Category: News

Just as offices need updating from time to time to keep up the performance, branding materials need that, too. And we had reached that time here in Xworks. So late last year we updated our company profile completely. Which means that our brochure now has a fresh new and modern design and our texts have been changed up and strengthened. Furthermore, we have added some of our new projects, while some of the old ones have been left out. We are quite pleased with the result and cannot wait to share it with you all. . Our website will also undergo changes over the next couple of months. The first changes have already been made and more will follow. We have added small social media buttons to our menu line, so it is easy for all of you to find us on Facebook and LinkedIn. We have also added this “News” section to our website, so that we can share news with you from us, our partners, and from the Interior Design Industry as well. Finally, more new pages will be added and existing will undergo a “facelift”, so that we are ready to rock year 2015.

Just as our world is constantly evolving, so is the “world” within offices. New needs arises every year, and new solutions are developed to meet these. As we are a part of the office interior industry, we love to stay updated on the latest office trends, and we would like to share some of the latest news on office trends anno 2015 with you. Because they are quite exciting – not to mention very relevant for everybody working at an office. Which most of us do, right? As you all know, smartphones, tablets and notebooks make the office more mobile and less dependent of location, which means that the design of the office has started to change in order to fit the new ways of working. Therefore, we will see a trend where the central zone of the office will play a bigger role as a “point of communication” – a place where people meet to brainstorm, do classic business and be social. This will mean an increased focus on creating open spaces like working cafes and creative lounges where people can exchange ideas. As the open spaces grow bigger so do the importance of great acoustics. Also, due to a continuously greater focus on work environment a growing demand for sit/stand solutions and ergonomically correct height-adjustable workstations will be seen in 2015. Finally, again due to the mobile and space-saving technologies we all use today, workstations are becoming more compact and minimalistic. Focus will be on ergonomics and design. Even screens and organization panels are being designed to bring more life into the workstations.

As you might know by now, we are starting several new initiatives this year. One of them is called “Project of the Month”. As the name suggest, we will each month present one of our projects and let you in on some of the thoughts behind the final result. As this – our very first – project of the month, we have chosen the full turnkey office we did for HQ Creative. HQ Creative is a well-renowned event management & design company based here in Dubai. The company wanted an office that would reflects their innovative and creative company soul. Together with HQ Creative we therefore designed an office with a big open workspace in a light and modern style. In the middle we incorporated a “creative thinking” area for the employees to gather for brainstorming sessions, creative development sessions etc. In all the materials used for this project both design and quality played an important role. For instance, to secure a great working environment in the big open area, we used soundproof ceiling. We also used quality carpet from our partner ege carpet. We used the graphic carpet called Orbit from ege’s elements @work collection to add a little something extra to the floor. HQ Creative wanted both quality and great functionality in all aspect – including their furniture, so we turned to our Spanish furniture partner Forma 5. We used furniture from Forma 5’s Vektor System, M10 line, Melamine Storage line, their Garbo chairs and V30 meeting table and several other product lines. As to the color scheme we used mainly white in the office area with color splashes in bright orange and green to add playfulness to the office and support the creative environment. The overall interior design with open workspaces and meeting areas in bright colors and modern style completely support the dynamic and innovative environment that is required by employees that need to deliver creative solutions for a living. Want to see more pictures? Click here.    

We have previously touched upon the subject of trends within the office industry for 2015, but today we are going to dig a little deeper into the trends that will be dominant this year. Last time we talked more about the office space and work stations and how they are changing in their design. Today we will focus more on the trends that we see in regards to design, decoration of the office and the selection of materials. To make it easy for you to get an overview, we have divided the different trends into a mini trend report with 9 overall areas that will dominate the office interiors industry in 2015: 1. Tech-driven Just as modern technology has started to change the way the office space is designed, modern technology is also starting to change the way furniture is designed. High tech technology is no longer limited to high-end plasma screens, but we are seeing a new array of high-end products that integrate technology in new ways. It be speakers that can be plastered over and hidden, tables with integrated power sticks for phones, iPads etc. 2. Open Office Open office designs are not a new thing, but open offices are still becoming more and more dominant and we do not think that will change any day soon. As employees are using their technology and their workspace differently, not only the design of the office is changing, but also the furniture, as they need to suit the open office space better. 3. Natural Indoors The trend of bringing the nature inside has been around for as long as mankind have been building, however, in the office space this trend have not been as dominant before as it is at the moment. We see designers launching solutions that incorporate natural materials as well as products that are focused on indoor plants. It can be everything from eco-walls displaying large vertical plantations to incorporating miniscule greenhouses into table designs. 4. Geometry From textiles to product designs, geometric forms and shapes seem to be everywhere. There is something almost futuristic about the edges and sharp lines that are created when you incorporate geometry into design. And it is a versatile trend as geometry can be used to mix different colors, it can be used to create futuristic looks or create a simple but dynamic touch to an area. 5. Wall Graphics Another trend that we a starting to see a lot more is wall graphics. Both regional and international companies have taken the idea of decorating their walls and we will in 2015 still see an even greater demand on cutting edge wall graphics. 6. Playfulness We are starting to see much more creativity and playfulness in the design of office furniture these years, and we think this trend will continue to grow. And we love it. Why have boring furniture, when you can have playful (and just as functional) lamps, sofas, chairs etc.? 7. Organic Forms Almost as a sidekick to… Continue reading Office Interior Design Trend Report 2015

Here at Xworks we care a lot about the environment, and we care about who we partner up with for the same reason. We want partners that value the environment too, and one of the companies that we are proud to be working with is ege carpets.   ege carpets has a longstanding history of caring for the environment, and with their new collection ReForm Memory Ecotrust they have created a carpet collection that is completely green all the way through – without compromising neither their sense of quality nor design. This collection is designed by Carol Appleton. The carpets are developed by using a complex structured multi-level loop and digital coloration to give a truly unique expression. The collection is perfect to play around with in regards to different tonal ranges and accent colors which will allow you to create separate areas in an open office or pathways to lead around the office. But what is truly impressive and unique about this carpet collection is that it is completely sustainable and 100% regenerated from the tile backing to the yarn used for the carpet. ege carpets have developed a technique that allows them to recycle used water bottles into a patented Ecotrust felt backing for their carpet tiles. The technique turns the water bottles into flakes and then the flakes are turned into fibres. These fibres are used to create the soft and strong PET felt material that is both long lasting and has a great acoustic performance too. The yarn used for the carpets is Aquafil’s ECONYL yarns that are produced from used fishing nets. First, the old fishing nets are cleaned, then they are physically and chemically broken down and “reborn” as strong and hardwearing yarns for carpets.

The calendar says late February which means it is time for another “Project of the Month”. We have this time chosen a project we finished just last month, and we are quite pleased with the end result – and more importantly, so is the client, Gilead Sciences Dubai. Gilead Sciences is an international pharmaceutical company with a big office here in Dubai. For Gilead it was important to get a highly functional office that would fit the employees’ everyday needs. So we designed just that for them. We focused on creating a clean, minimalistic and functional office. We used mostly white and light colors as this creates the right feel of a clean environment and ambience for a serious pharmaceutical company. Both workstations and meeting rooms were designed to have a clean, minimalistic look and with a high focus on the functionality. Being a pharmaceutical company, Gilead of course have a strong need for security at their office, and as this office is mainly meant to be a working area, we did not create a traditional reception area, but instead we designed a waiting area, where people can be greeted and taken to one of the meeting rooms. As to the carpet and furniture used in this project, we focused on quality and functionality to a reasonable price, and we therefore teamed up with our trusted partners ege carpets and Forma 5. Gilead now have a highly functional office with a strong, simple design at a very strong price point. Want to see more pictures? Click here.

You might not look at your lifestyle as sedentary, but if you are sitting at your desk for many hours every day, then you might actually be putting your health at risk – just like the rest of us, who are stuck behind a desk all day. And why is that? You might ask. Well, sitting at your desk for prolonged periods of time can decrease the efficiency of the fat burning enzymes in your body, decrease your blood circulation and increase the chance of mental fatigue. All this can lead to a lower concentration and productivity, which means you perform poorer at work. However, these effects can also cause you more serious health problems like heart disease, cholesterol, back or neck pain and thrombosis. But by fitting a modern, ergonomic sit-stand desk into your office, you can help yourself decrease the chances of developing some of these problems. With a height-adjustable desk you can both sit and stand comfortably while you work. By changing work positions during the day you are decreasing your chances of developing health problems, and you will soon start to feel the benefits of standing in periods. You will start to: Have more Energy and Increase your Productivity As soon as you start to change between sitting and standing you will start to feel less tired and get more energy, which will impact positively on your productivity during the day. Burn Calories When you stand up you burn more calories than you do when you sit. Standing will help increase the efficiency of the fat burning enzymes in your body, which means that you will be more likely to be able to lose weight – if you do wish so – or stay on a consistent weight. Improve your Blood Flow Standing more during your work day will also help to improve your blood flow. If you are one of many that experience cold hands when you sit by your computer all day, then you will most likely experience that by standing up your blood will flow more freely and with that you will have warmer hands. Relieve Back Pains The shifts between sitting and standing during the day will also help relieve back pains caused by sitting still many hours every day. The first days it will probably seem hard for the back and legs to suddenly stand up for periods, when your body is used to sitting only, but soon you will feel a relief in your back and less soreness too. As you can see, the advantages of height-adjustable desks are many, so if you are interested in adding height-adjustable desks to your office workspace, then please contact us, as we have a whole range of different sit-stand desks for you to choose from. You can contact us on [email protected] or +971 04 321 6644.

Oh, how we have been waiting for this moment for a while now. And today we are finally ready to reveal our biggest news ever (so far). Namely that we are opening up a new office in Abu Dhabi! It is all still very new, and at the moment we are in the middle of getting all the details sorted out – not to mention all the paperwork. However, we hope to be up and running for real pretty soon. We cannot tell you that much yet, but we can let you know that the Managing Director for our Abu Dhabi office will be Torben Hildebrandt, who has already slowly joined Xworks. We will of course keep you updated, whenever we have something new to tell about the new office. Also, we are planning a big launch party in the late fall around a pretty big event going on in Abu Dhabi the last weekend of November! Have you guessed which one?

This year, the iconic Series 7 chair celebrate its 60th anniversary. The chair was designed by Arne Jacobsen back in 1955 who set a completely new standard for chairs with the remarkable design, and even today the Series 7 chair stands out as one of the finest examples of timeless design in the history of furniture. To celebrate the 60th anniversary Fritz Hansen have asked the Danish artist Tal R to pick 9 new colors for the Series 7 chair. Tal R is internationally known for his profound sense of colors and he was therefore a perfect pick to select the anniversary colors. The new colors revitalize the design completely and let us all see the iconic chair in a new light. Tal R has created 9 artistic colors that all are blends and that all change with the light, space, season and other aspects of the environment. Fritz Hansen prefers artistic colors to industrial colors, as these colors are genuine, complex and will patinate over time. The result is a piece of furniture that will continue to live and surprise for many years. The 9 new colors for the Series 7 chair are: Opium Red was chosen by Tal R as it symbolizes the mystique of the Far East and with its decadent expression it sparks associations to Shanghai of the 1930s. The second color picked is the color AI, which is Japanese for indigo blue. Indigo blue is a deep shade of blue that is forever drawn towards black and it is a color with an amazing sense of depth. Tal R also selected the color Chocolate Milk Brown, an indulgent brown that also possesses a touch of creamy white. This color is drawn between brown and rose, which gives it a wonderful warm feel. Trieste is the name of another blue color that Tal R also have selected for the chairs. This color is named after the port city in north-eastern Italy by the very name Trieste and it is the impossible blue that has been used by many artists over the decades – especially by the impressionists. Trieste lies somewhere between violet and blue with strong forces pulling it in both directions. Hüzün Green is the fifth new color and it is inspired by Islamic green, which is also used on the public busses in Istanbul. Hüzün is Turkish for wistful, a word that captures the dreamy mood of the color with its bittersweet touch of nostalgia. What makes this color so unique is that the green has a faded character that fits fantastic with the implied patina. Egyptian Yellow is a rich color that gives associations to the ancient Egypt and the color have that touch of the unknown, which gives it a highly characteristic and distinctive tone. The color is a faded yellow. The seventh color is called Altstadt Rose and it is one of Tal R’s signature colors. The rose expresses impermanence and fiery beauty. This rose has its golden days behind it and is now a… Continue reading The Series 7 chair in new colors