2024 Year in Review: Key Highlights and Insights

Our highlights from 2024 include advancements in product innovations, research findings and design insights, our third annual classroom giveaway, and more. Check out the recap! 

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2024 was a big year at KI. We launched our most extensive collection to date, traveled to Chicago and Houston for NeoCon and EDspaces, gifted classroom makeovers to several passionate educators, shared our research findings from the best classroom designs, and were recognized for our ongoing commitment to sustainable furniture design and manufacturing.

We're excited to share our highlights from this past year in the recap below.

 

Award-Winning Design in the Details 

The Tributaire collection, our most extensive collection to date, made its official debut at NeoCon this year, where it won several Best of NeoCon awards. Tributaire also won an Interior Design HiP Award and was designated an honoree in Interior Design's Best of Year Awards.

Blending elegance and utility for workplace and education environments, Tributaire includes cafe, training, and conference tables; height-adjustable lecterns; nesting screens; and storage solutions such as credenzas and monitors, all with signature style and aesthetic innovation.

 

Designing for Changing Schools

We know educators are working to address a decline in student engagement, so we continue to deliver products that can give students the best learning experience by supporting their individual needs. At this year's EDspaces, we were proud to debut Cogni chairs, which are designed to boost engagement and optimize focus in the classroom. They feature a patented heel-wheel technology for controlled mobility and a patented sensory surface crafted to help students stay grounded in their learning.

Many schools are continuing to incorporate technology into their spaces, including to address a rising interest in esports in K-12 and higher education. We can see why. Esports can teach students valuable collaborative and social skills. We launched two ergonomic esports chairs, Nav and Cheevo, to support schools incorporating such programs.

We also expanded our hallmark Ruckus collection with lightweight stacking desks that support multipurpose classrooms.

 

Lounges That Balance Style & Comfort

To further support collaboration, engagement, and well-being within social spaces, we launched Zeker modular seating, a configurable lounge line characterized by its soft, plush design. With linear or curved configurations, backless options that can be arranged into ottomans, and optional power modules, Zeker brings versatility to all kinds of open social spaces.

We also expanded our Sonrisa lounge family—known for its contoured design and sense of coziness—with a 360° swivel base chair, which enables movement and social interaction.

 

Custom is the New Standard

At KI, we know you like having options to bring your vision to life. To enhance your workplace designs, we launched Orenda casegoods, which feature an abundance of forms, components, and finishes to create offices, conference rooms, and reception areas. This comprehensive line presents a timeless design for desks, storage, tables, and accessories.

We also added enhanced-motion conference seating and stools to our extensive, award-winning LimeLite seating family.

When it comes to finishes, we expanded our Graded Laminates Program to offer nearly 70 high-performance laminates categorized into three unique grades with distinct design aesthetics.

To further highlight our customization capabilities this year, we highlighted 10 modified products from our furniture customization program called Infinity From KI. At NeoCon, we unveiled a custom workplace pod made possible through the design freedom provided by this agile design process for furniture modification and co-creation.

 

Lifting Up Teacher & Student Voices

We were excited to support educators' and students' agency over their space by continuing our annual classroom furniture giveaway this year.

In February, we announced the winners of our second classroom giveaway. After educators in Kentucky, California, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania had their classrooms installed in the spring, we unveiled before-and-after videos sharing their stories.

Then in September, we announced our third giveaway. We reviewed more than 500 entries and selected 12 incredible finalists. After a record-breaking 113,000 votes from the public, we were honored to award $40,000 worth of furniture to the four winners in New York, Oklahoma, California, and Texas. Stay tuned for the classroom makeovers!

 

Commitment to Research-Driven Design

Understanding how people interact with their environment is crucial to human-centered design. This year, we solidified our commitment to research through several initiatives.

After our second annual classroom giveaway, we researched a winning class of sixth-grade students before and after their classroom makeover to see how furniture impacts their learning experience. This fall, we shared the findings. The main takeaway? The right classroom furniture can increase student engagement, collaboration, well-being, and much more.

In collaboration with Studio FYNN, we published three white papers on libraries and media centers as third spaces, the transformation of college libraries, and diverse user experiences within those spaces.

KI also joined the Coalition for the Advanced Understanding of School Environments as a founding sponsor, where we'll support the coalition's research on how the physical environment influences educational outcomes in K-12 schools.

 

Furnishing Knowledge: KI in the News 

This past year, our market leaders contributed their expertise to numerous publications.

Jonathan Webb, our director of workplace and healthcare markets, published an op-ed in the International Business Times on how manufacturers can attract and retain talent amid growing demand in the industrial market. He also wrote about the rise of retail health clinics and independent urgent care clinics in the Milwaukee Business Journal.

Katie Clark, our higher education market manager, published a piece in the Boston Herald on how colleges and universities can foster a sense of belonging and boost students' mental health.

Dee Goines joined our team this year as a higher education specialist after spending more than a decade helping college students navigate academics and residential life. He published an op-ed in the Hechinger Report on how schools can improve career readiness for all students.

Emily McGinnis, our K-12 education market manager, shared her insights for addressing student engagement and combating teacher burnout in op-eds published in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Dallas Morning News, newspapers that serve two of the largest school districts in the country.

We also established an exciting partnership with Jolene Levin, a renowned K-12 education consultant with deep industry knowledge and a passion for student-centric design, to continue driving innovation and excellence in KI educational design and industry insights.

 

Sharing Success Stories at Industry Events

In June, we showcased our latest offerings alongside Pallas Textiles and the new KI Wall brand at NeoCon, with a focus on environments that balance productivity, well-being, and a sense of belonging. 

Our director product of marketing, Angela Allen, and A&D market manager, Jason Lazarz, took the spotlight with a podcast interview on Deep Green from Metropolis.

In November, shared our latest innovations for education design at EDspaces in Houston, debuting Cogni seating and other research-driven education solutions. Bryan Ballegeer, our vice president of education, presented our research on college libraries, and Emily McGinnis presented our classroom giveaway research.

Houston's NBC affiliate visited our booth for an exclusive segment with Emily McGinnis on how classroom furniture can drive student engagement.

 

Endeavors in Environmental Stewardship 

Lastly, we were honored to receive several recognitions for our commitment to sustainability, including our 17% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and 23.1% reduction in energy consumption since 2017.

Deloitte awarded KI with the 2024 Wisconsin 75 Distinguished Performer Award in the Sustainability category. The Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council also awarded KI a Green Master Status for its performance in sustainability.

 

Looking Ahead to 2025

We're grateful for a successful year of crafting furniture solutions that meet our customers' unique needs across schools and workplaces as well as healthcare and government facilities. We look forward to advancing research-driven, human-centered design and supporting you with tailored furniture and space planning recommendations in the new year. 

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