This Reconfigurable Desktop Unit Offers Instant Privacy in the Office

Collaborating with renowned designers Peter Stathis and Michael McCoy, Pablo Designs developed Corner Office, a reconfigurable desktop unit that fosters privacy in the workplace.

Images courtesy Pablo Designs

When office designers began to dismantle the high walls of the cubicle, they intended to make office-goers feel less isolated, promoting more flexibility and collaboration. The goal, however, often proved idealistic; the change translated instead into workspaces where idle chatter and lack of privacy made it difficult to focus. While walls no longer exist, headphones have become their replacement.

To Pablo Pardo, founder of Pablo Designs, headphones are not a good-enough answer. In collaboration with renowned product designers Peter Stathis and Michael McCoy, Pablo Designs developed Corner Office, a reconfigurable desktop unit that fosters privacy in collaborative and mobile workspaces. Corner Office boasts a multitude of features, including a dimmable LED task light, three USB ports for charging devices, optional sound-deterrent fabric panels, and an optional storage pocket for desk clutter.

When Stathis and McCoy approached Pablo Designs with initial prototypes for Corner Office, Pardo—a longtime minimalist lighting designer—immediately recognized it as an important new product category. “We are constantly pursuing opportunities to cross-fertilize light across categories,” he says. Corner Office retains a minimalist ethos, and is designed as a flat-pack system, delivering a private and organized workspace— whether in the office or at home. “The geometry is visually interesting,” Stathis explains. “It provides an ergonomic upgrade to existing tables and desks.” Corner Office consists of fully recyclable aluminum parts and can be assembled with a magnetic connection system in a few minutes, cutting the time (and resources) spent setting up office furniture. The units can be combined and reconfigured to accommodate various seating arrangements, making Corner Office a feasible development for the entire workspace.

Pablo Designs unveiled the Corner Office collection at ICFF Miami, offering a new perspective on workplace needs. “Office procurement practices are changing, and the consumerization of workplace tools is beginning to take place,” says Pardo. “A product needs to offer a solution to a problem while responding to a certain ethos of a time.”

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