Document Type

Presentation

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

6.4 ART

Publication Details

80:80 is an office furniture system designed by John Walsh for Tangent Furniture, UK, in 2001/2002. The product was launched in September 2002 and is still manufactured and sold.

Abstract

80:80 was developed against the background of a changing work environment. Advances in technology meant that work became mobile, the breaking down of walls and cubicles created large open spaces allowing for a movement towards collaborative work and “New Ways of Working”.

80:80 is an office furniture system designed in this context, to provide a foundation for new, flexible ways of working. In particular, the delineators that define territory, such as legs, vertical supports, fixed side screens, were removed or minimised to create an uninterrupted worksurface span, allowing for a flexible space where users can annex as much space as the task in hand requires. The intention was to create a simple, flexible platform for modern work in its many forms and to reduce the desk back to its most simple and useful form- the table. 80:80 does not tell you where to sit, that does not impose upon you how to work but is a blank canvas that facilitates flexible working, aids communication, encourages team work and acknowledges fluctuations in the numbers of people who use a workspace on a day to day basis.

About 30,000 80:80 workstations have been installed to date on many high profile projects for clients including the BBC, Bank of China, Bank of England, British Gas, British Telecom, Fujitsu-Siemens, GlaxoSmithKline, Lastminute.com, Marks Barfield Architects, M&C Saatchi, Microsoft, New London Stock Exchange, O2, Scottish Water, Tommy Hilfiger, Virgin Media, and Wallpaper Magazine. 80:80 was a Finalist in the 2003 FX International Design Awards in the category of Best Systems Furniture Product.

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