Why do people remain reluctant to return to the office? According to Gensler’s 2025 Workplace Survey, traditional offices no longer fit the way creative people work.

“If the workplace makes it harder—not easier—to do focused work, collaborate seamlessly or feel inspired and connected, why would anyone come in?,” wrote Gensler Co-CEO Elizabeth Brink in the firm’s Dialogue Blog. “The best workplaces today are high-performance ecosystems that offer meaningful balance.”

The National Exposition of Contract Furnishings (NeoCon) took place June 9-11 at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart and offered insights from major interior de-

signers and contract furnishings manufacturers.

KFI Studios’ pop-up space was a design collaboration with Gensler, a Canopy desk pod with color-blocked zones and sound canceling. Designers at NeoCon were seen using the desk pods on the Mart’s first floor in the pop-up.

With demand for sustainability in workplaces still high, Nassimi, a manufacturer of vinyl-coated fabrics, introduced Hyphyn, the first 90% biodegradable performance vinyl for wall coverings, flooring and other uses. The PFAS-free upholstery fabric breaks down to that level in two years under normal landfill conditions via a patented enzyme system and proprietary resin formulation. Tested for six years, Nassimi grew corn in the soil that its Hyphyn testing samples decomposed into.

See the online version of this story for more product introductions from NeoCon.