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Time, gentlemen, please…

Words:
Jan-Carlos Kucharek

Diners in Mike Leigh’s ‘Abigail’s Party’ might not agree, but design duo Edward Barber and Jay Osgersby say dinner parties are done. In their latest office-based collaboration with furniture designer Vitra they declare: ‘The workstation is going the same way as the dining room – it’s disappearing as an archetype. The desk has had its day.’ Pooh-poohing office beanbags, their ‘Soft Work’ range is sharp, tailored, modular seating with bespoke options to add desk surfaces, power outlets, charging ports and data connections. It even has seat ‘partition screens’; presumably the tech start-up equivalent of pub bar ‘snob screens’. Echoing the opinions of Abigail’s guest Laurence before his heart attack, that implication of undesirable neighbours seems to suggest money might not buy class.

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