The best furniture to encourage deeper connections and better productivity at the workplace with RS Barcelona

Best Furniture: The second half of the 20th century witnessed a fast growth in so-called white-collar work, which translated into a larger part of the urban population spending a lot of their working days in office settings. In the beginning, the default workplace organisation took industrial efficiency as its model, giving little thought to the possibility of designing office spaces in a way that didn’t revolve around monotonic spaces and rigid social dynamics. However, workplace psychology and management studies have consistently researched the benefits that playful and flexible workplaces can have for employees in terms of motivation, productivity, creativity, and overall work satisfaction. According to experts, “research has found evidence that plays at work is linked with less fatigue, boredom, stress, and burnout in individual workers” and that “Play is also positively associated with job satisfaction, sense of competence, and creativity.” Furthermore, play can foster better teamwork dynamics “via increased trust, bonding and social interaction, sense of solidarity, and a decreased sense of hierarchy.” In short, doing the usual 9 to 5 in an office that amounts to a glorified cubicle warehouse is no longer cutting it. Work ethic is changing and most workplaces are being a bit too slow in following suit.

Progressive-minded companies have been some of the first to catch up with these trends and research. Realising that integrating recreation into the office can help employees be more creative, adaptable, committed, creative, and teamwork-oriented, has motivated companies to implement important changes in their workplaces and their overall management strategies. This has been the case mostly in the creative and tech sectors. The first examples of this that started to make ripples were the offices of companies such as Google and Facebook, where employees not only had access to a wide range of workplace environments and commercial furniture, but also to amenities such as sports classes, slides, and even rock climbing.

However, if you want to transform a workplace into a more playful environment, you don’t have to go as far as building a rock-climbing wall. One of the most popular (and easiest) ways to do this is by adding the best furniture for that, such as ping-pong and foosball tables. Unfortunately, it is hard to come across tables built for this ludic purpose while also being committed to stylish and modern design. Fortunately for you, several of the Spanish brands in our curated catalogue of Spanish furniture have pieces which do precisely this. RS Barcelona in particular has devoted a lot of energy to developing high-quality designer ping pong, foosball tables and pool tables. Let’s take a quick look at some of them.

Ping Pong Tables | Best Furniture

Ping pong has become one of the main go-to playful activities in modern workplaces for several reasons. Besides being a fun activity which can improve hand-to-eye coordination, some argue that it can also improve productivity by increasing awareness and fostering a form of social interaction that can be very fruitful when carried back to teamwork situations.

RS Barcelona has a designer ping pong table which we are very fond of. Designed by Antoni Palleja Office, the You and Me table is strikingly versatile. As a fully functional ping pong table that can transform itself into a minimalistic large desk or table, the You and Me can be equally suitable both in domestic as well as workplace settings—unsurprisingly, it has been used in WeWork spaces around the world. It is fabricated from robust steel and wood, made to withstand even the most heated ping pong matches. In addition to the indoor version, it is also available in a High-Pressure Laminate (HPL) version which transforms it into a designer outdoor furniture piece. To add to the versatility, there is the option to order it with inbuilt electricity plugs, as well as in three different sizes (standard, medium, and small). This way you can choose between having a large personal desk on which you can play smaller matches, or a large meeting desk which can host a proper Friday evening ping pong championship.

Additionally, the You and Me table can be complemented with benches which are part of the same collection and are built with similar materials, displaying the same clean lines and overall design principles. The benches come in different sizes, finishes (for use either indoors or outdoors) and with optional cushions. The sizes run from a 50cm individual seating length, up to a 285cm long bench which will run the full length of the You and Me standard-sized version.

If you would rather have a table dedicated exclusively to ping pong, RS Barcelona has another table which ditches the multifunctionality while keeping the tasteful design and dialling up on the durability and sturdiness. Designed by Rafael Rodríguez, the RS# Stationary is a piece of designer outdoor furniture made from solid Iroko legs and an HPL top which conserves the size of a standard ping-pong table. Also available is a folding version, in case you want something that can be moved around or stored away.

Foosball Tables | Best Furniture

Foosball is an activity that is more common to happen in bars than in workplaces, but the same benefits that ping pong offers in terms of stress relief and social bonding can also be found in this fun and competitive game. This is why foosball tables have been a very popular addition to tech workplaces and co-working spaces around the world.

RS Barcelona has a hugely successful collection which follows the same principles as the ping pong table we just mentioned above. The RS Foosball table collection offers plenty of options to choose from, making it stand out among most of the other foosball tables available out there. Besides the wide range of versions, the small details of the table itself are all fully customisable: from field colour and player lineup to the colours and logos on the uniforms.

The RS2 is the more steely member of the family, available in a regular indoor steel version as well as in a stainless steel outdoor furniture version, both of them with a wide palette of eye-catching polyester coatings to choose from (grey, white, black, terracotta, red, blue and green). Additionally, there is even a dining table version which comes with a sturdy 1cm thick tempered glass tabletop which would be ideal for a break room or courtyard. The RS2 Gold takes things in a more sumptuous direction, adding a 24k gold-plated covering to the players and accessories. Yes, you heard it right!

The RS3 keeps many of the design principles of the RS2 while cleaning some of the lines of the stainless steel cage that holds the field and swapping the steel legs for a pair made from durable Iroko wood. The result is playful and yet elegant, suitable for both a barbeque party as well as a trendy tech startup office, making it into one of the best outdoor furniture available. The Iroko wood used for the RS3 is also outdoors-proof, so there is no problem if the designated place is outdoors. The same as with the previous table, the RS3 comes in both Gold and dining table versions, in case you are looking either for some bling or some versatility.

The RS4 is similar to the RS3 except for some details. Besides the rounder leg design, it exchanges the stainless steel for a more affordable (but still equally weatherproof) steel with a cataphoretic coating. There is also the RS3 Metal version, which takes the same steel cage as the wooden version and adds a pair of light steel legs. Its total weight is 20kg lighter than its more beefy RS2 cousin.

Up next is the RS Max. We could bet that you haven’t seen a foosball table this size (let alone a designer one)! The RS Max is almost double the size of the other tables in the collection, allowing you to accommodate up to two teams of four players for the most exciting and heart-pumping setup you could wish for while managing to conserve the sleek design of its smaller cousin. Moreover, it is also available in a dining-table version. Thus, besides being a huge foosball table, the RS Max can also function as a sprawling 288cm outdoor dining table capable of seating 10 people. Quite an achievement, if you ask us!

Lastly, there are also several seating accessories that we can recommend that could be paired nicely with the RS collection. The Ombra stool is a great choice, due to its casual aesthetic, clean lines, attractive colours, and its capacity to be used as outdoor furniture. It is available both with or without a backrest, as well as at three different heights (57, 77 and 88 cm). Another classy option is the On the Road Bench. Designed by Stone Designs for RS Barcelona and inspired by a motorcycle journey on the legendary Road 66, the Road Bench consists of a sturdy wooden bench with a thick cushion held in place by two coloured elastic bands which provide it with a discreet touch of personality.

Pool tables

If ping pong and foosball are all about excitement, ardent competitiveness, and quick reflexes, pool is a game which requires patience, careful strategising, and a light touch. These are qualities that can also be beneficial when carried over to the workplace.

Available in 7 and 8 feet sizes, the Diagonal pool table is a piece which is truly one of a kind. When it comes to pool tables, it doesn’t get more refined than this! The board is made from a single fibre cement slab, while the main structure is made from steel coated with a micro-textured polyester paint that comes in several sleek colours (white, black, dark green, dark blue, and bright red). The clean lines of the steel structure are complemented by steel legs which are also painted on the inside but are covered with Iroko wood on the outside—a type of wood that RS Barcelona uses in many of its best furniture. Lastly, the disc-like leg endings add a distinctly modern vibe to the whole ensemble.

As if this wasn’t enough to make the Diagonal the perfect pool table for your office, co-working space or home, there are several exciting complementary accessories. It can be transformed into a desk or dining table by using the Diagonal wooden top. Additionally, RS Barcelona has also a classy cue rack to match. The Diagonal floor cue rack is made from the same materials and is available in the same colours as the table and wooden top. It has space for four cues and the 16 balls, along with a lower shelf to put the chalk, shelf, and more.

What about playing pool outdoors? Although that might sound unfeasible, the Diagonal is also available in another version which pulls this off by changing the steel coating and cloth for weather-proof alternatives, transforming it into an impressive piece of designer outdoor furniture. This version has its own accessories to match: a tabletop made from Fenix and a cue rack.

As you can see, there are plenty of tables and accessories to choose from, each of them with its own personality, features, and benefits. However, if one thing is for certain is that, when it comes to RS Barcelona, you can be sure that you are acquiring the best and most stylish pieces of Spanish furniture that money can buy. You can browse our website or book a consultation if you want to learn more!