We’re inside the building housing the Singapore operations of the world’s largest pump manufacturer, the Danish company Grundfos, and it is impressive. The BCA Green Mark Platinum building is designed by W Architects and has many commendable green features that are closely aligned with the company’s values. We are here, however, to learn more about just one – the height-adjustable tables from another Danish company, Duba-B8.
Grundfos Singapore – A BCA Green Mark Platinum building
Every employee in the new Grundfos building – which the company moved into more than a year ago – now uses a height-adjustable table from Duba-B8. The tabletops are made from FSC certified bamboo and the desks are highly flexible and customisable to meet the needs of the user. One of its most unique features too is a patented ‘click’ system underneath the table that makes for easy assembly; the system also makes it possible to replace the tabletops easily, where necessary or desired, without having to change the entire table.
Every employee at Grundfos uses a Duba-B8 height-adjustable desk
Besides being a highly sustainable product, the company’s height-adjustable tables help enhance productivity and can go so far as to reduce sick leave, according to Thomas Dueholm Laursen, the Regional Sales Director of Duba-B8, Asia Pacific.
“After lunch, you find most of the staff [at Grundfos] standing up to work. You can feel how more productive [they are], in the afternoons, than they were in the old building where they had fixed height tables,” says Laursen. “Another aspect of the table is that you can adjust it to fit [your height]. Also, the tables here are a little more deep compared to what you would normally find out here in Asia, and that’s because you need about 70cm distance from your eyes to the screen to avoid getting headaches [and other health issues].
Duba-B8 desk
While having height-adjustable tables in offices is the standard in Denmark, it is still a novel concept in Singapore and Asia. Poul Due Jensen, Grundfos’ Group Senior Vice President & Regional Managing Director for Asia Pacific recounts an amusing incident back when he had just started testing a Duba-B8 desk in the old office.
“The staff didn’t understand why I was standing. I had not told them anything. But there was this girl who was not scared of talking to the boss. She knocked on the door and said, ‘Everybody is wondering why you are standing. Did you get punished by your boss?’ She explained that in school here, if you do something wrong to you get to stand up. So it had a negative feeling [attached to it],” says Jensen.
Grundfos pumps are used to service the reflection pool
Sustainability and employee welfare are important values at Grundfos, Jensen explains. “So we thought, why not walk the talk here with what we do, with our staff, with our own building, so we can show… our customers [and employees] what we are and what we stand for,” he says.
Grundfos’ operations area is naturally ventilated
While it took some time for Grundfos employees in Singapore to adjust to a new way of working, many are now actively using the height-adjustable tables to fit their needs at work. As a recent Grundfos company survey shows, employee satisfaction with the office furnishings now stands at an impressive 79 per cent.
The Grundfos lobby
Duba-B8
dubab8.com
