Workplace design has been reimagined in recent years with a focus on creating environments that aid employee productivity and enhance job satisfaction. The same is also true in educational environments where schools and institutes are working with designers to optimise spaces that help students achieve best results. The university sector has been of particular interest, and like workplaces, the emphasis is on providing a cohesive environment with spaces for collaboration, creativity and solitude. Students, staff and faculty can spend long periods of time on campus, and require comfortable, functional and adaptable furniture for a variety of situations. An uncomfortable chair can by mentally distracting and physically detrimental, while heavy furniture can be disadvantageous to flexible and spontaneous collaboration. KE-ZU collaborated with Zenith Interiors on the recent upgrade of lecture halls and study areas at Monash University, providing seating and desks for more than 2,000 students. The design brief was for a comfortable, adaptable, ergonomic and versatile solution that suited the needs of the students and the university. Axona AICHI’s Tipo chair offered a high-performance and sustainable solution, as well as being value for money. The Tipo chair (above) is lightweight, comfortable and stackable, and its portability makes it a functional, convenient choice for a variety of education environments. The chair is also customisable and each chair was fitted with a writing tablet and integrated bag-store compartment for Monash University. Axona AICHI’s revolutionary new X50 chair (above) pushes comfort even further, with a flexible seat and back that forms to users’ body pressure and allows for extremely compact stacking. Puck by ENEA (above) also proves a popular choice in social and collaborative spaces. The mobile soft-seating collection is practical and decorative. It has a simple, lightweight form with casters, making it a flexible, portable solution. There have been advances in table design supporting connectivity and interactivity. This creates opportunities for collaboration and increased levels of enjoyment, which flows through to better output and outcomes for users. The Andreu World Radial conference table (above) is also suitable for different environments and activities with multiple table heights and table-top shapes and sizes. The tables can be configured for tutorial rooms or classrooms, study centres, multi-use tables and individual or shared workstations. The table features integrated cable management system, providing power and access to internal or external networks, audio, video or data. The Andreu World Reverse table (above & below) is similarly versatile and adaptable for individual or group work and meetings. It can be configured in almost any size, shape and height, and is available with wire management. Providing highly comfortable and functional furniture not only aids productivity and focus for studies and work, but also contributes to the atmosphere of a space, helping to attract and retain students, staff and faculty. To explore KE-ZU's broad range of products for the educational sector please visit our website here or give us a call to discuss your project requirements on +61 2 9669 1788.