Kimball · Panel systems
Kimball
Narrate
Narrate shapes workplace culture by creating spaces that bring out the best in people.
Overview
Design isn’t decoration here — it’s how a floor earns its keep. Narrate lets personality through with custom graphics, mixed materials, and surfaces that move from bold to subtle, without trading away privacy, acoustics or function. Here’s how it works, and why we reach for it.
Narrate is one of our two flagship Panel Systems — the paradigm that still fits the large majority of workstation floors. A panel system puts privacy, acoustics, power and data exactly where each person needs them, all on a rigid steel frame. What makes Narrate a flagship is how far it flexes: panels, worksurfaces and storage connect where the plan wants them — not only at fixed module points — and the whole run stacks, reconfigures and changes over time, so the floor you build today keeps adapting for years. It’s also pavilion-capable, shaping collaborative rooms from the same kit of parts — one system for both heads-down focus and working together.
See where Narrate sits in the full panel range →
Few systems balance openness and privacy as gracefully. The acoustic panels — dense fiberglass behind the textile — keep a floor calm without walling anyone off, and its frameless glass runs clean across panels for uninterrupted sightlines when a space wants light. Narrate can disappear into a refined interior or become the statement, depending on the brief. It’s a planner’s tool that still feels human.
So here’s when we’d specify Narrate — and when we’d point you elsewhere.
Specify it when
- You want personality — custom graphics, mixed materials, surfaces from bold to subtle.
- You want that expression without trading away privacy, acoustics or function.
- You want design-forward casegoods that let a brand through.
- You value a manufacturer that shares our standards and backs us up when a project needs it.
Consider something else when
- You want a restrained, corporate-standard look.
- You want a premium solid-hardwood statement.
- Lowest-cost value leads.
- You want a simple open-plan bench.
Gallery
Highlights
- Custom graphics and mixed materials.
- Bold-to-subtle surfaces.
- Privacy and function kept intact.
Configurations & construction
- Off-module flexibility — panels, worksurfaces and storage connect where the layout wants them, not only at fixed points.
- Stackable & changeable — build height in courses and reconfigure the run as teams change, without starting over.
- Acoustic tackable panels — fiberglass behind the textile for a genuinely quieter, calmer floor.
- Frameless glass that spans panels — ¼" tempered glass or resin, set hardware-free into a top cap that runs across two or more standard frames, up to 8 feet, for big, uninterrupted glass and light.
- 4-circuit power & managed data — placed where people reach them, with a dedicated circuit for sensitive equipment.
- Pavilion-capable, with hinged doors — shape semi-enclosed rooms and doorways from the same kit of parts.
- Refresh, don’t re-buy — swap tiles, finishes and surfaces to renew a worn area over the years.
- End panels that finish beautifully — Narrate closes a run with end panels that can be shaped, dimensional designs in wood, 3D laminate, resin, plywood patterns and more — single- or dual-sided, in three heights.
Dimensions & heights
Certifications & sustainability
Finishes
Narrate’s Kimball surface palette — laminates, wood veneers, paint, panel textiles and acoustic materials, organised by material. Sections are collapsed to keep the view calm; open any one to see the full range. (Neutral tiles are awaiting high-resolution swatch images; names and codes are final.)
Laminates & PVC Edges 70 colours
Each colourway is offered in both HPL and TFL substrates. Codes shown in parentheses.
Gallery 9
Woodgrain 31
Solid 15
Pattern 8
3D Laminate 3
Writable 2
Matte (uncoded) 2
Wood veneers 37 finishes
Panel frame & metal paint 37 colours
Solid 30
Metallic 7
Vertical panel fabrics 157 colours · 4 grades
Panel & screen textiles, grouped by Kimball grade. Grade sets the textile tier (and cost); higher grades add durability and pattern range.
Grade A 71
Grade AA 7
Grade B 57
Paradolia 22
Wool felt — acoustic screens 10 colours
PET — acoustic 2 colours
Glass & resin — screens 18 options
Glass 13
Resin 5
Solid surface is available in White; concrete, stone and quartz are not specifiable on Narrate. This is the Kimball-brand availability — in a Discover & Plan project we specify the exact finishes with you, matching the palette across every zone of your facility.
Downloads
Free for professionals — brochure, price list, planning guides, certifications and warranty. Kimball publishes 2020, CAP and Revit symbols for space planning; we share the current files on request.
Pairs well with
A few of the lines we’d specify alongside Narrate — a starting point, not the full list. Nearly every category coordinates; we’ll bring the rest to the table.
We’re here to help
We read every inquiry and follow up personally to help move your project forward.
Not sure exactly what you need? Tell us the space and the teams who’ll use it, and we’ll bring the options to you. Specifying is what we do.
Prefer to talk it through? Call 847-679-5148.
Frequently asked
About Narrate.
What is Narrate best suited for?
Can I get drawing symbols and CAD for space planning?
How do I get pricing or specify it on a project?
Is this a product I buy online?
Working with Applied Ergonomics