Meridian Stacks Up

As we continue to expand our Meridian filing and storage product line, it’s interesting to think about how it all began with a unique concept brought to market by company founder Edsko Hekman.

Hekman (1914-2000) started the Spring Lake, Michigan,-based Meridian in 1970 with a concept new to the industry: stackable, lateral filing cabinets with an exterior depth of 20 inches, rather than the traditional 18 inches, for more filing capacity.

He also had the idea to sell by the drawer module, not by the cabinet. This unique approach makes it possible to reduce a customer’s cost per filing inch. After all, thought Hekman, customers are paying for storage, not the metal box. Gain more floor space for customers became a unique advantage for Meridian.

Meanwhile, Herman Miller, located about 45 minutes south, was looking for a broader breadth of filing and storage. In 1987, Herman Miller developed a marketing alliance with Meridian. Three years later, Meridian became a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Over the years, Meridian products have gained favor with architects and designers because the company can create custom colors for the individual cabinet modules and match heights to architectural details.

In 2008, Herman Miller began producing Meridian products in the U.K., so that our international customers could experience the same kind of flexibility.

Hekman has been described as “brilliant with mechanics,” and we’re excited that customers all over the world can now benefit from his savvy.

Rick Edwards’ Models of Good Design

I climbed a narrow flight of stairs to the third floor of a cool old building in downtown Holland, Michigan, to visit Rick Edwards Design and see what the proprietor was up to for his latest project with Herman Miller. Rick has worked with Herman Miller for many years, and they had reached out to him to help develop new applications for Meridian filing and storage.

Specifically, the challenge was to reconfigure existing Meridian elements to support and even inspire group work. Filing and storage is traditionally configured and placed for individual use or archival storage purposes, so Rick had to think outside the file to design solutions.

The results are evident when you walk in Rick’s door. On a Resolve input table, he displays his scale models of new Meridian Group Furniture applications. “People are intrigued by models,” he says. “They interact with them, they’re accessible, and it’s a starting point for creative conversations. We’ve had great discussions and input.”

It’s a tribute to Meridian’s versatility that its modules can be reconfigured to create and define areas where people gather, share, and connect. Plus, there are applications that can accommodate power and data for people’s technology and equipment.

“We want people to be attracted to these places,” Rick says, “so they naturally come together and collaborate.” And with Rick’s models to illustrate, it’s easy to see how Meridian does it.