Steelcase Showcases Workplace Design Strategies that Support Wellbeing and Performance at Chicago Design Week 2026

Steelcase Showcases Workplace Design Strategies that Support Wellbeing and Performance at Chicago Design Week 2026

New solutions demonstrate how designing the workplace for community can reduce cognitive overload, improve employee engagement and create a competitive advantage for organizations navigating change.

Grand Rapids, MI, June 8, 2026 - At Chicago Design Week 2026, Steelcase - a global design and thought leader in the world of work - and its community of brands are showcasing new solutions, ideas and insights that show how the workplace can be designed to create a cognitive advantage for people to drive productivity and business performance.

People and organizations continue to navigate significant shifts in how work happens. Constant stimulation, AI adoption and increased screen time are making it harder for people to focus, think clearly and keep up with the pace of work, leading to cognitive overload. As these shifts reshape daily work, they're also changing what people need from the workplace.

Steelcase helps organizations respond and adapt to change by designing workplaces that encourage building community at work. Its approach, Community-Based Design, draws upon urban planning principles to create workplaces that mimic a vibrant city, offering a diverse range of spaces that support what the brain needs to function best throughout the day. The approach creates an infrastructure for building social connections, helping people thrive and supporting organizations to be more agile. By designing for community, the workplace becomes a strategic asset that helps people perform at their best and organizations adapt and grow through change.

Steelcase research shows designing for community improves employee performance and experience - but most workplaces fall short. 63% of employees don't have access to enough diverse spaces that help build a sense of community at work. But when they do, people are 14% more engaged and 8% more productive, which in turn reduces burnout and likelihood to leave.*

"The complexity of work today is challenging how people focus, collaborate and stay connected," said Brodie Bertrand, vice president of brand, marketing and stakeholder communications. "Building a sense of community at work is often seen as a cultural concept, but it has a very tangible business impact - it's a driver of performance that can strengthen both the employee experience and the performance of the organization. We're excited for people to explore the many Steelcase experiences at Chicago Design Week to see how our offerings are designed to help create community."

Workplace Solutions for Focus, Collaboration and Hybrid Work

At Chicago Design Week, Steelcase and its community of brands show how organizations can reduce cognitive load and make the office a cognitive advantage by designing for community - introducing solutions that support focus, collaboration and restoration throughout the day, including:

Aisla™ - an open plan panel system designed for elevated spaces, offering refined materiality, precision-crafted elements and integrated power within a scalable system. It provides a custom, built-in look across open plan applications.

The Apprise™ Collection by Steelcase Health - a comprehensive seating and table system designed to bring both emotional and physical comfort to healthcare environments. With residentially inspired forms, durable construction and a cohesive design language, it enables consistency and flexibility across healthcare environments.

Ocular™ Frame - a design-forward audio-video solution that natively hosts displays, cameras and supporting technology to create functional and adaptable hybrid meeting spaces. With fast installation and flexibility to integrate across the entire floorplan, Ocular Frame converts any wall into a future-ready hybrid collaboration experience.

AMQ® Brin™ - a multi-purpose stacking chair that combines modern design with everyday durability. Its fiberglass-reinforced shell and steel frame options stand up to heavy use, while clean lines and neutral tones elevate any environment, ready wherever teams gather.

Steelcase® SmartTools for Revit - a free, lightweight plugin that streamlines furniture specification by giving designers direct access to a searchable library of Steelcase and Community of Brands Revit families - eliminating manual downloads and accelerating project workflows. Steelcase is the first contract furniture manufacturer to offer a solution like this within Autodesk Revit.

Viccarbe® Missiva™ Collection - a modular lounge collection built around connection - between elements and the people who use them. Centered on a configurable sofa, the system extends to lounge chairs, benches and poufs that can be combined to create compositions at different scales, with low tables completing the ensemble for waiting, transitional and meeting spaces.

Steelcase offerings extend beyond floors 6 and 7 of 811 West Fulton Market. Chicago Design Week attendees can also explore the latest offerings from Designtex on floor 5 and Coalesse directly on Fulton Street, just outside the Steelcase showroom.

The Coalesse® Co.Lab pop-up is an immersive, interactive space designed to spark connection and creativity through products from Viccarbe, Tom Dixon, Moooi, Flos and Extremis that turn meaningful communal spaces into the brightest workplaces through bold materiality, texture and objects.

Additional solutions from Steelcase Learning, Viccarbe, Smith System®, West Elm by Steelcase and HALCON® will be featured at The Mart.

Sustainable Workplace Design: Advancing Net-Zero and Circular Solutions

In 2024, Steelcase announced its bold commitment to a net-zero future with the release of the industry's first and only net-zero transition plan, aiming to reduce carbon emissions over 90%** across its entire value chain by 2050, with a focus on products, operations and transportation. Since then, the company has made progress toward this goal by doubling recycled content across its task seating portfolio, advancing circular solutions through its Circular by Steelcase: Remade program, and introducing material innovations that eliminate single-use components while reducing embodied carbon.

At Fulton Market Design Days, Steelcase will bring this progress to life through a series of tangible exhibits, including an artifact display that highlights scalable advancements across its portfolio. The installation showcases how decisions around materials, design and end-of-use strategies, such as increased recycled content, remanufacturing programs and new component innovations, are helping reduce waste, lower carbon and enable circularity at scale. Grounded in three key areas of impact - reducing carbon footprint, designing for circularity and choosing and using materials responsibly - the display demonstrates how incremental product decisions can drive meaningful progress toward a net-zero future.

Designing for Wellbeing: Aligning with WELL Building Standards

Steelcase also recently expanded its work with the International WELL Building Institute, earning the Works with WELL trademark for select products through IWBI's licensing program. This designation indicates alignment with strategies in the WELL Building Standard, the global framework for advancing health and wellbeing in buildings, organizations and communities. It reinforces the ongoing commitment Steelcase has to designing solutions that support people's comfort, performance and overall experience at work.

For more information and to register for the show, please visit Steelcase.com/DesignDays.

*See Community Drives Performance

**Our reductions are measured from a FY2020 base year.

About Steelcase

Steelcase is a global design and thought leader in the world of work. Our purpose is to help the world work better. Along with more than 25 creative and technology partner brands, we research, design and manufacture furnishings and solutions for many of the places where work happens - including office, learning and health environments. Together with our 11,300 employees, we're working toward better futures for the wellbeing of people and the planet. Our solutions come to life through our global community of expert Steelcase dealers in approximately 790 locations, store.steelcase.com and other retail partners. For more information, visit Steelcase.com.

Additional Resources

High-resolution imagery
Spring 2026 Work Better Magazine: A New Mindset