Tuesday, June 10, 2025
The 35th annual Best of NeoCon Awards, a mainstay of NeoCon since 1990, began NeoCon 2025 on June 9 with an exuberant ceremony at The Mart, showcasing the most innovative products that are revolutionizing commercial interiors. Gold, Silver, Innovation, Sustainability, and Business Impact were among the 96 awards that were handed to exhibitors for their products in over 40 categories during this year’s competition. Halcon received Best of Competition, the program’s highest honor, for its Astoria line of conference and mobile communal tables.
To assess submissions throughout the NeoCon show floors, a multidisciplinary jury comprising 42 architects, designers, specifiers, enterprise clients, and facility managers—including executives from Gensler, Corgan, CannonDesign, Marmon Mok, Shepley Bulfinch, Aflac, and Walgreens—met on-site at The Mart. The Business Impact Awards were decided by an additional jury consisting of two facility managers and eight business media experts.
“The jurors were incredibly thoughtful and rigorous in their evaluations this year,” says Eileen McMorrow, Director of Best of NeoCon. “The winning products aren’t just keeping pace with industry trends—they’re actively driving critical design movements, from circularity and neuro-inclusive thinking to the integration of AI and advanced material innovation. We saw manufacturers embrace empathy, rethink flexibility, and experiment with form and function, addressing the evolving ways people live, work, heal, learn, and connect now.”
Halcon’s Best of Competition-winning Astoria series is designed for the contemporary office and elevated places for community, connection, and conversation. The jurors commended the exquisite selection for its outstanding design and practicality, emphasizing its elegant materials, sculptural bases, and carefully hidden rolling wheels. Astoria provides an appealing solution for today’s dynamic situations thanks to its adaptable setups, integrated technological options, and painstaking attention to detail. “Elegance is the key word when it comes to Astoria. It makes the capabilities seem too good to be true. Here, you will not be sacrificing design for functionality,” notes the jury. The line was also honored with Gold Awards in the Tables: Conference, Tables: Café, and Collections for Collaboration categories. JeLa Guest from Davis Furniture, Panigiri from Extremis, Knit One from Isomi, and Unifi from Keilhauer were among the finalists for Best of Competition.
Other producers, including Arktura, DARRAN, Extremis, Formica Corporation, Keilhauer, Mizetto, Momentum Textiles & Wallcovering, Safco, and Shaw Contract, were recognized with Innovation Awards for their products that introduced daring new concepts to the market through innovative features, reimagined solutions to well-known problems, or breakthrough technologies. By using recyclable or biodegradable materials, using eco-friendly manufacturing techniques, and adhering to industry certifications and standards, products from Andreu World, HÅG, Haworth, Isomi, KFI Studios, Momentum Textiles & Wallcovering, Nienkämper, Patcraft, and The Good Plastic Company were honored with Sustainability Awards.
The Business Impact Awards are back for their fourth year and honor design solutions that improve organizational performance through more efficient processes, cost reductions, space management, and other strategic results. In addition to seasoned facilities managers from Northwestern Mutual and Aflac, a panel of business writers from prominent magazines, including Bloomberg, Newsweek, Vogue Business, Forbes, and Morning Brew, judged the prizes. They were based on on-site product evaluations at The Mart. Every product underwent a rigorous evaluation process based on a number of factors, such as adaptability, alignment with sustainability, technology integration, productivity, user experience and wellness, and contribution to the bottom line.
Ten winners were chosen from among 26 nominees for this year’s Business Impact Awards, which covered everything from architectural systems and integrated technology to furnishings and materials. Clarus’ Lynk, CMS Electracom’s Freedom FR210 Series, Framery’s One Lounge, Haworth’s Closed-Loop Manufactured Fern, Keilhauer’s Unifi, Kwalu’s Ellie Recliner + Sleeper Sofa Collection, Momentum Textiles & Wallcovering’s Renaturation, Safco/Onsemble’s Modix System, Schiavello’s Focus Quiet Room Plus, and Visplay’s Omnio Office were declared the 2025 Business Impact Winners. Andreu World (9), Keilhauer (6), Davis Furniture (4), Patcraft (4), and Schiavello (5) received the most awards overall, with each company receiving recognition for a variety of product categories.
The People’s Choice Awards, a new feature for the 35th edition of Best of NeoCon, let the entire design community comment on their favorite Best of NeoCon-winning goods both online and on-site. The top five winners will be revealed on Wednesday, June 11, after the People’s Choice voting closes on Tuesday, June 10 at 5:00 p.m. CDT. Voters can cast their ballots online through the Winners Gallery or by scanning QR codes on award-winning merchandise located throughout the venue.
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