Why go bespoke in your workspace

Having bespoke items within a workplace enriches the environment and allows you to create a space that is uniquely your own, according to Kenny Teh, Lead Designer at LABS and LabTech.

He adds: “Bespoke items are designed to encourage user interaction and to provide a subconscious user experience alongside their required functional and practical aspects.

“Additionally, designing and producing bespoke pieces is useful if there is a specific storage, functional or technical requirement that off-the-shelf items cannot serve, while also enabling you to have control over the aesthetics of the item – the look and feel, size and dimensions – to ensure it suits your space.”

To identify what items should be bespoke for a space, Kenny suggests choosing your furniture based on the layout created for the workspace first. This will help you determine the areas within the space where you would like to create a moment or diversify from those finishes and functional furnishings.

At LABS we have created several bespoke items for our flexible workplace in Holborn, Victoria House. These include…

BINAL BENCH

Functional and sculptural this piece of furniture’s dimensions were informed by the heritage conditions and combined with ergonomics and utilitarian approach. To deliver a place to sit and storage as well as a sculpture.

BENCH PAIR

Serving as seating and a sculpture this furniture can be paired together or placed separately within the space of Victoria House. The idea behind this furniture was to express the honesty of the materials and form.

LONG STONE TABLE

This stone bar table was designed to fit in with its surrounding elements seamlessly through the exaggerated scale and nature of the travertine stone and the juxtaposition of its slim and bulky proportions. This is also why a clear resin filled travertine stone was chosen to keep it in natural coordination with its environment. A process of slab selection was needed to ensure a seamless flow of the veins in the stone and a smooth gradation to give the illusion of it being a single piece of travertine.

 

ILLUMINATION LIGHTING

These lights, in different arrangements, are placed in particular corners of Victoria House to help deliver unique, poetic moments, utilising the light as a subtle feature to create light and shadow interplays with the furniture and artwork in that space and to break the rhythms of the architectural environment.  It is essentially sculptural illumination.

PENDANT LIGHT

Developed in collaboration with Foundry this light fixture’s design echo’s the original 1920s lights within Victoria House that have been retained during its restoration and modernisation. Its design is a simplification of the original lights, while being sophisticated and is used to balance the architectural materials within the space it hangs.