by Ann Withanee — June 22, 2012—Nucraft received the coveted Best of Competition Award in the Best of NeoCon product awards program in recognition of the adjustable conference tables and activity walls that, as Nucraft expresses it, “gets static meeting spaces moving.” Nucraft was lauded for its Passport Solo and Passport Duo achievements during NeoCon 2012, North America’s largest exposition of contract furniture and furnishings, held annually at The Merchandise Mart in Chicago.
The Passport conference line consists of Passport Solo and Passport Duo. When a Passport Solo table is paired with the Passport activity wall, it creates a high-performance conference room that supports project teamwork but is flexible enough to support a wide variety of meeting styles. When used together, the Passport table and activity wall easily adjust to the needs of the conference room participants, from data sharing and videoconferencing to digital presentation and brainstorming.
With Passport, Nucraft introduces adjustable conference tables and activity walls that transform inflexible meeting rooms into dynamic, multiuse, efficient places that easily adapt to different collaborative activities throughout the day. With Passport, explains Nucraft, a conference room adjusts to the users, not the other way around. Furniture can easily be reconfigured to suit conference and/or project needs.
In addition to a conference table with sliding top, an activity wall provides an expansive markerboard or presentation surface in the form of a gentle arc, with extensive storage for racked equipment, refrigerators and other support tools. An optional adjustable panel allows easy horizontal and vertical adjustment of flat panel TVs. “Large conference tables are undoubtedly fixed and prescribed. I wanted to change that with Passport,” explains Passport’s designer, Joey Ruiter. “I like the idea of products that do more for us. Passport puts choice and control back in the hands of the users by allowing them to easily reposition furniture, even if it is wired up with technology. It adjusts the conference room to the participants and activities instead of the other way around.”
A unique Passport feature is the “first-of-its-kind” sliding conference tabletop, which lets the users properly position the table relative to a presentation surface or monitor. The sliding top also turns two tables in adjacent rooms separated by a removable partition into one large table with ease, and within seconds. Power/data access moves with the tabletop while remaining fully connected. “It’s simple and complex at the same time. Move a large, technology-laden table close to a wall for a different posture, setting, and activity, with ease,” said Ruiter.
Passport Duo tables are intended for adjacent room applications where a removable partition is used to separate the rooms. When the partition is opened to create one larger conference room, the two tabletops slide together to form one larger table. These tables include a simple ganging device to securely connect them together. They are manufactured as a pair of tables to ensure grain- and color-matching between the tables when they are joined together.
“Passport is a first of its kind in the industry, and does a superb job of adjusting to the multitude of meeting styles that occur in a typical conference room,” said Bob Bockheim, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nucraft. “Passport makes conference rooms work harder.”
Nucraft captured two other awards in The Best of NeoCon competition: a Gold Award for Emme occasional tables (see FMLink story: “NeoCon 2012: Nucraft’s Emme occasional pieces take Gold in Best of NeoCon“) and Silver for Reveal conference room furniture.
Attuned to environmental necessities, Nucraft uses recycled materials in manufacturing Passport, allowing it to contribute toward the attainment of points in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, a set of the universally recognized standards for green environments established by the U.S. Green Building Council. In addition, Passport can be specified with materials made from rapidly renewable resources or wood content certified by the Forest Stewardship Council for its environmental attributes.
For more information visit the Nucraft Web site. See also the list of the Best of NeoCon winners on FMLink.
