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Types of Furniture

Types of systems

Establish Criteria

Evaluations

System Summaries

Analysis & testings

System Ratings

Furniture: Types of System Furniture

 

Recent years, system furniture has gone through a lot of changes with many new products introduced into the market place due to the changing corporate structures, changing technology and the gaining popularity of the new office concept "Alternative Officing".

Classifications of System Furniture

We can classify the systems according to their characteristics, functions and performances. They all have their advantages and disadvnatages which are briefly discussed below:

Panel Based System
These are the oldest system on the market and the most widely used in Industry. It is a conventional system that includes structural panels that are used to support overhead and under work surface components. Changes in height requires changing the panels. Free standing components are used to provide stability of the panels. The first generation systems are thinner panels that wiring and cabling can be accessible only through the base of the panels. The second generation panels are usually thicker that provide high capacity for wiring and cabling as well as flexibility to locate power and cabling along the desk height which is known as belt line.

Framed and Tiles System
These uses open frames as the underlying structure with add-on tiles that provide flexibility for opening or closing a system by removing or adding the tiles. They also provide aesthetic pleasing features by changing color or texture on the fabrics. The tiles also provide flexibility for mounting accessories or tools. The frames will accomodate larger capacity for wiring and cabling and provide better technology support. The height changes are limited to the sizes of the tile.

Segmented System
This is similar to the panel based system and most manufacturer offered this feature together with the panel based system. It provides the looks of tiles but at a reduced cost. It also provides color, texture or material changes to improve the aesthetic characteristic of the sytem.

Stackable System
This is a very versatile system and probably the most flexible in terms of changes in height. The tiles are stacked on top of each other to provide visual and conversational privacy. A truly stackable system are structural so that the tiles are strong enough to support the components as well as providing integrated wiring and cabling. The base panels are the building blocks for height adjustments.

Free-standing System
This is similar to freestanding furniture that uses the desk or similar free standing units as the building block to provide for semi-privacy using screens and to deliver wiring and cabling to the work surfaces. The screens are non-structural so that it is not used to support overhead components. The overhead storage units are supported using posts integrated into the desk or base units. This is a relatively open system and it is not designed to be extensively in a large corporate environment otherwise it can be very costly.

Pole Based system
The newest system on the market that rely on the poles as its structure foundation. It consists of supporting arms and trusses that will accommodate wiring and cabling to the work surfaces. It is the most open system on the market and it is designed for the Alternative Office where team work and commuication between workers are important and privacy are not a key factor. Currently, the components offered by the manufacturers that can work with the sytems are minimal.

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Please send comments to: Jane Wong jmwong@ku.edu