Inova Contracts: Talking About Design With Busetti Garuti Redaelli

In line with the latest trends for office spaces with the wellbeing of workers in mind, the functional and efficient Buddy Hub, designed by Busetti Garuti Redaelli, offers an isolated alcove that encourages concentration and ensures acoustic and visual privacy.

Luca Molinari engages in conversation with Manuela Busetti, Andrea Garuti and Matteo Redaelli on Buddy Hub.

Meet Buddy

“We don’t have a defined style; instead, we aim to make objects that are easy to interpret, that become lifelong companions. As suggested by the name, Buddy is a friend. We suggested this name because, both in sound and in meaning, it really reflects this project. Buddy features welcoming shapes that make the user feel at ease” – with these words Manuela Busetti, Andrea Garuti and Matteo Redaelli introduce Buddy Hub, the latest addition to the Buddy family.

In recent years, office furnishing trends and its environments have gone through considerable changes.
Today more than ever office layouts need to be thought out differently and workstations redesigned.
The aim is to design informal meeting spaces obtained by niches ensuring acoustic and visual privacy,
where users can both concentrate and relax.

Busetti Garuti Redaelli, the trio of industrial designers that works with Pedrali since 2014,
meets this need while creating “a setting in the setting”.

New To The Family

The latest addition to the Buddy family – in which a wrap-around, sound-absorbing panel envelops the seat in a sort of enclosed niche – maintains the friendly and playful design of the successful collection of poufs first launched in 2017 while increasing their versatility. “This soft, familiar shape is a guiding thread throughout the entire collection” – explains Andrea Garuti.

“It all began with three different-sized poufs, available in two heights. The idea was that those needing to organise a space, an area, could create a sort of landscape, playing with both colour and height, generating a dynamic composition.”

“Once we had developed this first phase, we added the backrests which increased comfort, moving therefore from a more temporary seat to one on which you could relax for longer. We thought we’d make a sofa next, which would further enhance the concept of comfort, and which therefore could also be used in a home setting – but always with the recognisable, familiar, welcoming Buddy design, and in a size that would make it perfect for the office. The next step, specifically with the office in mind, was to make this type of product, which lent itself perfectly to the project. It was a natural progression”.

Buddy Hub is available as an armchair or sofa. It is also possible to place two units opposite each other and to join them by means of a panel to which a table can be attached, thus creating an informal meeting space or break out area.