilia this trend grew steadily through 2019 and is set to continue through 2020. There are now a wide variety of companies offering solutions and it does not have to be high maintanance, Innerspace Cheshire, amongst others, have creative products delivering the biophilia design with little or no further upkeep day 2. https://www.innerspacecheshire.co.uk/materials/mosswall/ Environmental responsibility. To describe this as a trend is to trivialise the enormous issues we are faced with over the coming decades. Climate change will be the single biggest topic addressed in 2020 and onwards. It requires us all to not just 'box tick’  the tender questionnaire but to go further and look at at our supply chains with closer scrutinty and work collectively to improve not only just how we manufacture but how we recycle the product our new designs replace. Certifications such as FSC and  ISO 14001 go a long way to addressing the problem however the UK manufacturing  landscape is made up of a large number of very small workshops and production facilities who tend not to pursue costly certification but actually operate a more sustainable production line than larger companies. It will be important for us to make sure these companies are not excluded from supply chains because they cant “tick the box “  as they provide a large proportion of the UK manufacturing capacity. There are a number of helpful websites as well as government backed help such as Envirowise to help advise. https://www.bpf.co.uk/bsn/tech_and_ops/Envirowise.aspx Natural materials, it sits hand in hand with the environmental issues we face so this trend will ‘naturally’ excuse the pun, be a strong influence in office spaces. Ratan, wicker, cane furniture are all on trend and will grow in popularity. Traditionally used for seating and screening these materials are being used to create unique features in interiors. https://www.trouva.com/products/market-set-natural-screen-caning-wall-lamp Legs! According to Elle decoration German and Italian influences are going to be very popular for furniture design in 2020. We have noticed this in the furniture we are detailing and in particular legs, there is a move away from the larger slab style credenza and storage solutions in meeting and boardrooms, it is being replaced with a much lighter design of storage.  This is partly due to smaller AV equipment, video conferencing services available from the likes of  Google and Skype means less need for large AV racks to be housed leaving room for lighter storage details. Check out one of our new designs Grooves https://www.instagram.com/p/B5AoTyqB68k/