1996. VS successively develops a comprehensive range of furniture for integral office furnishing. The innovative Series 700 sliding-door cupboard system, the AXIS and NetWork table systems, the Series 2000 screen system and the later Series 600 mobile storage furniture are each designed as effective system furniture based on highly varied building kits.
1997. The first result of the collaboration with legendary designer Verner Panton is the PantoSwing cantilevered chair; further chairs in the Panton family follow, amongst which the PantoFour four-legged chair, the PantoMove swivel chair and the PantoStack stackable chair.
1998. To mark the company’s centenary, VS moves into the new administrative building complete with large showroom designed by the architect Günter Behnisch – who has already collaborated for many years with VS on numerous school projects. At the same time the museum is opened with the design exhibition: “The Classroom – School Furniture in the 20th Century”. The accompanying book is published by Prestel.
2000. The first scientific long-range study – lasting for a period of four years – into ergonomic classroom furnishing is started. VS supports this study at the Fridtjof-Nansen School in Hanover, which, with its impressive overall concept “Dynamic school – the school as a system of learning in the city district”, becomes the model school at Expo 2000 under the slogan “What kind of school does the future of our world need?”
2001. Up to now the largest privately financed solar installation in Baden-Württemberg is erected by Taubersolar on the roofs of VS. The installation has a total power output of 486.54 kilowatts peak (kWp). The 5,724 solar modules operate with highly efficient Saturn technology.
A major order to furnish the offices of the parliament buildings in the Spreebogen district of Berlin is awarded to VS. The Series 900 table system meets with the approval of the various architect’s offices which are working on the parliament buildings, the Jakob-Kaiser-Haus and the Paul-Löbe-Haus. The table system designed by Behnisch & Partners and Hubert Eilers is even honoured by the Design Centre of North Rhine-Westphalia.
2002. VS exhibition in the Berlin Bauhaus Archive: On the 50th anniversary of the death of Maria Montessori exhibits from the estate of the Berlin-based company “P. Johannes Müller, Werkstätten für Schuleinrichtung” are vividly presented to a wide public. The exhibition, which also takes in Munich, comprises historical teaching materials, photographic documents and architectural examples. An accompanying exhibition catalogue is published by Prestel.
2004. VS introduces new furnishing concepts and furniture developments for all-day schools. These include mobile racks and multi-organisable storage furniture from the Series 600 and the RondoLift mobile teacher’s table with infinite height adjustment. Flexible screens from the Series 2000 enable rooms to be easily adapted for different activities and thereby different zones to be partitioned off from each other.
2005. The MX Award for Manufacturing Excellence, honouring best-practice solutions in industry, is bestowed on VS. The company is awarded the prize in the “Best Practice in IT” category for its outstanding organisational achievements in switching from functional to process-orientated system support.
2006. The latest chapter in the VS success story is the Series 901 table system. This system provides a building kit from which highly individually workstations can be put together entirely according to requirements. This results in the most diverse combinations of table tops and base assemblies – up to and including sitting/standing worktops, folding tables and conference facilities.
