When New Wave London decided to expand its headquarters of 15 years, staying in the same neighbourhood — the vibrant borough of Brent — was top of the wish list. To evaluate the efficiency of its existing office, the high-end construction company tapped long-time collaborator Thomas-McBrien Architects, which responded with the proposition of a 600-square-metre glulam roof extension. This would preserve the two-storey industrial building and free up valuable floor space without expanding the structure’s footprint. What’s more, the overhaul would create zero timber waste.

“Belonging to an industry with a significant impact on climate change, we are acutely aware of our responsibility to advocate for sustainable design wherever possible,” shares practice founder Barry McBrien.

From the start, circular design was the blueprint. A case study for the transformative power of holistic sustainable construction, New Wave House — as the HQ is now called — repurposed as much building material as possible. All the timber offcuts from 38 13-metre lengths of Douglas fir glulam (hewn on site at the client’s ground-floor joinery workshop) were reused for windows, doors and joinery, as well as for new benches and tables. Plus, leftover materials from other New Wave London projects, including salvaged wood, lime render, plasterboard and insulation, were applied across the project, from internal wall supports and flooring to a 100-square-metre rooftop terrace that spotlights native greenery in reclaimed planters. The original insulated roof panels were also stored on site and reintroduced on the new extension. Working together, the two like-minded firms saved a sizable amount of waste from the landfill, infusing the design with human-made craftsmanship.

“Developing relationships with the people who are actually building your designs is, in my view, critical to the success of any project. My advice would be to build relationships early, assist each other and be open to the suggestions and skill set each offers. Do not be so protective — see it as a collaborative process and the final result will benefit,” says McBrien.

Now the main office space for New Wave London, the pavilion sits like a jewel atop the joinery workshop, metal fabrication studio, spraying booths and building supply storage. Nine rentable units on the first and second floors (totalling 785 square metres) accommodate small local businesses and foster a community hub. Further proving the advantages of sustainable adaptation, New Wave House now consumes 25 per cent less energy, despite the 40 per cent increase in floor area — and the office remained fully functional during the entire construction period.

From co-working cubicles to the home office, having a functional desk is key. Here, discover four versatile desk options to fit any workspace.

1

Spout Sit-to-Stand Table

Unlike standard sit–stand desks with two sturdy legs hiding powerful machinery, Herman Miller’s Spout Sit-to-Stand offers a more elevated aesthetic with four slim stems. Plus, with discreet wiring beneath the tabletops and flush to the supports, the sleek — yet still stable — structure can lift up to 181 kilos with barely any noise; it’s also the first product to feature the brand’s new charging technology, Ello Power Access Solutions. It’s available in a range of sizes, colours and finishes — from a walnut veneer top with a black base to a neutral top  with an olive base and more — and can be fitted with bag  hooks, integrated drawers and other accessories.

2

AB019 Wall Desk

After living and working in a tiny home in Japan, Danish furniture designer Anker Bak intimately understands how to design for small spaces. To create a comfortable area with natural circulation even in tight quarters, his solution was twofold: versatility and functionality. Developed for Carl Hansen & Søn, the AB019 Wall Desk presents a minimalist silhouette with smooth rounded edges. Made from FSC-certified oak veneer or black laminate with stainless-steel mounts to secure it to the wall (solid oak cover caps conceal the screws for a seamless look), the desk can incorporate a matching drawer to complete the stylish and stimulating work nook.

3

Studio Desk

Upgrading a classic with bold materials and refined touches, Danish brand Vipp presents its new office furniture standout: the Studio Desk. Available with two chic yet dramatically different material compositions for the worktop — moody Bosca leather with a walnut frame and sparkling Ocean Grey marble — the polished aluminum table infuses work life with a sense of luxury. Its gently rounded corners lend softness whether the desk is freestanding or placed against a wall. 

4

Vox Tambour Workstation

For modern office furniture, customization is key. And with its adjustable-height Vox Tambour Workstation, Canadian manufacturer Nienkämper makes it easy. The series comprises multiple sizes,  finishes and storage options. Additionally, its concealed hardware, minimalist floating shelves, soft-close cabinets and drawers and integrated LEDs give it a cohesive and sophisticated expression. On the sustainability front, eco-friendly eelgrass replaces standard acoustic panelling to help dampen noise and manage moisture. Other accents and accessories include shoe racks, mirrors and hooks.

After operating out of a co-working space for two years, the Toronto branch of EcoVadis — a global platform founded in Paris in 2007 to provide businesses with environmental, social and ethical performance ratings and help them align and improve their supply chains — was looking for a more permanent and personal location. A raw 1,486-square-metre space on the 20th level of a 23-storey tower in the downtown core fit the bill in many ways, but the company needed guidance on how to create an interior that reflected its identity and stayed true to its ethos. That is where Tatiana Soldatova and her team at Syllable Design came in.

Wanting to give employees a sense of the outdoors, Syllable Design introduced a “promenade garden” at the entrance, with living greenery by local studios The Indoor Forest and By Nature Design. A beautiful blue paint on the ceiling and built-in makes a visual allusion to the sky and water.

A champion of sustainability herself, Soldatova prioritizes buying second-hand in both her life and her work, and naturally brought this philosophy to the concept for EcoVadis’s North American
headquarters. Adamantly opposed to “fast furniture,” the interior designer developed a plan that would ultimately incorporate 95 per cent repurposed, refurbished and remanufactured furniture
while still feeling cutting-edge and modern. “It’s a different furniture-buying model since you don’t always know what’s available and the budget floats like an amoeba,” says Soldatova of the process. “But making environmental choices is not as expensive as it’s sometimes perceived to be. You just have to be nimble and willing to change direction if necessary to accommodate what is available versus what was planned for.”

A moss wall in the lobby layers in a biophilic element while staying on budget.

Once the floor plan was established and the desired furniture determined, Soldatova turned to frequent collaborator Andy Delisi of office furniture dealer, refurbisher and reseller Envirotech, who was able to source almost everything through available inventory and two recent decommissions, including Zody task chairs from Haworth that were resurrected to like-new status and pre-owned workstations from Pair. “Most projects achieve both cost savings and environmental benefits by blending refurbished with new furniture, typically around 40 per cent refurbished and 60 per cent new,” says Delisi. “The EcoVadis project stands out as a remarkable example driven by a design firm and client fully committed to challenging the ‘new furniture only’ mindset.”

Custom planters at the end of the pre-owned workstations cleverly conceal power feeds that extend down from the ceiling, negating the need to core the floor.

To fill in the pieces that could not be sourced second-hand — like the carbon-neutral flooring, energy-efficient LED systems and greenery/seating island in the canteen — Soldatova relied on her network of manufacturers in Ontario and Quebec to reduce shipping costs and the overall carbon footprint. Sky blue paint (low-VOC, of course), a lush moss wall and plantings at the end of each workstation were integrated into the design to boost employee well-being and directly nod to the company’s eco-minded principles. Essentially a case study in sustainability done right, the EcoVadis Toronto office is high design with a conscience.

When sound-dampening headphones just don’t cut it, try these four focus pods to help you block out the buzz of the office.

1

BuzziNest Office

BuzziSpace’s new BuzziNest Office module reimagines the office pod for ultimate personalization. With two frame options (white or black) and dozens of colour or pattern options for the interior fabrics, the single-user Office can be made to harmonize perfectly with particular workspaces (a larger Room version that fits up to six has also been introduced). The compact and mobile systems — which come complete with seating, fixed or adjustable table heights and various shelf and surface finishes, plus a right- or left-handed door pull — require only two people to install. BuzziNest’s advanced sound-blocking design (exterior upholstery and interior fabric panels prevent leakage) dampens excessive noise and distracting reverberations for deep concentration.

2

HushFree.S

Designed by Hushoffice for Thinkspace, the freestanding HushFree.S pod boasts Class A acoustics that minimize distraction while maximizing a sense of privacy — it was also developed with neurodiversity in mind and is certified as an autism resource for individuals who struggle with sensory issues. The single-occupancy booth features a height-adjustable worktop (in white or velvet black HPL laminate) and a choice of stool, sofa or chair; its upholstery comes in blue, yellow, orange, red, beige, light green, light grey or dark grey. Plus, with an adjustable LED system and screen controls for ventilation, HushFree.S is fully kitted out for a refreshing respite from a noisy office. For larger gatherings, other HushFree models can accommodate up to six people.

3

Focus Pod

In most open-concept offices, workers covet a comfortable corner. To this end, cozy nooks like Haiken’s Focus Pod by Zilenzio offer a dual purpose: comfort, thanks to its upholstered back and seat cushion, and concentration, with its distraction-blocking wraparound privacy screen. Imagined by Note Design Studio, the booth charmingly pairs a white-stained ash table with an elegant divider that measures 150 centimetres high by 100 centimetres wide and can be upholstered in one of five standard fabric options from Nevotex, Kvadrat and Camira (available in at least 10 colours each). It’s a tailored solution that cocoons its users without disconnecting them from the workspace.

4

Kern Meeting Booth

Sandler’s new furniture line is its most modular yet. Dubbed Kern, the comprehensive collection features multiple sofas, armchairs, benches and tables that can be arranged in nearly endless configurations. The Kern Meeting Booth provides a relaxed, secluded zone to encourage individual or collaborative work and incorporates privacy screens that can be specified with rounded or straight corners. Developed by leading workplace furniture design firm Pearson Lloyd, the booth — and the entire series — is aimed at bridging the gap between home and office in a work-from-home world.

Plastic Reinvented

Among the Heller classics and new pieces to be made with Worry Free Plastics’ regenerative material is the Vignelli collection of blocky tables — which also recently introduced a palette of six new colourways: Slate, Turquoise, Celadon, Citron, Ochre and Brown.

A titan of heirloom-quality injection-moulded plastic furniture, Heller has long been at the forefront of innovation and sustainable responsibility. Cognizant of the impact plastic manufacturing has on the environment, the company continuously investigates ways to make its iconic indoor–outdoor furniture and accessories as kind to the planet as possible. A new partnership with Worry Free Plastics is its latest advancement toward creating built-to-last pieces that leave no trace behind. Starting April 1st of this year, Heller is using the technological company’s 100 per cent regenerative, microplastic-free material for most of its furniture (and eventually all furniture and accessories). How does it work exactly? During manufacturing, the proprietary polymer is embedded with an organic enzyme that will stay dormant unless it reaches the landfill, at which time it becomes activated by the ecosystem and is consumed by micro-organisms in less than five years’ time, enriching the soil with nutrients — yet the reliable strength and durability of the pieces remains unchanged. While finding pieces of Heller furniture at the dump is unlikely (who throws out an icon?), if one does find its way there, it’s nice to know it’ll be contributing to waste decomposition rather than accumulation.

Recyclable Foam

The Mynt chair by Erwan Bouroullec features a body weight–activated mechanism that tilts forward or backward with shifts in posture, the seat moving independently of the backrest. It’s the first product in Vitra’s portfolio to be introduced with V-Foam for the upholstered seat cushion configuration.

A mainstay of furniture manufacturing (and other industries) since the 1950s, polyurethane (PU) foam has fallen under scrutiny in recent years for its cost-prohibitive and energy-intensive recycling methods — once thermoformed, it’s nearly impossible to reshape and re-use. But Vitra is about to change that. Working closely with German chemical and plastics company BASF — a decades-long
product development partner dating back to the Panton chair — the iconic brand has introduced the first-ever economically recyclable PU foam. In development since 2022, V-Foam is meltable, meaning it can be transformed into a new polyol through a special form of mechanical recycling; it can then be reshaped into a new foam in a closed-loop cycle that requires little energy. While Vitra holds exclusive rights to V-Foam for its first year from the start of production — and will be introducing it for all its moulded foam furniture starting in 2025 — it will be available to order through BASF afterwards, and the furniture brand is encouraging as many companies as possible to adopt the sustainable material (including in the mattress and automotive industries) so that, one day, only this type of PU foam will be available for recycling.

With its soon-to-be-constructed headquarters for the Czech National Forestry in the city of Hradec Králové, local architecture firm Chybik + Kristof (CH+K) aims to deliver more than just a thoughtfully designed space — it hopes to drive legislative change that embraces large-scale timber construction throughout the
country. “At the moment, timber buildings in the Czech Republic remain rather a marginal presence, most commonly in the form of houses,” says co-founding architect Ondřej Chybik. “The realization of this scale could serve as a precedent, hopefully helping to streamline regulatory approval processes for future timber buildings.”

Designed as a single structure with five interconnected wings, the Czech National Forestry headquarters will harmonize effortlessly with its natural surroundings. The largest wood- construction project in the country upon completion, it will serve as a prime example for supporting the local economy and the Czech timber industry.

To reflect its commitment to promoting and supporting Czechia’s domestic forestry industry — which constitutes more than 30 per cent of the country’s land — CH+K applied the Lesy sobĕ (or “forests for themselves”) approach, an ethos that “emphasizes the use of local forestry resources to benefit domestic industries and the national economy,” says Chybik. “Instead of exporting raw timber for processing abroad, this principle encourages value-added wood production within the Czech Republic.”

Replacing the current 50-year-old building, which fails to meet modern energy-efficiency standards, the administration’s new office will be built nearby and span 12,000 square metres across five elongated two-storey wings that radiate out like a root network from a central main hall. Surrounded by forest, the individual but connected volumes (each containing departmental offices with collaboration zones, workshops and areas for individual-focused work scattered throughout the central spaces and intersections)
will employ three wood-construction methods: glulam trusses for the large-span structures; CLT panels for the ceiling slabs, modular components and railings; and a two-by-four system for the walls. A carefully calibrated and balanced ratio of windows to solid metal facade elements will optimize thermal performance and daylight penetration to maintain a stable interior micro-climate. Vegetated rooftops on each wing will retain and recirculate water for gardens dotted across the campus. Greenery courtyards between and surrounding the modules will extend usable space for the employees to the outdoors while also creating a public-access forest park for the city’s residents to enjoy.

The interiors of the two-storey building will be infused with an abundance of natural light.

While low-slung and modest in design, the five-winged headquarters — dubbed “Forestry in the Forest” — will become the largest wooden structure in the country and provide an optimistic blueprint for building with home-grown and low-carbon materials.