We visit the office of Grundfos in Singapore to see how Duba-B8 height-adjustable tables are helping employees work better.
June 11th, 2013
We’re inside the building housing the Singapore operations of the world’s largest pump manufacturer, the Danish company Grundfos, and it is impressive. The BCA Green Mark Platinum building is designed by W Architects and has many commendable green features that are closely aligned with the company’s values. We are here, however, to learn more about just one – the height-adjustable tables from another Danish company, Duba-B8.
Grundfos Singapore – A BCA Green Mark Platinum building
Every employee in the new Grundfos building – which the company moved into more than a year ago – now uses a height-adjustable table from Duba-B8. The tabletops are made from FSC certified bamboo and the desks are highly flexible and customisable to meet the needs of the user. One of its most unique features too is a patented ‘click’ system underneath the table that makes for easy assembly; the system also makes it possible to replace the tabletops easily, where necessary or desired, without having to change the entire table.
Every employee at Grundfos uses a Duba-B8 height-adjustable desk
Besides being a highly sustainable product, the company’s height-adjustable tables help enhance productivity and can go so far as to reduce sick leave, according to Thomas Dueholm Laursen, the Regional Sales Director of Duba-B8, Asia Pacific.
“After lunch, you find most of the staff [at Grundfos] standing up to work. You can feel how more productive [they are], in the afternoons, than they were in the old building where they had fixed height tables,” says Laursen. “Another aspect of the table is that you can adjust it to fit [your height]. Also, the tables here are a little more deep compared to what you would normally find out here in Asia, and that’s because you need about 70cm distance from your eyes to the screen to avoid getting headaches [and other health issues].
Duba-B8 desk
While having height-adjustable tables in offices is the standard in Denmark, it is still a novel concept in Singapore and Asia. Poul Due Jensen, Grundfos’ Group Senior Vice President & Regional Managing Director for Asia Pacific recounts an amusing incident back when he had just started testing a Duba-B8 desk in the old office.
“The staff didn’t understand why I was standing. I had not told them anything. But there was this girl who was not scared of talking to the boss. She knocked on the door and said, ‘Everybody is wondering why you are standing. Did you get punished by your boss?’ She explained that in school here, if you do something wrong to you get to stand up. So it had a negative feeling [attached to it],” says Jensen.
Grundfos pumps are used to service the reflection pool
Sustainability and employee welfare are important values at Grundfos, Jensen explains. “So we thought, why not walk the talk here with what we do, with our staff, with our own building, so we can show… our customers [and employees] what we are and what we stand for,” he says.
Grundfos’ operations area is naturally ventilated
While it took some time for Grundfos employees in Singapore to adjust to a new way of working, many are now actively using the height-adjustable tables to fit their needs at work. As a recent Grundfos company survey shows, employee satisfaction with the office furnishings now stands at an impressive 79 per cent.
The Grundfos lobby
Duba-B8
dubab8.com
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Savage Design’s approach to understanding the relationship between design concepts and user experience, particularly with metalwork, transcends traditional boundaries, blending timeless craftsmanship with digital innovation to create enduring elegance in objects, furnishings, and door furniture.
In the pursuit of an uplifting synergy between the inner world and the surrounding environment, internationally acclaimed Interior Architect and Designer Lorena Gaxiola transform the vibration of the auspicious number ‘8’ into mesmerising artistry alongside the Feltex design team, brought to you by GH Commercial.
Create a configuration to suit your needs with this curved collection.
Sub-Zero and Wolf’s prestigious Kitchen Design Contest (KDC) has celebrated the very best in kitchen innovation and aesthetics for three decades now. Recognising premier kitchen design professionals from around the globe, the KDC facilitates innovation, style and functionality that pushes boundaries.
Have you ever wanted to meet the creative minds behind Droog, Formafantasma, Khai Liew, and the like? Well now you can with the launch of an NGV speaker series, entitled Parallels, next month. Alice Blackwood reports.
TWENTYTHIRTYFIVE is the latest installation following a collaborative venture between Vitra and American architect and designer Virgil Abloh. Three new limited-edition products have also been launched as an exhibition spin-off.
2020 has certainly been challenging so far, and the way we live and work has changed forever because of COVID-19, however at this time there is the opportunity to plan and re-shape the future and all with the help of Workspace Commercial Furniture.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Create a configuration to suit your needs with this curved collection.
2024’s theme, “Reawaken,” calls for a journey through reinvention and sustainability.