PEARSONLLOYD
5
cabin archetype: an L-shaped sofa that,
with a light swivel, transforms into a bed.
“You can remove the sofa when you need
to sleep, and the bed when you want to
relax,” he explains.
The studio didn’t stop at the furniture.
“The cabin layout has been fixed for a long
time,” says Pearson. Most cabin rooms
are designed and made as a set of two:
indenting the shared wall gives each room
a bit more space to fit a bed. But because
of this, furniture is fixed. PearsonLloyd
eliminated this problem by straightening
out the back wall into a diagonal.
“This liberates the space,” says
Pearson. “It makes more room for the
bathroom, the lounge, the closet – and,
most importantly, it gives passengers the
freedom to use the space as they choose.”
CAN THE WORKPLACE
BE INFORMAL AND
PRODUCTIVE?
“Working habits are changing,” says Joe
Regan, senior vice president of design and
marketing at Teknion. To meet the new
needs of workers, “we needed some help.”
The Canadian office furniture brand
chose PearsonLloyd because of its
diverse portfolio. “It was clear from their
work that they were going to challenge
us. It quickly became more than a
collection of products,” says Regan. “They
challenged us in terms of how we came
across, how we presented ourselves.
They challenged us in terms of how we
designed our showrooms – they provided
the strategy.”
aircraftinteriorsinternational.com
062 ANNUAL SHOWCASE 2020
The result of this collaboration has
been fruitful: a 50-strong, award-winning
collection of furniture that supports
activity-based working in open-plan
offices. The range includes everything
from enclosures, tables and seating, to
monitor supports and coat stands.
“Furniture can help to make the
workplace a more human place to be,”
says Lloyd. In part the studio achieves this
through a sensitive material palette, with
wood used for its residential associations,
because it is hard-wearing and has a
warmth to it.
But the studio’s ambition is far from
just styling. “They try to understand, at a
fairly deep level, how physical things can
affect human behaviour,” says Regan.
The pentagonal enclosure, for example,
takes the place of the more conventional
square-shaped booth, which not only sees
colleagues sit face to face – a slightly
aggressive set-up – but is also awkward
to shuffle in and out of. The wide entrance
of the Teknion enclosure makes it easy to
move around in and a less obscure space
to sit in: although it is private, workers are
never hidden from view.
HOW CAN YOU CREATE
THE ILLUSION OF SPACE
IN ECONOMY CLASS?
The economy seat has evaded innovation.
“We know there is pressure to pack in
as many people as possible – but economy
seating has escaped good design,”
says Lloyd.
As part of its independent research,
PearsonLloyd wanted to tackle some
of the problems common in this class.
While space can’t be negotiated,
through a rethink of the seat itself,
passenger comfort could be significantly
improved.
“With current economy-class seats,
the backrest and headrest are one – so
you are essentially facing a wall,” says
Pearson. “By lowering the backrest and
separating it from the headrest, you get
a sense of space. There are sightlines
through the cabin.”
The backrest and headrest are
connected by a slim central spine, which
includes the utility panel. Tray tables are
usually seat width, but this one folds
in half to fit into the panel and provide
a little extra room for knees.
These small changes make each
seat feel like an individual one. Better
still, “it feels like a lounge chair,” says
Pearson.
5. PEARSONLLOYD’S CABIN BED CAN
BE SPLIT AND SWIVELLED TO CREATE
A LARGE L-SHAPED SOFA. VIRGIN
VOYAGES, 2019
Using space
intelligently
can transform the
user experience
“ THE STUDIO TRIES
TO UNDERSTAND
HOW PHYSICAL
THINGS CAN AFFECT
HUMAN BEHAVIOUR”
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