Neocon 2013 announces comprehensive list of awards winners

It might sound like a Republican convention but in fact Neocon is the annual workplace exhibition at the giant Merchandise Mart in the centre of Chicago. And when we say ‘workplace’, we mean largely ‘office furniture’.  It attracts around 700 exhibitors and 40,000  of visitors from all over the world and so can help to disseminate ideas that spring up in the US to influence design on a global scale.  Many of the themes apparent at this year’s show will be familiar around the world. As well as the fact that everybody is talking about the environmental credentials of the products, the themes are direct reflections of the concerns and priorities of office occupiers and specifiers. By custom, the first day of the show is when they dish out the awards.

This year’s awards offered the usual mix of major gongs going to the North American office furniture giants as well as recognition for the ideas of smaller manufacturers.  What is evident regardless of the scale of the supplier is that the office is no longer primarily about workstations. It is about meeting and public space, whether as meeting rooms, foyers, cafes, break out spaces or touchdown areas. It is about ergonomics. It is about acoustics. And it is about technology. Leading the field in this regard for 2013 was Haworth who showcased their already much talked about Bluescape digital wall, which won the gold award for workplace technology as well as the overall Best of Competition prize. Haworth also picked up an award for their Harbor Work Lounge collaborative seating range.

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Another American giant that was well represented was Steelcase which took home five awards in total including awards for the Gesture chair, which we mentioned as part of a story here, and the Buoy stool.

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The judges couldn’t leave out the third company in the great American furniture triumvirate and so Herman Miller won the award for Best Showroom as well as five products awards including a gold for the Metalform Portfolio furniture system and a new generation of Eames classics.

Nucraft followed up last year’s Best of Competition Award with three awards this time around including for their Agility table.

Other notable North American winners included Allsteel who won the Gold Award in the furniture systems category for Create and a Gold in the Software Category for their Square Foot Budgeting Calculator.

Create by Allsteel

…and Teknion who won four awards including a Gold for their Fractals seating group.

It isn’t all about furniture however, so the Gold Award winner for Task lighting was the Mosso Pro LED Desk Lamp by Koncept Technologies Inc.

Winner of the Gold Award in the modular flooring category was MODULAR ART MEDIA by Milliken.

European firms were conspicuously thin on Awards although Spanish firm Andreu World won no less less than four awards including a Gold for stacking chair New Sit.

Andreu World New Sit

…and Vitra won an Editor’s Choice Award for Workbay.

Later this week we will publish a full review of the show from designer David Fox who will no doubt offer an eclectic mix of products that may have not got the attention they deserve.

The full list of Awards winners are as follows:

ARCHITECTURAL PRODUCTS:

Silver: Olivia by Joel Berman Glass Studios

Gold: V.I.A. by Steelcase

CARPET: BROADLOOM

Silver: Presage  by Tandus Flooring

Gold: Shibori Collection Broadloom by Atlas Carpet Mills Inc.

CARPET: MODULAR

Silver: Hexagon by Shaw Contract Group

Gold: MODULAR ART MEDIA by Milliken

CASE GOODS:

Silver: Merino Collection by Nucraft

Silver: Element Collection by Thos. Moser

Gold: Catalyst Phase II by Geiger International

CONFERENCE ROOM FURNITURE

Silver: Slate by OFS

Gold: Span by Davis Furniture

EDUCATION SOLUTIONS

Silver: Zero9 by Borgo

Gold: Bloom Collection by VANERUM STELTER

FURNITURE SYSTEMS

Innovation: Metaform Portfolio by Herman Miller

Silver: Abre Collection by TUOHY Furniture Corporation

Gold: Create by Allsteel

FURNITURE SYSTEMS: ENHANCEMENTS

Silver: Interpret by Teknion

Gold: MILLENNIA by HALCON

FURNITURE: BENCHING

Silver: Locale by Herman Miller

Silver: Oxygen by AIS

Gold: Eleven Work Space by OFS

HARD SURFACE FLOORING

Silver: Design Catalyst by Patcraft

Gold: Narrative by Tandus Floorig

HEALTHCARE FABRICS & TEXTILES

Silver: Drift by Pallas Textiles

Gold: Funnybone by cf stinson

HEALTHCARE FLOORING

Innovation: Narrative by Tandus Flooring

Silver: Chordinates by Shaw Commercial Hard Surface

Gold: Grasscloth Collection by Tandus Flooring

HEALTHCARE FURNITURE (non-seating)

Silver: Terra Infusion by Nemschoff

Silver: Mile Marker by Carolina

HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS/TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT

Gold: TouchPoint T7 by Humanscale

HEALTHCARE: GUEST/LOUNGE SEATING

Silver: JumpSeat Wall by Sedia Systems

Gold: Regard by Nurture by Steelcase

LIGHTING: DECORATIVE

Innovation: Lightfalls by 3M Architectural Markets

Silver: Seeyond Lighted Wall Facing by Seeyond Architectural Solutions

Gold: Tono LED Mood Light by Koncept Technologies Inc.

LIGHTING: TASK/DESKTOP

Silver: Knoll LED Lighting Series by Knoll, Inc.

Gold: Mosso Pro LED Desk Lamp by Koncept Technologies Inc.

OFFICE ACCESSORIES

Silver: Newhouse Footrest by JRB Studio, a Baker Manufacturing brand

Gold: Guardian by Neutral Posture, Inc.

SEATING: BENCHES

Silver: Q5 by Davis Furniture

Gold: Lagunitas by Coalesse

SEATING: COLLABORATIVE/WORK

Silver: Harbor Work Lounge by Haworth

Gold: Fractals Seating Group by Teknion

SEATING: CONFERENCE

Silver: Webb C2 by Davis Furniture

Gold: Juxta by Keilhauer

SEATING: ERGONOMIC DESK/TASK

Silver:    muvman by aeris-Impulsmobel GmbH & Co. KG

Silver: Impulse  by BOUTY partner of viasit germany

Gold: Gesture by Steelcase

SEATING: GUEST

Innovation: Buoy by Steelcase

Silver: Lineal Corporate by Andreu World

Gold: Eames Molded Wood Side Chair by Herman Miller

SEATING: SOFAS & LOUNGE

Innovation: Armchair and Pouf01 by Pellizzoni Usa, Inc.

Silver: Agora by Andreu World

Silver: Manfred by Andreu World

Gold: Asa by HBF

SEATING: STACKING

Silver: Opt4 by KI

Gold: New Sit by Andreu World

SIGNAGE & WAYFINDING

Gold: Vivid, Image-Intense Signage by Takeform

SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES

Silver: DesignFlex Visualizer by Mohawk Group

Gold: Square Foot Budgeting Calculator by Allsteel

SURFACING MATERIALS/FINISHES

Silver: CARVART Metallic by CARVART

Gold: Skyline Digital Glass Portfolio by Skyline Design

TABLES: OCCASIONAL

Silver: Aja by Nucraft

Silver: HUGO by HALCON

Gold: Quiet by Bernhardt Design

TABLES: TRAINING & WORK

Gold: Agility by Nucraft

TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT

Silver: VARIDESK by VARIDESK

Gold: Cegano Smart Table by CP Furniture Systems Inc.

TEXTILES: UPHOLSTERY

Innovation: Fit by Polartec by cf stinson

Silver: SUNO Collection/Upholstery by Knoll Luxe

Silver: Sheila Hicks Collection by Momentum Textiles

Surface Tension Collection by Teknion

WALL TREATMENTS

Innovation: Biobased Xorel by Carnegie

Silver: NappaTile by Concertex

Gold: Skyline Digital Glass Portfolio by Skyline Design

WALLS: MOVABLE

Silver: Optos Low Profile by Teknion

Gold: Seeyond Collaboration-Space Movable Walls by Seeyond Architectural Solutions

WINDOW TREATMENTS

Silver: SUNO Collection / Drapery by Knoll Luxe

Gold: MagnaShade by MechoSystems

WORKPLACE TECHNOLOGIES

Gold: Bluescape by Haworth

EDITORS’ CHOICE

Hopper Picnic Bench by JANUS et Cie

Slam Beam by Leland International

Cliffy 6000 by SIXINCH

Workbay by Vitra