GreyFox

The Irish design expert GreyFox designs sustainable, ergonomic furniture that not only promotes good mood, but above all health. For a mobile Tea Trolley, GreyFox has integrated the BACHMANN MOV:E, a mobile energy storage unit, into the concept: Finally, what belongs together comes together.

Agility is close to the hearts of the GreyFox designers. Hybrid forms of work are a matter of course for the furniture enthusiasts, and this includes, above all, working in different places. The designers from Dublin call this "nomadic working": confining employees in fixed contexts, on the other hand, is alien to them. 

The Sympatico collection was developed in-house by GreyFox to ensure the necessary, unbound mobility. Collaboration, social engagement and adaptability are the main factors that attract people to an office environment, according to the design experts. For this collection, the office, with its namesake fox, focused on enabling better collaboration between employees as they share thoughts or brainstorm. 

But one thing was missing: what about the energy supply when you change locations so frequently and spontaneously? That's when they discovered MOV:E by BACHMANN: The XXL energy store provides enough power supply to operate and charge all common office devices - from laptops to digital flipcharts. 

Thought, done - the Hybrid Work experts created a new version of the furniture in which MOV:E was permanently incorporated. First up, a simple and elegant wooden Tea Trolley, with two shelves, for carrying everyday office peripherals. Hidden below the top shelf is a wireless charging puck, which can charge up to 5 mobile phones. GreyFox has included the MOV:E also, into this tea trolley, meaning that you can now power laptops and much more, on the go. This truly opens up possibilities to work from anywhere. 

MOV:E also powers the GreyFox Vault – a super exciting mobile Trolley, which is reminiscent of a TV Trolley in schools. This time however, Vault hosts the DTen Zoom All-in-One Conferencing 27’ Monitor. MOV:E will provide up to 8 hours of completely untethered power, meaning Vault can bring meetings and interactions to literally any location. Vault provides storage for folders, general office equipment and also a lightweight and stunning whiteboard, making it super agile and multi-use. 

The Irish partner design team of GreyFox, Perch by name, tells: 

“When we developed Sympatico in 2014, the one missing artefact was a reliable and powerful battery unit that looked elegant and came with a reliable manufacturers guarantee. When we discovered MOV:E by BACHMANN, with their XXL energy store we were so excited. It gave us such a meaningful integration for us and meant Sympatico, for GreyFox could now be launched as a completed collection.” 

1. Erin, ergonomics and sustainability are close to your heart. However, what is your vision of a new work culture in general? 

Our Perch design team understand that providing workers and learners with ‘Access to Movement’ is a key driver in worker satisfaction and well-being. Static furniture solutions result in a static workforce and from decades of research, the team understands that continuous low-threshold movement is crucial to healthy working and living. Our furniture provides ‘Access-to-Movement’ to all. 

2. Can you explain the basic idea of the Sympatico series in one sentence? 

Sympatico, from GreyFox, was developed after intense research and development from our design partners, to facilitate simple, untethered and fluid engagement and provide uncompromised experiences in both traditional and non-traditional spaces. 

3. What fascinated you about MOV:E? 

MOV:E from Bachmann is everything we could expect from a mobile battery. Super capacity, truly beautiful industrial design and built by a trusted and powerful brand, such as Bachmann. 

4. What specific products have now emerged from this synergy? 

Apart from integrating MOV:E into our Sympatico collection, we envisage several more developments in the next few years. Working with Bachmann in mind, our design team is excited by the consistency, reliability of the product and are currently building the product into two new collections, as an integral component. Watch this space! 

5. Which perfect piece of furniture have you not yet brought to the market, but would definitely like to do so? 

We can’t give too much away, of course, but we have an absolutely stunning collection of project tables coming through prototype evaluation at the moment and we think it will make many people look up and take notice when we launch later in the year.