True Blue: The Marriage of Tech and Office Design
Helping build tech solutions that put people first
October 16
True Blue: The Marriage of 
Tech and Office Design

There’s a tension at the core of hybrid work. There’s a growing need for connectivity in more spaces than ever before — remote and in-person workers need to connect, communicate, and collaborate.

Scott Srolis, president of Salamander Designs, the AV furniture firm that’s been expanding its commercial offerings, is well aware of the trend. “If you go back five, ten years ago, video conferencing was often reserved for executive-level deployments. It wasn’t every room. There were still more rooms that were not video-enabled than those that were. Today, video conferencing is more of a utility — any room, any size, any use case, you need to have a way for people to connect.”

As that demand for technology grows, however, those solutions can become almost oppressive. It’s as if the office has been completely taken over by machines, without regard for the needs of the humans those machines are supposed to serve.

There are companies that have partnered with Crestron that are striving to ease that tension. By creating the right mix of furniture, seating, cabinetry, and other amenities, firms such as Salamander Designs and Tokyo-based Itoki Corporation build environments that put people first. Their collaborative efforts with Crestron ensure that technologies needed for everything from content sharing to collaboration and control solutions blend effortlessly into every space, creating an intuitive, immersive work experience.

Yugo Shiino, a system design manager with Itoki, sums up why his firm specified Crestron for its showrooms: “We wanted a partner who understood both the technical complexity and the human simplicity we were aiming for.” What Shiino expresses here is a perfect example of what we at Crestron refer to as our “True Blue” mission — a collaborative effort whose primary purpose is to create the best possible experience for everyone involved.

Founded in 1890, Itoki has developed a global reputation for its expertise in office furniture, ergonomic design, and space planning. A scan of their portfolio reveals the underlying philosophy of their work; namely, creating connected spaces that never lose their “human” feel. Itoki’s able to create rooms that integrate technology into office design that never feel overwhelming — these are welcoming, comfortable spaces.

The Itoki Design House

The two showrooms tha they’ve outfitted in their Japanese headquarters — which welcome more than 20,000 visitors annually — illustrate the concept brilliantly. The rooms are part of a three-floor renovation that included a rebrand of the firm’s HQ as the “Itoki Design House.” They include the Decision Room, a two-tiered video conferencing room with a semicircular seating arrangement which creates sight lines that allow every collaborator to easily see the main display. The other space of note is the Stadium, a tiered, U-shaped seminar space.

The Decision Room was designed to create an equal environment where all participants — remote or in-person — could interact naturally, feel heard, and be visually included. In the Decision Room, the Automate VX multi-camera speaker tracking solution, integrated with Shure® MXA920 ceiling microphones and Shure IntelliMix® P300 processors, enables automatic speaker tracking. Cameras switch angles intelligently based on voice pickup, ensuring clear discussions where remote participants feel fully engaged. The automatic speaker tracking fosters richer, more equitable discussions.

The Stadium prioritized visibility and inclusivity, but Itoki needed technology to complement its design with seamless digital engagement. Simplicity was essential, making it easy for anyone to present and enabling multiple users to share content effortlessly. For the Stadium, the Crestron AirMedia® Connect Adaptor and a simpler two-camera tracking system support presentations, seminars, and hybrid meetings. Recessed, color-matched ceiling speakers and microphones blend effortlessly with the architecture, while Crestron’s touch screen interface makes controlling audio, video, and lighting simple for all users. Synchronized video and audio across rooms also enable town hall-style events and unified content experiences.

See the Itoki Crestron case study here.

The Salamander Approach

The effect of the Itoki showroom is one of instant comfort — the couch-like seating in the Decision Room is downright homey. It’s a vide that Salamander also specializes in. “We are serving both commercial and residential clients, so we understand the look and feel that says ‘home,’” says Srolis. “We’re design-led, integrator-friendly. Our position is at the intersection of AV architecture and design.”

Given that video conferencing technology is here to stay — and that it looks different at each company — Salamander makes bespoke and ready-made solutions that can be installed quickly. From soft seating to modular furniture, their mission statement includes the concept of “zero to collaboration in less than a day. “This makes it really appetizing for all three stakeholder communities that we serve,” says Srolis. Those communities include integrators, designers, and end users” “With integrators, it’s the tech and the performance. How’s the technology going to mount? What cable management and cooling options are available? With designers, it’s aesthetic and materials. What is the space that they’re looking to put together, and how do they want it to look? And for the end user, it’s usability and space goals — and there’s a huge need for flexibility and reconfigurability.”

Much like Itoki, that means Salamander’s furniture design is adapting. “When you start purpose-building a room for video conferencing, your table shapes will start to change with angles on the tables that are more camera-friendly,” says Srolis. Semicircular tables and camera-facing setups are also in high demand. Intelligent video means visibility, and that means framing matters more, so home-like aesthetics are a must/” That’s an easy stretch for Salamander, given their roots in residential furniture. “I refer to it as ‘emotional design with funcion,” he adds.

True Blue: The Marriage of 
Tech and Office Design
True Blue: The Marriage of 
Tech and Office Design

“Invisible” Hardware

With every installation, the Salamander team sees less and less demand for rectangular tables and “cubicle farms.” “We’re being asked to build small center consoles that sit inside of a U-shaped table, or a circular table, where you’re mounting the monitors off of the floor with the video vars in the center or the table, not at the front of the room,” says Srolis.

But Srolis feels that Salamander’s truly innovative work can be found in some of their bigger jobs. “We just did a very large project for a global financial institution,” he recalls. “It required us to mount 14 monitors, 11 video bars, and about 36RU of equipment. And it was all done in a beautiful, bleached oak cabinet that hid every wire. We recently finished an executive boardroom table that was 36 by nine feet, a trapezoidal shape. The coolest part? You could run over three miles of cable in the table, and never see a strand of wire.”

Salamander’s also very proud of a custom piece of custom piece they recently completed for the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL. “We created a 171-inch LG micro LED wall on a cabinet for their training facility. It had to support the entire LED wall configuration, the cameras, and 13 RU of gear — including Crestron hardware.” Beyond the look — complete with finishes carefully matched to the rest of the environment and invisible hardware — the piece has gotten rave reviews. “It opened up for them a space that was not getting as much use, and now they’re able to use that square footage as a training room,” says Srolis.

The Crestron Connection

“We’re really proud of our long-term collaboration with Crestron,” says Srolis. “Our Unifi tables, which you can see at salamandercommercial.com, we’re co-developed with Crestron engineers — we made sure everything was a perfect fit. Equipment can be stored in pedestal bases or credenzas. Every storage and display solution can be “Crestron optimized,” says Srolis. “That includes rack spacing, thermal management, cable runs, and wire access.

For Itoki, the success of Crestron technology lies in its invisibility. Cohesive, human-centric spaces born from the Itoki-Crestron partnership are setting a new standard for intuitive, people-first work environments. “At Itoki, we design and create work environments that inspire human connection,” says Osamu Watanabe, general manager of Itoki’s solution planning department. “Crestron’s collaboration technology aligns with our values of simplicity, flexibility, and human-centricity.”

Crestron’s intelligent video and control technologies bring Itoki’s vision of “quiet innovation” to life — they’re powerful, yet discreet and adaptable. Central to the setup is the Automated VX multi-camera speaker tracking solution, which automatically switches between multiple cameras based on the active speaker’s location. This creates more engaging hybrid meetings and reduces cognitive fatigue. With the system in place, remote attendees feel more connected, and in-person participants no longer repeat comments. “Even our clients are surprised by how naturally the Automate VX system identifies the speaker — it just works, and that’s what the latest technology should do,” says Yosuke Taguchi, an Itoki sales manager.

Itoki’s rooms also feature wireless content sharing with the Crestron AirMedia Connect Adaptor, allowing presenters to connect from any device. Crestron’s XiO Cloud® platform provides remote monitoring, updates, and centralized device management for the Itoki showrooms — and beyond.

“One of our guiding principles is that AV furniture is now part of the AV infrastructure,” says Srolis. “And when it’s done right, it improves performance, enhances the space, and creates a better experience. That’s where Salamander lives, and we’re proud to be partners with companies like Crestron. Together we’re creating these great spaces so people can be really productive — and keep in touch with their colleagues, no matter where in the world they are.”

For more on Salamander Designs, check out this episode of the Crestron Smarter Spaces podcast..

featured products

image 1 text field
Automate VX

Automate VX employs multiple optical zoom cameras and voice-activated switching to ensure remote participants enjoy a clear, crisp view of everyone in the room and in-person participants never have to think about where to look to follow the conversation.

Learn More
image 1 text field
Crestron Home®

Crestron Home makes all the devices and systems work the way you want them to. One simple experience from multiple control devices – on the wall, on the counter, on the couch, on your phone.

Learn More
image 1 text field
One-Touch Meetings

Swift, seamless collaboration with a simple touch. No delays, no complications — our one-touch meeting technology can turn any room into an intelligent, high-powered, easy-to-use hybrid space where everyone has an equal seat at the table. From small huddle spaces to large conference rooms, simply walk in, press a button, and cameras snap into focus, audio transmits with crystal clarity, and displays bring all participants into the room. Desktops to training rooms, home offices to global headquarters, one touch can connect everyone reliably, expertly, securely, and seamlessly.

Learn More

We’ll contact you.

If you prefer to have Crestron contact you, please complete the form below and a representative will call you.

​

By submitting your information you consent to the use of that information as set out in the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

related posts

image 1 text field
Inside the Crestron Experience Center in Mechelen

Our newest experience center tells stories — it’s an immersive experience for dealers, clients, end-users, architects, designers, and literally anyone who visits.

Learn More
image 1 text field
The Crestron Modern Workplace Certification Path — Now Online

The Crestron Modern Workplace Certification path is a new offering that covers everything needed to understand the technology required for the workplace in 2025. It was built for workplace designers, sales teams, consultants, and on-site IT and AV professionals.

Learn More
image 1 text field
Construct the future: The Crestron 
Construct UI Design Winner

The 2025 award goes to the firm Bestau for their design that leverages their creativity and technical expertise using our Crestron Construct ™ UI editing tool.

Learn More