Sedus WHAT'S UP Blog

Abstract illustration of a spacious modern interior with multiple people walking and sitting, featuring large windows and open balconies

News 30/07/2026

Spaces that Care: Why the workplace must respond to human nature

Ahead of ORGATEC 2026, Sedus has introduced the motto “Spaces that Care – Wellbuilding for Human Nature”. But what lies behind it, and what can visitors expect in Cologne? We spoke with Ernst Holzapfel, Marketing Director at Sedus about the idea behind the theme.

Hands holding a USB-C cable near a portable battery labeled 'se:charge' on a wooden desk with a keyboard and mouse nearby

Workplace Design 20/07/2026

se:charge – Portable battery for flexible working environments

Fixed workstations are giving way to flexible space concepts; meetings take place spontaneously wherever ideas arise; and hybrid working models demand maximum mobility. Yet while furniture and spaces are becoming increasingly flexible, the power supply often stays tied to one location. With se:charge, Sedus offers a solution designed precisely for this.

Open-plan office space with modern furniture including chairs, tables, shelving units, and plants arranged in a bright, spacious environment with large windows

Workplace Design 13/07/2026

Designcodes: Four atmospheres for four modes of attention

Relaxed, Clear, Smart and Slow – the four design worlds featured in the current issue of #designcodes 1/2026 reveal far more than just colour trends. They illustrate how different room atmospheres can specifically support different modes of attention. This makes them a practical planning model for modern work environments that put people and their cognitive needs at the centre.

Open office space with soft seating including armchairs and a curved partition creating semi-private zones where people are sitting, working, and conversing

Workplace Design 08/07/2026

Supporting neurodiversity with soft seating: How se:cove enhances sensory-graded focus zones

Not everyone experiences the same working environment in the same way. Whilst some staff members draw energy from lively, communicative areas, others need a quiet, low-stimulus environment in order to concentrate on their work. It is precisely this diversity that the term ‘neurodiversity’ describes.

Workplace Design 06/07/2026

Designing Unique Retreats: From Soft Seating to Micro-Architecture

Open-plan office layouts define the modern workplace. They foster collaboration, speed up communication, and create flexible spaces for hybrid teams. At the same time, however, the number of distractions employees face on a daily basis is increasing. Conversations, phone calls, spontaneous meetings, and constant visual contact can make it difficult to concentrate and increase mental stress.

Person with shoulder-length hair sitting in a curved armchair using a laptop with a plant and a cup on a table nearby

Workplace Design 01/07/2026

Sensory grounding in an armchair: How se:cove stabilises the peripersonal space

Why do we immediately feel calm, present and focused in some places – and constantly ‘on the lookout’ in others? The answer lies not only in the acoustics or the number of people in the room. It begins much closer to home: in our immediate surroundings, the so-called peripersonal space (PPS). Neuroscientific findings show that this area around our body is crucial to whether we feel safe, focused and capable of acting.

22/06/2026

Slow Office Design: Breaks as a Productivity Factor

The office is changing. Not only in terms of technology or design, but in its very essence. What was long considered a sign of efficiency – the cluttered desk, the packed calendar, and, constant availability – is increasingly being called into question. The new guiding principle is: Mindful Work. And it poses a simple yet far-reaching question: What do people really need to work well over the long term?

Spacious modern office interior with open seating areas, modular furniture, plants, and large windows providing natural light

Sustainability 15/06/2026

Designing a sustainable office: creating a modern Green Office with furniture

Sustainability has long since become a central component of modern corporate strategies. The design of working environments plays a particularly crucial role in this regard. A sustainable office combines environmental responsibility, economic efficiency and the well-being of employees. Companies that opt for resource-efficient materials, durable furnishing concepts and flexible usage options not only create future-proof workplaces but also strengthen their employer brand at the same time.

Workplace Design 03/06/2026

Focus in the Open Space: 5 Design Levers Without Rebuilding

Open spaces encourage interaction and collaboration — but they often make concentrated work more difficult. Conversations, movement, video calls and the lack of retreat spaces continuously interrupt attention throughout the day.

Workplace Design 22/05/2026

se:cove as a Micro Focus Space

Hybrid work environments require new answers to one essential need: concentration. Instead of clearly separated rooms, workplaces today are evolving into finely layered environments where focus and interaction can coexist. Micro focus spaces such as se:cove demonstrate how retreat without isolation can be integrated directly into open-plan settings — creating a new balance between concentrated work and togetherness.

Person sitting on an office chair with visible lumbar support and armrest, hand resting on the armrest

Wellbeing 20/05/2026

Understanding lordosis: Why proper lumbar support is crucial for healthy sitting

Many people spend several hours a day sitting down – often with consequences for their back, neck and shoulders. Back pain is one of the most common complaints in everyday office life. A crucial factor for ergonomic sitting is often underestimated: the natural lordosis of the spine. Anyone who understands how lordosis works and how to adjust the lumbar support on an office chair can specifically prevent discomfort and work more healthily in the long term.

Workplace Design 13/05/2026

Spaces for Deep Focus: How Much Shielding Is Right?

For years, the conversation around the workplace was shaped by a single paradigm: Openness, Collaboration and Interaction.

Today, that perspective is shifting. In a world saturated with stimuli, the office is increasingly becoming what is often missing elsewhere: a place for concentration.

This shift raises a new design question:
How much shielding does focus require—and at what point does it become counterproductive?

Open-plan office with large arched windows, exposed brick walls, multiple desks with chairs, and plants near the windows

Workplace Design 11/05/2026

Flexible Office Furniture: Modular and Multifunctional Concepts for Modern Work Environments

The se:lab product family is designed for modern work environments and shows how flexible office furniture can transform everyday office life. With solutions such as the se:lab sofa and the se:lab meet desk, versatile, easily movable furnishing elements are created that support modular office concepts. These multifunctional pieces support agile working, spontaneous meetings, and creative collaboration. At the same time, they can be individually adapted and combine flexibility with thoughtful design and sustainable production.

Open office space with a long wooden table surrounded by green upholstered chairs and built-in wooden seating niches along the wall under pendant lights

Workplace Design 08/05/2026

Start it @KBC – How open innovation spaces can remain conducive to focused work

Open coworking spaces often face an apparent contradiction: they are meant to foster exchange, dynamism and creative energy – whilst at the same time enabling focused work. The Start it @KBC project in Antwerp shows exactly how this balance can be achieved.

Workplace Design 04/05/2026

Transitional Spaces: The Underrated Boosters Between Teamwork and Focus

How corridors, alcoves and soft zones facilitate cognitive switching.
Between focused individual work and lively interaction lies an area that is often underestimated in office planning: the interstitial space. It is precisely these transitional zones that are crucial for productive work in hybrid working environments. Corridors, alcoves and peripheral areas thus become more than mere circulation spaces – they support focus, interaction and natural movement in equal measure.

A woman is sitting in the biophilic office area

Wellbeing 04/05/2026

The Peripersonal Space in the Office: Why Focus Begins with Us

In a world constantly competing for our attention, focus has become one of our scarcest resources. Notifications, conversations, visual stimuli - everything demands our awareness at the same time. And this is precisely where a new perspective on workplace design begins: not with the space, but with the human being.

More specifically: with the peripersonal space.

Modern office lounge with multiple plants, wooden and upholstered chairs, low tables, and a sofa against a backdrop of large windows and dark curtains

Workplace Design 01/05/2026

Biophilic Design – How to improve the working environment with office plants

Working in green surroundings: The ‘biophilic design’ principle uses plants to create a pleasant office environment that protects against noise and poor air quality and helps improve concentration.

Panel of six people seated on stage in front of a large screen displaying the TrendOfis Summit event title and panelist names and photos

News 27/04/2026

Hospitality makes the difference: insights from Istanbul

At the recent TrendOfis Summit in Istanbul, one idea stood out: the office is no longer just somewhere to work. It is becoming a place that needs to welcome, support and engage people in a much more intentional way. In this blog post, Sinem Beaujean, Global Engagement Strategist at Sedus and panel moderator at the summit, shares her insights.

Workplace Design 24/04/2026

Retreat within the open space - se:cove as a personal focus spot

Open-plan workplaces promote transparency, interaction, and dynamic exchange. Yet the more open they become, the clearer the need for retreat emerges - not as an opposite, but as a necessary complement.

Sustained focus cannot thrive amid constant noise. With digital stimuli and conversations competing for attention, every interruption carries a cognitive cost, making deep concentration harder to regain - especially in open environments.

The question, then, is no longer whether retreat is needed, but how it can be designed without compromising openness.

Workplace Design 22/04/2026

The Work Café as a Dual Modality: Social Exchange and Individual Focus – How Productive Environments for Concentration Emerge

It often begins inconspicuously: with a cup of coffee, a brief exchange, a spontaneous thought. Yet it is precisely in these moments that the potential of a space becomes clear - one that offers far more than a mere pause. The work café is no longer a peripheral feature; it is evolving into a central component of contemporary work environments. A place where interaction and concentration are not in opposition, but actively reinforce one another.