How we live and work looks fundamentally different than a year ago. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed our daily lives around the world. From telecommuting to distance learning and collaboration, KLEIN has quickly rethought traditional workflows to stay connected. With the rise of both self-imposed and mandated social distancing, as well as global turn towards remote work, we’re looking back on 2020 as a year like no other.
The New Normal
The pandemic has brought new challenges for design teams, and preventing the spread of illness in the workplace and providing flexible spaces for those who occupy shared environments lies top of mind with KLEIN. Through these unique times, we are pushed to innovate our systems for the wellbeing of everyone. Remote working has been in motion prior to the pandemic. At KLEIN, we transitioned to a work from home model, as well as reimagined how our product lines could help make safer commercial interiors.
As McKinsey research shows, three percent of office spaces are flexible, and have been growing by 25 percent annually over the past 5 years. Post COVID-19, we expect employees working in main and satellite offices to decline by 12 and 9 percent, respectively. We’re creating safer commercial interiors with frameless glass walls, mobile partitions and sliding doors that are easy to clean. At the same time, our door systems promote multipurpose space design, where employees can maximize productivity while the space is optimized for various needs. In addition, sliding door systems and visual markings placed throughout the office help ensure a safe distance between occupants. This also extends to access to natural light in work-from-home settings.
KLEIN Products Launched in the US, 2020
Tempo Door Handle
In 2020, we launched our TEMPO Handle as the first accessory to hit the market in the United States. With easy to clean materials, effortless pull, and three distinct finishes, the TEMPO works seamlessly with our door systems. TEMPO handles are designed with a central curve that’s soft to the touch, and pairs perfectly with the minimal look of our sliding door panels. Precise ergonomics ensure that you can slide the handle with minimal effort. Regardless of how you hold the handle, the door will pull open or shut smoothly.
SLID 150 XXL Panels
Once again, you have confirmed that large mobile panels are exceptional tools when it comes to interior design, especially in this era in which we need these spaces to be extremely capable of transforming and adapting. For this reason, and to give you more freedom in your projects, we extended our SLID 150 line in the fall of 2020 to include XXL panels. These feature the same SLID track as always, with its usual simplicity and impeccable finishes, and is now more customizable than ever, offering the classic sliding version with our brake system KSC (KLEIN soft closing), available in recessed and exposed options.
Rollglass+ 250 Sliding Door System
We also introduced our Rollglass+ 250 door for extra-wide openings with glass systems. These are for large-scale panels weighing up to 550 pounds with the brake included. A single, compact, pure aluminum profile, which can even be made invisible when installed as a recessed drop ceiling application, puts the spotlight on the space.
KLEIN Digital Solutions
As the year progressed, KLEIN has offered a range of new digital solutions for designers and clients alike. Our Specs & Configuration Tool was made to easily get and include the specs you need in your project blueprint. It is intuitive and easy to use. Browse our collection of frameless sliding glass systems and pick the one that best fits your project.
We’ve also created a host of safer-at-home solutions to promote learning and knowledge sharing. This includes virtual lunch and learn formats for architects, designers, installers, and owners, as well as virtual CEU courses. These include virtual presentations during which our experts connect with firms via Zoom or Microsoft Teams to offer AIA accredited presentations, answer questions and provide additional information to supplement the approved CEU materials.
Building a Better Future, Together
KLEIN doors provide cutting-edge innovative applications designed to enhance space. This laser-like focus is reflected in every single product that carries the KLEIN name. At the same time, we are building a better future for our customers by continuously creating safer and more resilient products and systems.
KLEIN’s Technical and Operations Director, Greg Grande, explains in detail the driving force behind our latest product releases:
“This past year we’ve adapted our focus for new functionalities and goals. For example, before we had spent a lot of energy rethinking partitions and transitions in the office, and now we’re extending our knowledge to residential spaces and how we work where it’s most comfortable. Telecommuting is part of our new reality. A new way of living at home, incorporating a professional aspect that requires certain conditions to promote both professional productivity and personal fulfillment. Now more than ever, we realize how essential it is to have safe, functional interiors. Living together and being able to work separately, all from home, has become a necessity.
Our diverse and wide range of exclusive products grants designers the freedom to create interior spaces in line with their own visions. Klein’s “frameless” use of glass or wood brings a distinctly modern aesthetic to commercial, residential, and hospitality projects alike, and this will continue into the future.
We operate in the United States through our New Jersey distribution facility and large dealer network. By maintaining a permanent inventory, we are able to support any project to any location in the country. KLEIN is committed to providing safe, functioning spaces as we all adapt to a new normal. We look forward to this new year and continuing to innovate for our clients.”
Follow Greg Grande on Linkedin.
