KI @ Design Junction 19th - 23rd September

With over 100 brands on 3 floors; pop-up bars, restaurants and working flash factories - designjunction has transformed Holborn’s Sorting Office into the largest destination for design, culture and entertainment.

KI will be showcasing their award winning products alongside Renée Olivier’s Tyre Furniture Collection, the recipient of the Mixology 2012 Student Furniture Designer of the Year.

Our theme of ‘Deconstruction’ shows the journey our benching takes from raw steel to the finished product. Join us to see the UniteSE collection, SpaceStation and the Opt4 and Faveo seating ranges as well as our interactive graffiti desk and wall.

More details can be found on the designjunction website. Click the red to Register. We hope to see you soon!
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René Olivier's Tyre Furniture Collection at Design Junction

KI sponsored the Mixology 2012 Student Furniture Designer of the Year; an award open to any person enrolled on a recognised furniture design course in the UK. This year’s award went to René Olivier for her innovative Tyre Furniture Collection.

Using discarded bus, car and lorry tyres and a clever detachable frame, users can rework worthless material back into a mutually interesting, comfortable and sustainable design; showing how our commodities can be put to a ‘circular’ use. The metal frame is a stainless steel tube bent in a semi-circle, which enables the tyre seat to rock comfortably from side to side. The tube is also designed with a hinge to allow the metal frame to fold away for ease of movement and storage. 

Jonathan Hindle, Group Managing Director of KI EMEA and member of the judging panel praised the work, suggesting:

“She deserves this award for showing social responsibility at its very best and demonstrating how furniture, if thought about in a very broad global context, can, literally make a difference to the lives of people whose furniture is quite literally, often staring them in the face.”

René describes her work as “not about me but my desire to initiate a change that makes a difference to peoples’ lives.”

Be sure to check out the collection alongside KI's new ranges at next week's Design Junction and London Design Festival.

There are more images of The Tyre Furniture Collection and other products from KI on our Facebook page, click the red to take a look.

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The Opt4 Seating Range

KI’s new Opt4 responds to the changing needs for Userbility. We see it as the new 'Easy Chair' for the workspace: easy-to-carry, easy-to-stack and easy-to-move. With the mesh weighing in at 7.3 pounds - it's the lightest high-density stack chair available.
 
We developed the Opt4 range with both designer and sitter in mind - blending polypropylene and mesh seating and back options  for optimum style and comfort.

Be sure to check out the collection at the upcoming Design Junction and London Design Festival. 

There are more images of Opt4 and other products from KI on our Facebook page, click the red to take a look.

The UniteSE Collection

KI’s new Unite^SE portfolio is a comprehensive workplace collection which combines a simple clean design with a well engineered, highly robust and flexible construction. 

The understructure of the Unite^SE workstation range provides a sturdy modular platform for the addition of multiple worksurface and screen options. These can either be from its standard line or as an exercise in tailored design.

The combined collection offers integrated ranges of benching, freestanding desks, cellular office, workwall, meeting tables and storage. Everything is manufactured in the UK with the benefit of rapid lead times, fit for purpose design and excellent value.

The new workstation platform when combined with KI’s long established specialist expertise in the design and local manufacture of storage and the breadth of line provided by its many seating ranges, provides an opportunity to work with its customers to tailor flexible furnishing solutions which enable staff to communicate and collaborate more freely.

Copies of the new brochure are available to download from the KI Europe website; renders and showroom photos of the Unite^SE programme in action can be seen on our Facebook page. 

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Piana Chair wins Design Guild Mark

The recipients of the 2012 Design Guild Marks have been announced by The Furniture Makers Company. They were introduced five years ago to recognise and reward excellence in the British design of furniture in volume production.

This year saw a very high number of applications, and the design of most of them was described as “exceptional”. They were decided by a judging panel of professionals from across the design industry.

David Chipperfield's iconic Piana chair was chosen for its beautiful simplicity in both form and function, as Chipperfield describes as possessing "visual expression that is indicative in its simplicity of the function and role of the item itself, bestowing the chair a character of eternity."

Sebel Furniture UK merges with KI (UK) Ltd

In late 2011, KI acquired the Sebel Group of Companies and has decided to integrate Sebel Furniture UK with KI (UK) Ltd . The Sebel team will now be responsible for the development of the Schools & Academies Market; servicing the education sector through a streamlined product range that draws from the very best of KI and Sebel, including the Postura+ family of products.

Imperial College Executive Training Suite

KI has delivered and installed furniture into an Executive Education Suite for Imperial College Business School within just two weeks of receiving the brief.

The Business School required a high quality furniture solution, appropriate for a seminar room predominantly used to deliver Executive Education to corporate clients. It was essential that the furniture was flexible enough to be moved around effortlessly.

Afrey Edes, Faculty Services Manager at Imperial College commented:

“I was impressed with the high standard of service and depth of advice when selecting furniture for a new seminar room and several break out rooms here at Imperial College Business School. The installation went very smoothly, everything arrived on time and the staff were friendly and helpful. The furniture is great quality, very comfortable for users and easy to fold and store, overall a big success.”

Although design is important it was also imperative that the furniture was comfortable as well as aesthetically pleasing. KI provided K5 chairs with cantilevered, sled bases and the Perry articulating stacking chair, a seating classic, designed by Charles Perry, all upholstered in leather.

The K5 chairs can be easily stacked and stored away. The arms are not fixed to the shell, and this extra movement means greater comfort. A continuous seat and back unit comes upholstered in dark leather and chrome finish. The Perrychair is stylish and elegant with a uniqueback movement. The seat, upholstered in leather, is suspended from the back by solid steel rods, which enables the user’s bodyweight to counterbalance the back flex to provide just the right degree of support and comfort when seated for long periods.

KI also provided the Kite table system, a unique patented design which can be quickly and easily configured in to a range of ideal meeting or training combinations without loss of individual space. Kite tables, with flip tops & an intelligent nesting leg design can be moved safely and easily by one person and stored efficiently in a small space.

The tables fold as one unit in a 30cm width and have unique three point contact lockable castors that feature an easy to use levelling facility. No tools are required so changing the layout is instant. Levelling is achieved by simply turning the two spindles directly above the castor.