Working from home is now more than a trend, it is a necessity! Clever solutions that maximise space, which are comfortable and flexible, and help facilitate better digital interactions among workers will be key for maintaining focus and productivity as well as a sense of balance and wellbeing into daily life.

Homely Working Area

Having a working area in our living spaces will be central, thus the focus should be on creating affordable ergonomic home working solutions or pieces that blend into home interiors. Smaller desks that can fit into smaller or unused areas thus maximizing space, wall desks that fold away and save space or desks that easily adjust between standing and seated positions can be good solutions for having a dedicated working area but not compromising the home space and style. Non-office furniture is also many times used for creating a workspace integrated into another room, like a kitchen or living room, allowing for different styles, materials and accessories being used.

Another priority when considering workstations in multi-function living spaces is organization and tidiness. Shelving solutions that can be moved around easily and stacked in different configurations, multilayered accessories that make better use of desktop space and that can be moved around when needed or compartments of different shapes and sizes for every stationery item will help create a better scenario for focused work. Walls can also become an important place to organise home office spaces, with clever solutions such as hooks, compartments and small shelving, while creating at the same time attractive backgrounds for virtual conferencing. Dedicated, stylish gadget storage houses chargers and devices in one contained place, integrated furnishings with hidden power plugs and sockets and cable management products will also help keeping an organized and uncluttered desk.

Working from home gives us also the possibility to make desk spaces more personal and special. More luxurious and tactile materials, like stone, brushed metal, leather and dark woods will create a more elegant and refined mood; Natural elements like solid-look woods, cork and raffia might will bring Biophilic design into the workspace and might help reduce stress and create a more calming environment; The use of primary, bright and joyful colours in furniture, shelving and storage or accessories will help the space feel less corporate and more playful.

Office Living Space

As consumers are used to being able to do everything from the safety of their home, when they do leave to go to the office, they want to feel the same level of comfort and reassurance.

A new word is on the rise: resimercial. What was once only residential is now also for the workplace, and vice versa. The lines between designing for the home and the office blur, with office products deeply influenced by the comfort of home interiors.

Even with reduced capacities, offices need design solutions which help enforce social distancing measures. Open-office spaces will be divided into cellular formats using moveable partitions and dividers, which also help with acoustics and privacy and social distancing aids, such as arrows and footsteps will be increasingly be incorporated in flooring layout and walls. Materials with antimicrobials properties and hygiene-friendly materials that can be easily disinfected will be increasingly considered for the construction of furniture and renovation of spaces.

Sonae Arauco Solutions

To meet the challenge not only in terms of design but also in terms of the intrinsic property of the materials, which the application in an office context presents, whether it is materialised in an exclusively professional environment or integrated into a family environment, Sonae Arauco offers a range of products that meet these needs and demands with quality, versatility and sustainability.

Sonae Arauco’s Melamine Faced Boards – Innovus Decorative Products - offer a complete range of decorative solutions with a perfect match in Laminates (HPL) and a series of complementary products like surfaced boards with the same decorative proposal but with improved properties for higher demand usages (increased resistance to impact and abrasion). In addition to their quality, durability and ease of cleaning, the Innovus MF Boards are certified as to the non-development of bacterial activity on their surface(1) and safety for food contact(2).

In order to maximise the performance of MF Boards, and other products like Veneered Surfaces Boards or lacquered products, Sonae Arauco uses and offers the substrates that best meet the specific needs of each project or environment. The Core&Technical range includes substrates such as MDF Standard or P2 Particleboard, which for its versatility and balance of properties allow the production of furniture of standard level of demand, and also products such as PB P4 which due to its mechanical properties allows the specific use for load-bearing, such as the manufacture of shelving to support high weights without deformation of the material.

In a context of office applications, namely in public projects like schools or libraries, there are many times specific requirements regarding fire resistance, and also in this particular and demanding property the portfolio of surfaced and raw products of Sonae Arauco presents solutions. The FIRE X range includes, for example, MDF FIRE X or Innovus MFC FIRE X.

In addition to decorative and performance properties also the environmental and legal specifications in different markets are considered in Sonae Arauco's portfolio, being available to the market products that comply for example with different levels of formaldehyde emissions, such as E1 for the generality of the European market, E05 for the specific case of the German market or CARB/EPA/TSCA which is the regulation used in the United States.

Sonae Arauco Decorative Proposals

Innovus Decorative Products offers a complete range of decorative solutions with a perfect match in Laminates (HPL) and other complementary products.
We propose here some decorative combinations that can be adapted both to the Home Office and to the new needs of the Corporate Office.

M6284FUN Timeless Oak Biscuit
M6285FUN Timeless Oak Cocoa
L166TF Light Grey
L5208LP Aquamarine

M6263FUN Salerno Oak Golden
M6264FUN Salerno Oak Pale
B4401LP Unique White
L6160LP Grey Beige

M6313SPT Exquisite Dark
M6314SPT Exquisite Light
F2284STU Oxyde Brass
L6084LP Daylight

M6305FLW Smart Ash Light
M6306FLW Smart Ash
L5214LP Chilli
L4054LP Anthracite

M6320SPT Supreme White
F2302STU Artwall
L2201LP Taupe
L5234LP Hindu

M6209FLW Magyra Beech Pale
F2298STU Hybrid White
L167TF Dark Grey
L4068LP Medium Grey

(1) According to international standard ISO 22196:2011, certification by Hohenstein institute
(2) ISEGA institute, conformity certificate - 50509 U 19