Untethering Potential: How August Berres Solves the Chronic Challenges of the Wired Workplace
By Robert Kroon
This is not safe. This is not how to keep your workspace clean. This has not been acceptable since the introduction of the personal computer.
For decades, the commercial office environment has been constrained by traditional, wired infrastructure limitations. This static approach, defined by desks tethered to wall outlets, has created persistent challenges for everyone involved in developing and managing these spaces, from commercial real estate owners and architects to facility managers, interior designers, IT professionals, and electrical design firms.
At August Berres, we recognized these frustrations as fundamental barriers to productivity, adaptability, and well-being in the workplace. Addressing these chronic issues is precisely what drives our mission.
The Persistent Pain Points of Traditional Wired Offices
The problems with the conventional wired office setup are well-known and long-standing:
Inherent Inflexibility: Wired power dictates layout. Moving a workstation requires an electrician, permits, and often disruptive construction, making it costly and time-consuming to adapt the office floor plan to changing team needs, project requirements, or evolving work styles. This rigid structure prevents the dynamic reconfigurations necessary for truly agile teams.
The Cable Clutter Conundrum: Since the advent of the personal computer, the proliferation of power and data cables has been a chronic headache. Tangled cords under desks, snaking across floors, and behind equipment create an untidy environment, detract from the intended design aesthetic, and pose significant tripping hazards, leading to potential liability and workers' compensation claims.
Retrofitting Roadblocks: Updating or reconfiguring power infrastructure in existing buildings is often a complex, expensive, and disruptive undertaking. The limitations of legacy electrical systems make it challenging and costly to adapt older spaces for modern technology demands and the flexible layouts employees now expect.
These issues don't just impact aesthetics; they hinder collaboration, limit employee mobility, and ultimately constrain a company's ability to operate efficiently and adapt quickly in a competitive market.
August Berres' Mission: A Direct Response to Workplace Challenges
Q: Who needs to understand your mission? A: Customers, employees, suppliers, investors, partners, and your community.
The frustrations born from these persistent problems ignited the mission at August Berres.
We are dedicated to providing innovative solutions that directly address the core limitations of the wired workplace. We will dismantle the barriers to agility, simplify office infrastructure, and create workplaces that are inherently flexible, aesthetically pleasing, safer, and easier to manage. We believe the physical office environment should be an enabler of productivity and collaboration, not a source of constraint.
The Agile Workplace, Truly Unleashed
The C-Power battery pack is a crucial component of August Berres’ Agile Workplace solutions. It serves as both a portable and dockable power source.
Creating a genuinely Agile Workplace goes beyond simply implementing open floor plans and flexible furniture. It involves the integration of power solutions that adapt to the dynamic nature of work itself. This is where August Berres revolutionizes the concept. By seamlessly incorporating advanced, safe, and reliable battery technology into workstations and furniture, we eliminate the need for fixed wall outlets.
This innovation is a vital advancement that transforms the workspace into a more liberated environment. With this integrated power solution, employees can effortlessly reconfigure their surroundings without being tethered to static electrical sources. As a result, the physical space can finally reflect the fluid and adaptable principles of agile work methodologies, promoting increased collaboration, creativity, and efficiency. This new approach not only enhances productivity but also empowers teams to work in ways that best suit their unique processes and styles.
A 24-place charging cart can be powered from a single AC wall outlet or a Fault-managed Power (FMP) receiver.
The August Berres Advantage: Beyond Cutting the Cord
C-Power battery packs dock into August Berres Respond! 2.0 desks, providing both USB-C and AC receptacles.
Our battery-powered workstation solutions offer transformative benefits that directly solve the challenges outlined above:
Realized Flexibility: August Berres furniture, with integrated battery power, can be effortlessly rearranged to support any work configuration – from spontaneous brainstorming sessions to focused individual work zones. This eliminates the need for costly electrical reconfigurations, making layout changes fast, simple, and non-disruptive.
Clean Design, Enhanced Safety: By removing power cords from the floor and desk area, August Berres solutions create a clean, minimalist aesthetic that enhances the overall design of the office. Crucially, this also removes tripping hazards, contributing to a safer environment for everyone.
Simplified & Cost-Effective Retrofitting: Implementing August Berres battery-powered workstations dramatically simplifies retrofitting existing buildings. Instead of extensive electrical renovations, you primarily need to consider strategic locations for charging. This significantly reduces project timelines, costs, and minimizes disruption compared to traditional methods.
Empowering Employee Mobility & Collaboration: With power integrated into their workstation, employees are no longer tied to a wall. They can easily move to the space best suited for their current task – whether it's a collaborative area, a quiet zone, or a space with natural light – fostering a more dynamic, collaborative, and employee-centric environment.
Powering Agility Safely: The Role of Fault-Managed Power
A critical component of the August Berres solution is the safe and efficient charging of our battery-powered furniture. We champion the use of fault-managed power (FMP) for this purpose. FMP systems represent a modern approach to power delivery, providing inherent safety advantages by intelligently monitoring the circuit and rapidly de-energizing in the event of a fault. This technology integrates seamlessly with our battery-powered furniture, providing a secure, efficient, and code-compliant method for keeping workstations powered and supporting the distributed nature of an agile office layout.
A Future-Ready Workplace, Today
August Berres’ Juce cordless display stands can be placed anywhere or everywhere.
The chronic challenges of the wired office have persisted for too long. At August Berres, we are driven by the mission to provide the innovative solutions necessary to overcome them. By offering battery-powered workstations that enable true agility, simplify retrofitting, eliminate cable clutter, and enhance safety – all supported by intelligent fault-managed power charging – August Berres is redefining the possibilities of the modern workplace.
For commercial real estate professionals seeking competitive advantage, designers aiming for truly flexible and clean aesthetics, facility managers focused on efficiency and safety, IT leaders supporting a mobile workforce, and electrical experts implementing advanced power solutions, August Berres offers a pathway to a more dynamic, productive, and future-ready office environment.
Untether your potential. Discover how August Berres can help you build a workplace that is as agile as your business needs to be.
