Steelcase Announces Partnerships With Flos and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams

This week, Steelcase announced two major partnerships. Starting in November, the Steelcase network in the U.S. and Canada will start offering Flos lighting, along with a collection of furnishings by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams.

The Flos affiliation recognizes the importance of decorative lighting in office design, which increasingly takes cues from the residential sector. “In the projects we’re working on, floor lamps, sconces, and pendant lamps are at the center of the discussions,” explains Brian Shapland, general manager of Turnstone, a Steelcase brand. “That wasn’t something we offered, and it felt like a huge opportunity.” Unique lighting solutions are in demand both for their aesthetic appeal and their ability to define more intimate and personalized zones within the workplace.

From a logistics standpoint, the union allows the brands to more efficiently deliver lighting solutions to specifiers. “Up front in the design process, all of our designers and dealers will have the Flos portfolio in their software,” Shapland says. “We’ll help manage the order, and between the two of us, we believe we can make it an easier process.”

“We have 400 options in our decorative lighting portfolio that run the gamut from the classic Arco lamp from 1962 to Superloon by Jasper Morrison,” adds Jack Schreur, CEO of Flos. “We’re excited to see what architects do when we take the constraints off.”

With these announcements, Steelcase proves it’s on a mission to diversify its portfolio with products that eschew contract convention.