RT London, in partnership with Gensler will officially launch a defining new bed and casegood solution which was researched, designed and developed for the college and university housing market. Evolve is an adaptive room solution that answers the needs of today’s college and university students—those who are intuitive with technology, focused on academic achievement, and value social networks. Evolve helps students balance their social and academic needs by providing adaptive, modular pieces that can move with the individual student as their priorities shift throughout the semester.
Evolve first debuted at the NeoCon show in June and took home the Silver - Best of NeoCon award for the education category. Evolve has continued to change the conversation within the design community and was also a finalist for Interior Design’s Best of the Year competition. Evolve will also appear at national tradeshows across the country in 2017.
“After several years of research into the current and future landscapes of the Student Living/Learning Experience, it’s clear there is great opportunity to provide living spaces that respond to the diverse and shifting needs of today’s students,” said Nathan Cool, an architect and furniture designer focusing on Gensler’s Education Practice Area. “The resulting furniture solution provides students with an incredibly customizable and ‘hackable’ room environment which they can tailor to their own learning styles and social preferences.”
“The Gensler team looks at student environments on campus the same way RT London does,” said Steve Eldersveld, RT London’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “Students are looking for solutions that support their tasks, with elements that can be easily rearranged by the student to support those tasks. In turn, the school wants to please the students with progressive, attractive, settings that reflect well on their institution. After the initial meetings with Gensler, we understood how well our perspectives matched up. From that point, it’s been a rewarding experience to travel down the development path together.”
Gensler Principal and leader of Chicago’s Product Design Practice Area Steven Meier said the collection “acknowledges the ways students today are learning, working, and living. Having the ability to personalize and adapt the room to individual learning styles, diverse work postures, and varied levels of privacy are the systems most distinctive attributes.”