New “live” showroom at LO Fribourg.

Lista Office LO’s showroom in Fribourg is a mere display room no longer. Wood, concrete and plants combine with interior elements shaped like clouds or a bolt of lightning to bring nature right into the office. The harmonious interplay of colours, light, materials, plants and furniture fuses into a design concept “as nature intended”.

The concept

The traditional showroom has had its day. Tables and chairs no longer stand isolated against a minimalist backdrop. It’s not about the functionality and design of a single piece. It’s about how different pieces work together and how they meld into their environment. Step into Lista Office LO’s modern new offices in Fribourg – a working showroom – and you find yourself in the midst of nature. Nicolas Stritt, Branch Manager at LO Fribourg and LO Neuchâtel, explains the choice for a nature theme: “Most people feel happy surrounded by nature. If your staff feel happy, they’ll be motivated and get more done.”

Wooden panelling elements intermittently break up the cool pale grey of the concrete walls with a bright warmth. Plant pot towers make natural room dividers, and a 3 x 3 m wall is bursting with live greenery – there’s nothing fake about this environment. The lighting concept is also inspired by nature: rope lights trace a bolt of lightning from the ceiling to floor, directing visitors through the showroom. Clouds hanging from the ceiling create the great acoustics: they are sound absorbers. “We don't want to show our visitors furniture. We want to show them a scene,” explains Nicolas Stritt. “The whole room – the setting – is important. Everything needs to work together: the lights, the colours, the furniture, the plants, the materials.”

LO Fribourg’s “live” showroom has five workstations. Four of them are permanent workplaces; the fifth is a desk-sharing station. There is also a conference room for six people, a Q Box for two people and a One Box for working alone. Of course, every modern office also needs a space with a sofa where staff can relax; and there is also a kitchen, an outdoor lounge, and even a shower area.

There is nothing of the traditional string of exhibits here. The new “live” showroom is an office landscape inspired by nature. Colours, lighting, materials, plants and furniture all blend into a harmonious scene. As visitors move through the showroom, they aren’t simply passing from one piece of furniture to the next: they experience the space as a whole.