Steelcase Opens New Chicago WorkLife Center, Celebrates “The Business Case for Community” at Fulton Market Design Days

The showroom features ideas, insights and solutions that can help organizations and their people thrive during times of rapid change.

Grand Rapids, MI, June 9, 2025 – Steelcase (NYSE: SCS), a global design and thought leader in the world of work, today opens the doors to its new WorkLife Center in the Fulton Market district of Chicago for Design Days 2025. Through a broad range of ideas, insights and solutions, the new 28,000-square-foot showroom illustrates how community can support the changing ways people need to work today and deliver the business results organizations need to be successful.

Over the past five years, organizations have faced unprecedented change that continues to impact the workplace. Four contributing forces Steelcase identified are an increase in video-based work, AI shifting the ways people work, an increased desire for sustainable solutions and renewed urgency to support employee wellbeing. These forces are causing new behaviors at work that require changes in the physical workplace.

The workplace can be a strategic asset to help people and teams adapt and thrive during periods of change by fostering community at work. When people feel a sense of community at work, they report higher levels of engagement, productivity and wellbeing – all of which positively impact a business’ bottom line.

Drawn from urban planning principles and decades of Steelcase research, Community-Based Design is an insight-led approach to helping designers and customers create places that build a thriving, resilient community at work. The top two floors of 811 West Fulton Market were inspired by Community-Based Design and showcase how spaces influence behaviors and build community.

“A sense of community keeps us together during change or adversity,” said Allan Smith, Steelcase President, Americas and Chief Product Officer. “Change is constant, and the workplace can be used strategically as the infrastructure on which to build community at work. It is how organizations and their people can thrive during times of rapid change. Our new Chicago showroom embodies this approach and we’re excited to share it this week.”

Featured Innovative Solutions

Rooted in insights from Steelcase research, the showrooms feature a variety of products and applications from the Steelcase community of brands that demonstrate how dynamic workplaces nurture motivated, engaged and resilient teams. The spaces are designed to support the different types of work people and teams perform throughout the day, including the latest offerings:

The Jean Nouvel Seating Collection by Coalesse® — Designed in collaboration with Ateliers Jean Nouvel, the collection features modern, edgeless forms inspired by natural elements like rocks and dunes, offering both bold aesthetics and supreme comfort. This collection includes a lounge chair, sofa, ottoman and tête-à-tête, available in a wide range of upholstery options to suit various palettes and collaborative settings.

The Steelcase® Ocular Collection — Now including standing-height Coupe Towers, the Ocular® Collection offers a range of solutions for hybrid collaboration. Its unique solutions improve sightlines, creating more equitable, engaging and empowering experiences for in person and remote meeting participants.

Campers & Dens® by Orangebox® — This platform is designed to provide intuitive layers of privacy that support the many ways people work and connect in the workplace. The wide range of configurations, planning options and aesthetic choices create spaces to support various privacy needs throughout the day.

“We’re thrilled to be joining the vibrant neighborhood of Fulton Market,” said John Minnema, regional sales manager for Steelcase. “Our new Chicago WorkLife illustrates what a thriving and resilient community at work can look like, offering a range of spaces and experiences that can easily adapt to change, where people can come together to do their best work. We are excited to welcome designers and clients to be inspired — during Design Days and beyond.”

On Sustainability

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 its carbon emissions over 90%* throughout its entire value chain by 2050, by focusing on its products, operations and transportation.

The organization has made progress in a short time toward this goal by doubling the amount of recycled content across its high-performance seating portfolio. The recycled plastics come from day-to-day items like water bottles and carpet scraps. Every task chair sold in the Americas now contains higher recycled content. The amount of seating Steelcase produces offers one of its most significant opportunities to drive change by replacing virgin plastic in manufacturing. Steelcase Series® 1 and 2, Leap®, Amia®, Think®, Gesture® and Steelcase Karman® will be on display at the show and feature recycled plastics.

Design Days attendees can also explore solutions from Steelcase Learning, Viccarbe®, Smith System®, West Elm Work and HALCON® at The Merchandise Mart. For more information and to register for the show, please visit Steelcase.com/DesignDays.

*Our reductions are measured from a FY2020 base year.

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