NeoCon continues to shine

Now in it’s 51^st edition, NeoCon is still fresh in the mind, especially for some of our partaking BCFA members including Boss Design, Decca Contract, Camira Fabrics and Orangebox.

Taking place across numerous floors of The Mart in Chicago, the show is one of the standout exhibitions of commercial interiors to take place across the busy international calendar. And it continues to grow, this year adding 7 new exclusive showrooms, expanded show halls and lots of new exhibitors.

A focus upon sustainability and human experience come to the fore of the keynote speakers and seminar program with London based Ilse Crawford discussing how manufacturers can make a positive environmental impact and designer, urbanist and spatial justice advocate Liz Ogbu talking about the role of design in urban environments during challenging times.

“Harmonious concepts and intelligent details are the hallmark of Wolfgang Mezger’s aesthetic philosophy. He finds the answers to complex questions with simple solutions and OLA® is testament to this. In designing OLA®, Wolfgang managed to achieve a beautiful shell design that is recognizable in a ‘sea of thousands’, whilst adhering to a subtle and refined design that does not look like it is trying too hard to stand out!” – Mark Barrell, Design Director at Boss Design.

UK based brand Boss Design introduce a number of new products including their modular seating range ATOM as well as the Kruze and ACDC ranges. But with it’s unique ability for customisation, seating range OLA® steals the show. Designed by renowed German designer Wolfgang Mezger, the monoshell chair offers a multitude of arms, bases, painted colour finishes and materials; not least wood, plastic, fabric and leather.

Elsewhere, Camira Fabrics regenerates a mid-century classic with the launch of Zap and Armadillo ranges. Celebrating original 1960’s designs created by Danish-American designer Jens Risom (who died in 2016 at the age of 100) Camira has reimagined them for a 21^st century market, whilst retaining their playful mid-century sensibilities. Zap in wool fabric that comes in 30 vibrant tone-on-tone shades whilst Armadillo is a textured wool and flax mix and comes in 12 colour ways.

Orangebox showcases a selection of their Smartworking portfolio as part of the Steelcase group and enjoy an incredibly good response to the products, particularly the globally compliant Air³ pods, which are exhibited for the first time at this years show.

Decca Contract focuses their attention on subtle but incredibly useful flexibility in the workplace with the introduction of GAIT modular. Evolving from the GAIT Conference Series the range includes steel frames with modular wooden units for storage as well as tables, workbenches and desks.

A clever concealed levelling mechanism at the top of each leg allows for the ultimate adjustment, no matter what the environment. This universal office system is designed by New York based Erin Ruby who comments, “taking the view that furniture is like lightly-scaled architecture, GAIT Modular is a study in spatial versatility.”

For more information about this years show and NeoCon 2020 visit the website.