Flex Time

-- Interior Design, 5/31/2009 12:00:00 AM

Can an office system be all things to all companies? It can if it's Stride, the new Allsteel series that sees workplaces in flux and is responding with flexibility. The manufacturer identified six job functions—director/group leader, consultant, customer-service representative, technical specialist, analyst, and field representative—and created a cohesive space plan that addresses each purpose: Analysts get a panel system, consultants sit in an open plan, directors take the private office. But more than mere flexibility, Stride promises sustainability, too. The company's first complete office system to be built according to McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry's Cradle-to-Cradle Silver standards, it utilizes steel and lead-free aluminum as primary structural materials. Plus, desktops are wheatboard, a particleboard alternative made from agricultural fibers. Plastic components contain significant amounts of recycled content. And Victor Innovatex's Eco-Intelligence Polyester, already MBDC-certified as Cradle-to-Cradle Gold, covers the panels. 563-272-4800; allsteeloffice.com. circle 564