At a Neocon unlike most others, elevators were empty, and you could actually hear yourself think. Despite safety precautions and lower attendance, new solutions were unveiled, recognition was awarded, and designers found creative inspiration.

While all the showrooms had loads to offer, Steelcase spaces with their wide a range solutions for our increasingly hybrid work world were excited to receive Interior Design HiP innovation and Best of Neocon recognition. The clearly unique crowd favorite Work Tents won a HiP Award while the organic design of the mobile Elbrook table collection from Steelcase Learning was showered with Best of NeoCon Gold, Best of NeoCon Innovation and was a HiP Honoree. Design and function for workplaces and learning spaces were clearly also big winners.

Flex Active Frames was a HiP Honoree for its new look at separation and privacy, adding to the growing Flex Collection supporting teams and collaboration with flexible tools. The small but mighty Desk Wizard booking system was awarded Best of Neocon Silver, offering easy access to available work space and there was a huge buzz about the Eclipse task light. Who doesn’t love working better and looking better at the same time?

Partners and Marketplace Brands were also filled energy and solutions to support hybrid work and improve the employee experience. Established and Sons from the UK introduced the part sofa, part lounge, part presentation space in their Grid Collection, merging architecture and furniture to create formal or casual rooms within rooms. Designtex offered brighter warmer healthcare spaces with its Beguiled by the Wild Redux collection, Orangebox added the On The QT personal phone booth to their collection and Extremis brought over next-gen tools for togetherness and Belgian beer to their first standalone space at Neocon.

The Mart and all Chicago design spaces were hopping last week in Chicago, and from all reports, there was something for everyone at Neocon 2021.