by Brianna Crandall — June 28, 2013—Contemporary contract furniture producer Allermuir introduced a new user-friendly and technology-savvy collaborative work system called Together during NeoCon 2013 in Chicago June 10-12. In addition to Together, the company introduced three other products that were entrants in the show’s Best of NeoCon Competition: Ad-Lib Tables (described below) in the category of Tables: Training & Work (includes height-adjustable); Circo under Seating: Conference; and Phoulds in Seating: Guest.
Together
Together is a new collection of collaborative small group work environments that brings technology to the table in a robust, useful and intuitive way. Each configuration is anchored by a fully integrated display base unit onto which one or more computer or video displays are mounted. Users select a color-coded button connected to their personal device to activate the group display, which allows for a more personal presentation of their ideas.
According to Allermuir, Together is distinct in the market as a turn-key solution that is as easy to set up, simple to work with, and affordable. The system can be configured seamlessly in numerous ways and includes tables in three heights—desk, lounge and bar height. Work surfaces are available in teardrop, rectangle, trapezoid and wedge shapes, and come in a variety of finishes. Any configuration can be integrated with light scale task, bench, stool or other types of seating, depending on the requirements of the work environment.
The Together system features a unique cable management system designed to allow optimal use of the worksurface area without unnecessary clutter. “The key to this is managing the myriad of cables and wires from users at each station,” says Mark Brettschneider, president of Allermuir U.S. We have developed a deep cable channel which runs down the center of the table; this literally sucks up and hides the clutter while allowing the user controls to be accessible.”
The Together system provides for connectivity of a wide range of devices, including tablet, iPad, smart phone, laptop—virtually any device. Each user has AC power and can connect via USB, VGA or universal jack. Together also has a feature called the “Fifth Connection” that allows a connection into the user’s network or another video input source.
The Ad-Lib table program designed by Pearson Lloyd was developed principally to work with the Ad-Lib seating range and shares common design values and architecture with the seating. Similar goals of lean material usage and sustainability were key to its development as was the desire to develop a truly universal table program with a very small inventory of components.
The program includes three leg types that are developed using predominantly aluminum components; 4-start, “I” leg and “J” leg. The program spans from 31″ coffee tables through to 14-seat boardroom tables. Rectangular and soft rectangular tables can be specified with in-top power, data and audio-visual (AV) connections in a variety of standard configurations.
