by Eileen McMorrow

Seventy-three awards were distributed in The Best of NeoCon 2007 competition of contract furnishings. The competition is the major product highlight during the NeoCon World’s Trade Fair at The Merchandise Mart, Chicago. The Best of NeoCon competition, celebrating its 18th year, also awarded six Innovation Awards and four Editors’ Choice Awards. The Best of NeoCon recognizes products that are new to the market. This year, there were 420 entries in 40 categories. The 53 judges included corporate, government and institutional facilities management executives, as well as business facilities interior designers.

The Best of NeoCon 2007is sponsored by Contract magazine, Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc., McMorrowReport.com, the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA).

In order to give the industry a method to see who is competing for Best of NeoCon awards and to view the winners, Contract magazine developed the Contract Network, which is now in its third year, www.contract-network.com. Facilities managers, interior designers and architects who want to learn about new products and view the winners can join the network as a “designer”, set-up a profile with their e-mail and password, and gain ongoing access to the products.

After setting up a profile, you can click on the Best of NeoCon tab and view all the winners by category, by photo, by Gold Award or Silver Award, by favorites, or by portfolios you can create online and save for later.
On the Contract Network, the “my favorites” tool allows users to view, organize and search for product favorites by Best of NeoCon categories and by manufacturer name. Further, it allows users to create and save up to four portfolios of products for different projects. Users can browse through the new product offerings, and add products that may work for their projects at will. You can save a portfolio, open it a few days later, and change or add to your selections.

All entries and winners can be viewed at www.contract-network.com. The following is a listing of all the Award winners in their respective categories, with Gold Awards on the first line and Silver Awards on the second line.

The Best of Competition & Gold Winner is in the Lighting category
Haworth for Brazo

The Brazo task light, designed by Pablo Pardo of Pablo Designs in San Francisco, and manufactured by Haworth in Holland, Michigan, has fully adjustable, calibrated light control and a precision quality machined recyclable aluminum body. Brazo offers functional design compatible with any environment and an LED light source that provides years of service with little maintenance.

With a slender and multi adjustable arm, Brazo positions light in a linear fashion across any work surface.  The light’s recyclable aluminum surfaces conceal luminous and energy-efficient LEDs. This functional design is also evident in the wave pattern element that acts as a heat sync to eliminate LED heat.  The light also features 360 degree head rotation with 90 degree head adjustability, a height adjustment range from 14 - 21 inches and tangle free wire rotation.

Brazo features 18 high-powered LED lights with full dim control via its dimmer knob at the back end of the arm. It is the first task light to offer focus control—the simple rotation of the glass tube dial located at the front of the shade allows the user to both direct and choose any desired light spread. This makes Brazo ideal for use above computer monitors—the light source can be pointed at the work surface without producing light spill on the monitor surface.

Architectural Products
3Form, for Color (gold)

Carpet: Broadloom
Monterey Tandus, for Bas Relief Grid & Rib Series
Karastan Contract, for Sensory

Carpet: Modular
Shaw Contract Group, for Dressed2Kill
Bentley Prince Street, for Saturnia Collection

Carpet Fiber
Antron Carpet Fiber, for Antron Lumena solution-dyed nylon (gold)

Casegoods: Conference Room
Haworth, for Planes
Gunlocke, for Converge

Casegoods: Desks & Credenzas
Tuohy Furniture Corp., for Uffizi Collection
Davis Furniture Industries, Inc., for TIX

Design Tools
Tandus, for Inunison Virtual Sample Folders
Karastan, for LE12 and Folio 54 Interactive Design

Education Solutions
StellerPartners, for Vanerum Collection
Vecta, for Akira Classroom Tables

Flooring: Hard-Surface
Crossville for Buenos Aires Mood (silver)

Flooring Resilient
Tarkett Commercial, for Karim Kolors
Forbo Flooring Systems, for Marmoleum Mineral & Dutch Design

Furniture Systems
Teknion, for Marketplace
Turnstone, for Tour

Furniture Systems: Enhancements
Industrias Riviera, for Axis
Knoll, for Dividends Horizon

Healthcare: Fabrics
cf stinson, Inc., for AgION Upholstery
Mayer Fabrics, for Solace Crypton Green Collection

Healthcare Furniture
Nurture by Steelcase, for Opus Overbed Table
Krug, for Jordan

Healthcare: Seating
Brandrud, for Pause
Patrician Furniture, Inc., for Narrative Sleep Sofa

Healthcare: Textiles
Momentum Textiles, for When I Grow Up

Lighting
Glass Plus Glass, for Muvis (silver)

Office Accessories
Humanscale, for Switch Mouse
Egan Visual, Inc., for Egan Versa Jot

Seating: Benches
Decca Contract, for Rottet by Decca Bench
Jane Hamley Wells, for Splinter

Seating: Conference
Interstuhl Bueromoebel, for Axos
Global-The Total Office, for Global Accord

Seating: Guest
Bernhardt Design, for Global Edition
Davis Furniture Industries, Inc., for Milano Series

Seating: Ergonomic/Desk/Task
Steelcase, for Amia
Davis Furniture Industries, Inc., for BODY Chair Series

Seating: Sofas & Lounge
Leland International, for Valeri Collection
Cabot Wrenn, for Frameworks Radius Collection

Seating: Stacking
Barcelona Seating Collection, for Elena
Allermuir Limited, for Soul

Software Technologies
20-20 Technologies, for 20-20 Office Sales 2008
K.R. Moeller Associates Ltd., for LogiSon Acoustic Network Manager 2007

Tables: Conference
Gunlocke, for Converge
Interstuhl Bueromoebel, for Silver

Tables: Occasional
HBF, The Blas Series (gold)
Decca Contract, for Rottet by Decca (gold)
Bright Chair Company, for Madame X/Y (silver)

Tables: Training
Vecta, forAkira (gold)

Technology Support
Eubiq Pte. Ltd., for Eubiq Power Outlet
Innovative Office Products, Inc., for EVO Tablet Arm

Textiles: Drapery
Architex, for Biedermeier Collection
KnollTextiles, for Mira & Cyclone

Textiles: Upholstery
Luna Textiles, for LUX[e]
Edelman Leather, for City Lights

Wall Treatments
Knoll, for Lusterware
Wolf-Gordon, for Organics

Walls: Movable
Teknion, for Optos (silver)

Workplace Technologies: Height-Adjustable
Convia/A Herman Miller Co., for Convia Programmable Infrastructure
Herman Miller for C2

Worksurfaces: Height-Adjustable
Baker Manufacturing, for NEXT
Details, Inc., for Series 7.1

Innovation Awards:
Lees, for Accelerated Design, Design Tools
Innovations, for Odaka for Innovations, Textiles: Upholstery
Joel Berman, for Glass Studios Architectural Products
Constantine Commercial, for First String, Resilient Flooring
IoA Healthcare Furniture, Oncology Care Chair, Healthcare Furniture
Bernhardt Design, for Global Edition, Sofas & Lounge Seating

Editors’ Choice Awards:
InterFLOR, for Handloom Modular Carpet, Modular Carpets
Momentum Textiles, for L.A. on a Tank of Gas, Textiles: Upholstery
Carnegie, for Surface IQ, Wall Treatments
izzydesign, for Hannah Task, Ergonomic Desk/Task Seating