The changing desk
Over the last 20 or so years several desk shapes have evolved mainly driven by changes in technology. At first the appearance of the CRT screen on the desk gave rise to health and safety legislation to help prevent eye strain caused by sitting too close to the screen. The Corner or Radial desk was produced to enable the screen to be placed in the corner of the desk, thereby permitting a greater distance between the eye and the screen. Raised floors and the increasing use are large open plan spaces gave rise to the Pentagon or 120 degree workstation desk. This desk allowed the user to position the screen in the centre of the desk and then use both sides of the desk for non computer work. This desk also allowed designers to plan more creative room arrangements. More compact layouts were produced using single and double wave desks with the VDU positioned on the side with the bulge.
Now that FST prevails there has been a move back to more linear schemes and this has lead to the growth of the bench system and is some cases a return to the rectangular desk. However Radial, Pentagon and Wave desks continue to sell despite of growth of flat screens partly due to relatively low cost differential between the different shapes and in part because of the extra desktop spece they provide
Tags: office furniture