Sourcing BuzziSpace products is like filling an office with clouds. The Antwerp- and High Point, N.C.-based manufacturer’s BuzziBlox Penta interior panels absorb different wavelengths of sound into a thick layer of foam. Its felt-like BuzziBooth serves as a silent, freestanding retreat from the open interior. And the suspended BuzziGrid buffers noise from above. In addition to pursuing a mission of acoustical responsibility, “we baked in environmental responsibility and social sustainability,” says Tom Van Dessel. The BuzziSpace co-owner and CEO spoke with Architizer about its multi-pronged and principled approach to outfitting today’s workplace.
Name: Tom Van Dessel
Age: 44
Title: Co-owner and CEO of BuzziSpace
Location: High Point, N.C.
Tom Van Dessel. All images courtesy Buzzispace.
BuzziSpace launched in 2007 because there was a huge unmet desire for furniture with acoustical properties?
That was the spark. My business partner Steve Symons incubated the company out of an existing surfaces brand based in Europe. Working with hard surfaces brought the need to our attention. Increasingly, sound impacts the way we work, which is faster and louder than ever before. To us, good design considers the human element; it’s not just looks, but how it improves your environment.
How effectively do BuzziSpace products dampen noise compared to competitors?
This varies based on the product as well as the environment itself. Last year, we developed an app that would test reverberation in a space in order to fix sound issues as accurately as possible. We also have an R&D facility near our design headquarters in Antwerp.
BuzziVille
What is your most acoustically effective product?
BuzziBlox are the highest in performance, from an NRC perspective. The Resofuser performs equally well, and it can be adjusted to tackle different frequency ranges through a set of louvers on the panel rear. Ultimately, it is more important to understand a room’s reverberation issues, and then choose the product that will help balance them.
In what other ways do BuzziSpace designs reflect the contemporary workplace?
Many of our designs are inspired by the way we live in the home. We like social spaces, adaptable seating that is mobile, and furnishings that add softness and warmth. We tend to work with natural, and often recycled, materials that make the environment feel comfortable. The structure of the pieces themselves offers fresh configurations: BuzziVille creates several workstation alternatives that fit together to form “a city within a city” in an open floor plan space; BuzziPicNic started as a 21st-century workbench that grew to include matching options. Both of those designs pair nicely with our BuzziMilk stools, which are plush, comfortable, and easily movable from private space to shared space.
BuzziMilk stools
Sustainability figures largely into your business model. How have you most successfully gone green so far?
Product components are important to us. We use recycled materials in our fabrics and felts. We also believe in preservation of buildings and human skills, so we’ve started restoring a 100-year-old cotton mill in High Point, N.C., that was shuttered for nearly a decade. There, we’re making furniture for the U.S. market with the help of local craftspeople who are anxious to get back to work.
What challenges and opportunities has BuzziSpace confronted in starting up an American production facility?
We’ve been quite fortunate to have the support of local government and the community. High Point’s economic authorities have been using us as an example of business leadership in the area and we’re proud to play that role. We could have located anywhere in the United States, [but it was] the history of building, the spirit of the people, and the love of craftsmanship attracted us to High Point. We’re just getting started, but we plan to bring more than 100 jobs to the region and a positive legacy of business and design.
Heron Chair, from the Buzzispace Legends Collection
The Legends collection demonstrates an interest in preserving design history, as well.
While we’re incredibly prolific when it comes to bringing new concepts to market, we think it’s important to not lose sight of designers whose pieces have stood the test of time. Without a champion, some of these icons run the risk of being forgotten. We are keeping Ernest Race’s wartime designs rightly in the present, by offering them alongside our contemporary design solutions.
What is the bestselling product among these reissues?
They are a brand new offering, though we have strong interest for Antelope and Rocker.
Antelope chair
Favorite projects that feature BuzziSpace products?
Too many, though we are thrilled to work with America’s most innovative brands from Google to Facebook and Airbnb.
Explore more products from BuzziSpace on Architizer and see them in person at Booth #2039 at ICFF this weekend!