Workplace Furniture Case Study: Ageas Insurance Social Kitchen Refurbishment

Bespoke Banquette Seating, Floor-Fixed Tables and Curved Oak Joinery for a Social Kitchen Area

Dynamic Contract Furniture supplied a bespoke furniture package for a social kitchen refurbishment at Ageas Insurance, creating an inviting space for informal meetings, breakout use and everyday staff interaction.

This project centred around a bespoke social kitchen seating area, combining banquette seating, floor-fixed tables, upholstered poufs and a striking curved oak panel wall. The result is a warm, welcoming environment that contrasts with the surrounding workplace while remaining fully aligned with the overall office design.

As with the other Ageas refurbishments, this scheme demonstrates how carefully designed workplace furniture can help shape a more social and functional office environment.

Project Overview

Client: Ageas Insurance
Sector: Workplace and Office
Project Type: Social Kitchen Refurbishment
Furniture Category: Workplace Furniture, Contract Furniture and Bespoke Joinery
Furniture Supplied: Bespoke banquette seating, bespoke floor-fixed tables, upholstered poufs and bespoke curved oak panel wall joinery.

The Ageas Insurance social kitchen refurbishment focused on creating a different atmosphere within a relatively square room. Rather than allowing the room’s straight walls and corners to dictate the appearance of the space, bespoke curved oak wall panelling introduced a softer shape around the seating area.

The curved joinery forms a backdrop to the upholstered banquette, complemented by round floor-fixed tables and compact poufs. Together, these elements create a welcoming setting for staff, with a character distinct from the surrounding office.

Client Challenge & Objectives

The main challenge was to introduce curved walls within a relatively square room, changing how the space looked and felt while making effective use of its existing footprint.

Simply placing furniture against the perimeter would have retained the room’s angular character. Instead, the bespoke oak panelling needed to soften those straight lines and corners, creating a flowing backdrop that would make the social kitchen feel like a deliberately shaped space rather than a furnished section of the office.

Achieving this required careful consideration of the relationship between the curved wall, banquette seating and table positions. The curves needed sufficient presence to transform the room without taking too much space away from the seating or restricting movement around the furniture. The junctions between curved and straight sections also needed to feel considered, allowing the oak panelling to read as one continuous feature.

The furniture complemented this approach. Round table tops, tapered pedestal bases and softly shaped poufs continued the curved forms into the seating arrangement, while the upholstery provided a contrast to the warmth of the oak.

The objective was not simply to add a decorative wall, but to use bespoke joinery to reshape the experience of the room—turning a relatively square space into a distinctive, comfortable social kitchen with its own identity.

Our Workplace Furniture Solutions

Bespoke Curved Oak Panel Wall

The bespoke curved oak panel wall is the defining feature of the social kitchen refurbishment.

Its flowing shape changes the visual relationship between the seating area and the room’s existing boundaries. Rather than following every straight wall and corner, the joinery introduces a softer backdrop that frames the furniture and gives the space a more enveloping feel.

The oak finish brings warmth and natural texture to the scheme, contrasting with the upholstered seating. Carefully considered transitions between the curved and straight sections help the panelling feel integrated with the wider room.

This feature demonstrates how bespoke joinery can do more than decorate a workplace. By changing the shapes that people see and move around, it can help establish a different atmosphere within an existing space.

Bespoke Banquette Seating

The bespoke banquette seating provides a continuous upholstered seating arrangement alongside the oak wall panelling.

Made to suit the layout, the banquette works with the surrounding joinery to create an integrated setting rather than a collection of separate furniture pieces. Its upholstered seat and back introduce softness against the timber surfaces.

The relationship between the seating and the curved wall was important to the overall result. Both elements needed to feel connected, with the banquette providing practical seating while allowing the oak panelling to remain a prominent feature.

Bespoke Floor-Fixed Tables

A series of bespoke floor-fixed tables creates individual settings along the banquette.

Circular tops and tapered pedestal bases continue the softer forms established by the curved wall, helping the furniture and joinery feel part of the same design. The wood-grain finish complements the oak panelling without relying on identical finishes throughout.

Floor fixing maintains the tables’ planned positions relative to the seating. This creates a consistent arrangement while preserving the space needed to approach and use each table.

Upholstered Poufs

Upholstered poufs provide additional informal seating opposite the banquette.

Their compact proportions allow extra seating without introducing tall chair backs across the space. Rounded forms complement the circular tables and curved wall, while the upholstery adds another soft surface alongside the timber finishes.

Unlike the fixed banquette and tables, the loose poufs provide a movable element within the arrangement, balancing the more permanent furniture with additional seating options.

Results & Benefits

A Different Feel Within the Existing Room

The curved oak panelling softens the relatively square room, giving the social kitchen a flowing, more relaxed character. The transformation comes from the relationship between the joinery and furniture, rather than simply adding new pieces to the original layout.

A Clearly Defined Social Space

The oak wall and banquette frame the seating area, creating a recognisable destination for breaks and informal conversations within the wider workplace.

A Practical Furniture Arrangement

The continuous banquette makes use of the perimeter, while individual floor-fixed tables establish smaller seating settings. Compact poufs provide additional places to sit without dominating the area.

Coordinated Shapes and Materials

Curved panelling, round tables and softly shaped poufs share a consistent design language. Oak, wood-grain finishes and upholstery bring warmth and contrast to the completed scheme.

The Ageas Insurance social kitchen refurbishment shows how bespoke workplace furniture and joinery can change the experience of a room, creating a distinctive shared space within an existing office.

Plain Plinth Banquette

Plain plinth banquette has wooden plinth, with an upholstered seat and back in a wide range of fabrics, leathers or COM. Guide prices based on factory fabrics, please enquire for more details and wood stains available.

Why Choose Dynamic Contract Furniture for Workplace Projects?

Dynamic Contract Furniture supplies bespoke commercial furniture for office refurbishments, social kitchens, breakout areas and shared workplace environments.

Our furniture packages can combine made-to-measure banquette seating, floor-fixed tables, upholstered poufs and feature joinery. Considering these elements together helps create a coherent arrangement tailored to the room’s layout, intended use and design requirements.

Explore more Contract Furniture Case Studies, or contact us to discuss your next workplace furniture project.

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