Bringing New Life to Work: Instilling Warmth

Coalesse was founded in the San Francisco Bay area, and we’ve always celebrated the region’s warm, natural beauty. We carry that warmth forward in the way we design products and spaces. The language of design can stimulate a sense of warmth in the workplace — a feeling of welcome, comfort, trust, acceptance and wellbeing.

Indeed, warmth is central to who Coalesse is and what we bring to work culture. It’s part of what we see as our core activity: to instill workplaces with warmth, vitality and soul.

How we embrace warmth in design

Embracing warmth in workplace design reflects our awareness of people’s need for connection, both to those around them and to their surroundings. It reflects an understanding that people want to work in an environment that values multiple dimensions — physical, social, emotional and cognitive.

A fundamental way workers connect to their office environment is through a sense of physical and emotional comfort: How does the furniture feel? How does the space feel? According to John Hamilton, our global design director, design details play a big role in workplace comfort.

“When a space considers the individual’s physical comfort by incorporating design details that address how one experiences an object — its softness, its curvature, its materiality, and how it touches our bodies — the relationship that we build with that space is more valuable,” he said.

In addition, the way we arrange settings can ease people’s emotional comfort, resulting in new relationships, stronger social connections and increased trust.

Warmth in design also creates a sense of welcome in the workplace — a quality of ease that promotes creative thought and productive collaboration. Warm, inviting workplaces can invigorate individuals and teams, helping people feel like themselves, feel at home while at work.

Last, we can promote warmth in office design by listening: What do people want? How are their needs changing? What could ease their future challenges? Only after listening can we respond with relevant, people-centric solutions — designs with meaningful visual details, approachable proportions and natural, intuitive features.

When we seek warmth in design, we enhance the sense of connection and wellbeing in the workplace.

Warm light, welcoming ambience. Speaking the language of warmth and welcome, this lounge space features Millbrae Contract Lounge Seating and the CG_1 Table.

Encouraging interactions. When objects are arranged to encourage social connections, the setting promotes relationships and improves the work culture. The space pictured here, which includes the Viccarbe Davos Lounge Seating exemplifies this principle.