In the modern office ecosystem, office furniture is not only the carrier of physical space, but also the core medium for corporate performance and culture transfer. The ideal office environment needs to be both functional and strategic - not only to help teams efficiently complete immediate tasks and support long-term strategic planning, but also to optimize costs and maximize user satisfaction. At the same time, as a visualization window of corporate culture, the design aesthetics, functional layout and humanistic temperature of the office space directly affects the sense of identity of employees and the brand's external communication power. As a leader in the global office furniture industry, Steelcase has always taken space empowerment as its core concept, integrating product design, technological innovation and scenario-based solutions to promote the upgrading of the experience of multiple scenarios, such as office, education and healthcare. If you want to know more, welcome to our Shanghai Office Furniture Expo.

A century of brand history: from innovative single product to industry benchmark

Steelcase (formerly known as Metal Office Furniture) has been founded by Peter M. Wege in 1912 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, and has been on a journey of innovation for more than 110 years. The brand's early beginnings began with the revolutionary Victor Wastebasket, and its first manufacturing process patent established the brand's technological DNA. In the century since, Steelcase has continued to push the boundaries of the industry:  

Design Collaboration Milestone: In 1937, Steelcase collaborated with architect Frank Lloyd Wright to create office furniture for the Johnson Wax Center, pioneering the integration of architecture and furniture design;  

Technological innovation node: launched the industry's first full-featured screen system, Series 9000, in 1973; released the first ergonomic chair, 430 Chair, in 1974; launched the Leap Chair in 1999, which applies aerospace-grade Live Back technology (the patented technology has since been adopted by Boeing Airplanes and Jaguar sports cars);  

Globalization and Diversification: through the acquisition of DesignTex (fabrics), PolyVision (writing materials), Ultra (smart office) and other companies to build a whole industry chain layout covering material research and development, space planning, and healthy office;  

Leading in industry insights: released the Global Office Environment Report in 2016, jointly explored the future office form with Microsoft in 2017, and continued to drive industry changes with data.  

Up to now, the brand has 17 global production bases, more than 12,000 employees, more than 1,700 product patents, annual revenue of more than 3 billion U.S. dollars, ranking first in the global office furniture industry.

Multi-brand Matrix: Accurately Reaching the Demands of Multiple Scenarios

Steelcase takes scenario-based solutions as the core of its strategy, and builds a multi-brand ecosystem covering the fields of enterprise, education, healthcare, and innovative teams:  

1. Steelcase Main Brand  

   Focusing on the world's leading companies, Steelcase provides a full range of services from space planning to furniture customization through an insight-driven research model, with the core objective of improving team engagement, employee health, and corporate innovation. Typical projects include designing smart collaboration spaces for multinational companies and promoting hybrid office models.  

2. Steelcase Education  

   Steelcase Education cooperates with educational institutions to reconstruct learning scenarios, and its products cover classrooms, libraries, cafes and other diversified spaces. For example, the Node Chair supports the rapid switch from lecture-style layout to group discussion mode, helping to build an active learning ecosystem.  

3. Steelcase Health  

   Steelcase Health develops professional solutions for medical scenarios: Surround series furniture optimizes the visiting experience of family members in convalescent and rehabilitation spaces, and improves the communication efficiency between doctors and patients; the furniture design of medical examination and diagnostic areas focuses on the protection of privacy and optimization of the line of movement, which helps to build a temperature-conscious medical environment.  

4. Turnstone  

   Turnstone is located in innovative teams and startups, and uses personalized design to stimulate the vitality of the space. The Bivi series, a star product, is a modularized combination that creates an office scenario that showcases individuality and promotes collaboration, and serves as an inspirational container for innovators.  

5. Coalesse  

   Coalesse combines the comfort of a home, the social feel of a café, and the energy of the outdoors, focusing on the aesthetics of a luxury office; the LessThanFive Chair redefines the portability and aesthetic expression of office seating with its carbon fiber material (weighing less than 5 lbs.) and customized pattern design.  

6. DesignTex  

   DesignTex is a specialist in material solutions for the built environment, offering more than 8,000 fabrics, acoustic insulation and other products. Its Casper Cloaking Technology window film can shield the visibility of electronic screens, combining privacy protection with a sense of spatial transparency.  

7. PolyVision  

   PolyVision specializes in durable surface materials, and its e3 Duo whiteboards have become the first choice in education and office settings around the world because of their smooth writing experience and scratch-resistant and stain-resistant properties; the environmentally friendly materials also meet the stringent standards of fire resistance and weather resistance.  

8. Workspring  

   Drawing on the collaborative consumption model to create flexible office space and innovative property strategies. The multi-functional meeting and training space in the flagship center in Chicago supports cross-corporate collaboration and the construction of an innovative ecosystem.  

Integration of Technology and Design: Redefining Space Productivity

Steelcase always puts people at the center of its design, and enhances the efficiency of space through technological empowerment:  

Intelligent Interconnection: media:scape system integrates furniture and digital technology, realizing the seamless linkage of people-space-information, and significantly improving the efficiency of teamwork;  

Sustainability: Think Chair is Cradle-to-Cradle Certified, practicing environmental protection from material production to recycling;  

Extreme ergonomics: The dynamic lumbar back support system of the Leap Chair and the bionic spine curve design of the 430 Chair are based on medical research to reduce occupational health risks.  

Future Prospect: Driving Industry Evolution with Space Innovation

From wastepaper basket to intelligent office ecology, Steelcase's century-long journey testifies to the iterative logic of office scenarios - space is not only a workplace, but also an incubator of productivity and a narrative carrier of culture. Through multi-brand synergy, technology crossover and global insight network, Steelcase continues to lead the industry to evolve towards health, intelligence and humanization, creating meaningful changes for enterprises, education, healthcare and other fields. As its cooperation with Microsoft indicates, the office space of the future will become a living organism that inspires creativity, connects emotions, and empowers growth, and Steelcase has always been the core facilitator of this change.  

Source: OFFICION

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