Robotic Technology and Office Chairs
Collaboration between and a leading Japanese office furniture Company Okamura Corporation and robotic Company OKI Electronics is to bring about the first office chair with incorporated robotic technology. Application of the robotic leg technology of OKI which mimics a human leg when jumping and landing has been incorporated into a prototype. Significantly the seat will replicate the movement of the upper leg and the back of the chair will operate as the torso. When the user leaves the chair the chair will rise automatically to assist this movement to a natural standing position. When not in use the chair will have a sight forward tilt in a half sitting position in anticipation of use. The seat and the back will fit the user perfectly in the upright and reclining positions.
This new model will be available in 2009 Please contact us for further information

Estel Office furniture
Estel formed in 1937 by the current CEO Alfredo Stella. Alfredo’s main passion was for design in the domestic furniture market and early successes included Extensible Stella a wardrobe with sliding doors. In the 70’s Estel became one of the leading domestic furniture makers in Italy and started to market office furniture market through a new division called Estel Office Project.  
The 80s saw  rapid expansion of the office furniture division and the creation of Estella seating a division dedicated to the production of office chairs and reception seating.  At present sales exceed 100 million Euros and office furniture represents 85% of the total turnover. Based in Italy Estel exports to most countries in Europe and derives 40% of its sales from its growing export division. Latest office furniture ranges include Direzionale reception desks, News reception desks, X file metal pedestals and filing cabinets and M2 office chairs
Please contact us for further information

Robin Day (b 1915)
Robin Day was is a British furniture designer who created the Polypropylene chair, a ubiquitous chair found all over the world in offices, colleges, canteens and more. Born in High Wycombe, he graduated from the Royal College of Art in interior and furniture design. Here he met and married Lucienne Day who went on to become a famous textile designer in her own right Although the pair enjoyed separate success they were often compared to their US counterparts Charles and Ray Eames. In 1949 Robin won the first prize in an international competition for the design of low cost furniture for his wood and tubular storage units. Hille International, an office and educational furniture manufacturer sponsored Robin from 1949 and for many years he went on to create over 150 products including office seating, auditorium seating and office furniture. Robins Day’s public seating designs have been used in areas such as the Tate Gallery, Barbican Centre and London Underground.
The polypropylene plastic chair is seen as his greatest success, conservative estimates that over 15 million of these chairs have now been sold across the world.     
In 1975 Day developed the Polo chair a variation of the polypropylene chair with trademark holes and suitable for indoor and outdoors use

Fly bench office furniture
New from Italy this contemporary styled office furniture is now available in slim line 18mm desk tops with up to the minute colours, white, light oak and wenge. 12mm thick tempered glass tops in white, black and red glass are also offered. The steel frame is square section 40mm x 40mm with welded joints and is finished in epc paint finishes White or Polished Aluminium. An executive range of this office furniture comes complete with a chrome plated frame. Horizontal cable management is provided via a metal cable tray, cable and sockets can be accessed from the desk top via a flip top lid. This cable management system is optional and needs to be specified at the time of order. Side storage credenzas can be freestanding or can be used to support the desk and come in combinations of drawers and doors, the drawers can also be inward and outward facing. A range of desk top screens are provided either in finishes to match the desk top or in Plexglass and there is also a range of desk top accessories and task lighting which are located by the integral accessory rail. Although not shown in our PDF catalogue Fly can be ordered in component form to allow sharing of legs in bench configurations, this will provide greater leg space and provide a saving over buying individual desks.

Please contact us for further information on Fly office furniture

HON Office furniture
The HNI Corporation and owners of HON office furniture and Allsteel office furniture have annual sales in excess of 1 billion dollars and are the second largest office furniture manufacture in the world. It all started in 1948 when friends Max Stanley, Clem Henson  decided to create a Company to give work to GI’s returned from the second world war. They created a benevolent Company with profit sharing schemes that sought to reward the members for growth and achievement. Their first plant was in Muscatine Iowa. Early products included metal filing cabinets and multi drawer units. Their revolutionary metal kitchen cabinet was called Home- O- Nize from which the name HON office furniture came about. A sustained period of growth and acquisition proceeded
HNI who own HON are one of the top one thousand largest companies in the USA
HON manufacture a board range of office desks, office chairs and metal filing cabinets. Included in these is Mentor steel based workstation desks, Jackson traditional veneer executive furniture and the Perpetual ergonomic office chair. HON is also heavily involved in the educational sector with a range of products including height adjustable workstation desks and the 6000 series of teacher desks
Please contact our office for further information on HON office furniture

Break Out Spaces
The need to incorporate break out areas into office space designs started in earnest around 10 years ago. Long gone was the conventional office canteens selling subsidised meals at prescribed times with office workers taking their lunch in shifts
A move to lighter, snack lunches, flexible lunchtime and break arrangements and vending machines all lead to the provision of food and drink closer to hand on the same office floor. Notwithstanding the growth of call centres and the need to allow staff a refuge from high pressure environments. Leading the way with contemporary ideas for break out spaces was Orange box with Point mobile tub chairs and spur office seating.

Designers tended to work with three floor zones, a soft seating area with tub seating and sofas for coffee breaks and ad hoc internal meetings, and bistro table and chair area for eating food and a bar stool and poseur table are for quick snacks. The growth of break out spaces in the office lead to the creation of Café Reality with has now become one of the leading suppliers of furniture to the Leisure industry.
Please contact us if you are looking for break out office furniture

AIS office furniture
Are a relatively new office furniture Company founded by Bruce Platzman and his team in 1990. They were then involved in the remanufacture of panel based system office furniture or furniture cubicles. They were known as Affordable Interior Systems and mainly serviced the New England region of the US. In 1996 the began to manufacture brand new office furniture, desks and panel systems and very quickly grew to a 20 million dollar company. By 2007 the turnover was over 100 million making them one of the top office furniture manufactures in the country. This has been brought about by offering good value and fast delivery, 90% of the office furniture from AIS is shipped within 10 days. AIS also have the prestigious Greenguard certification and between 40-50% of the materials used in the production of office furniture are recyclable.  Ranges include DIVI panel based office furniture, Matrix office screens and room dividers and the A02 range of open plan system furniture
Please contact us if you require any further information

Assman Buromobel
A German office furniture manufacturer based near Osnabruck. Founxded when Heinrich Ahsmann took over the village carpenters shop. The Company started its growth when his son Dieter joined in firm in 1968 and in 1969 they had 15 staff with a turnover of DEN 1 million.. The 70’s saw rapid growth but is was the development of the Org-norm range that propelled them to the DEN20 million mark. In 1989 when Diter son Dirk joined the firm turnover was over DEN100 million and Assman had become one of Germany’s leading office furniture manufactures. Their office furniture is marketed through specialist dealers throughout Europe, Russia and here in the UK. Popular ranges include EsitAss range of height adjustable desks, InvitAss wooden storage cupboards, CnvassPro entry level office furniture and RondAss call centre furniture. All furniture is manufactured to high quality standards and adheres to European standards for the production of office furniture
Please contact our office for further information

Vela office chairs
A designer office chair with a very slim profile built to a high standard from quality materials. The synchro chair  mechanism is controlled by a side tensions bar. The chair seat is available in a comprehensive range of fabrics. The base of the chair is available in black, chrome or polished aluminium finishes. There is also a sliding lumbar support bar available as an additional option Manufactured in the UK this office chair is normally available within a four week lead time and carries a five year warranty.
Please contact our sales office for further information on this office chair
John Office furniture sales

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
A prolific American Designer and Architect with over 500 completed projects who worked on many office and public buildings across the US and in 1991 was recognised as the greatest American Architect ever by his peers. Born in Wisconsin his father was a minister, lawyer and school teacher who married into a wealthy family the Lloyd Jones’s who emanated from Wales. His parents separated when Frank was 14, a few years later Frank left for Chicago and worked for a number of architectural practices. He married his first wife in 1889, Kitty the daughter of wealthy business man. 1890 saw Frank working on domestic design work and accepting private work outside his normal work many of these were homes around his local area and still stand today. In 1902 he designed his first office building for the Larkin Soap Company near Buffalo. In 1909 Frank eloped to Europe with the wife on one of his wealthy clients and returned to the US in 1912.
Frank’s influence on office space is the open plan concept which he took from the Prairie style houses he designed into the commercial office environment. T the Johnsons wax headquarters he designed his famous writing desk which is on exhibition at the Museum of modern Art in New York. Frank also designed many other types of office furniture which he saw as an integral part of the buildings he designed.