As part of my trip to Grand Rapids, MI, for the 100th Anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Meyer May House, Steelcase treated a group of editors to a tour of its LEED Platinum certified WorkLab. The space is a massive example of workplace collaboration and sustainability located within Steelcase University. In its epic rebranding effort of recent years, spearheaded by Global Design Director James Ludwig, Steelcase has focused its sights on the future, on design and on innovation in the workplace.

The WorkLab features otto favorites like cobi, i2i, c:scape and media:scape, which all rest upon Steelcase’s Nesso access floor, a raised floor with a bevy of finish options. Bringing local flavor into the mix were 100 pieces by Benjamin Maier, a local ceramist who Ludwig discovered in rural Michigan, and whose works are both geometric and organic, with a distinct Sottsass-esque feel to them — Ludwig says that Maier had never heard of famed Italian designer Ettore Sottsass and promptly lent the young potter books to read up on.

Steelcase WorkLab

Benjamin Maeir ceramics on the table, Steelcase prototype, Echo on the wall

James Ludwig

Steelcase University

Steelcase WorkLab

by Jean Lin