Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/177297
Objects of Comfort and Beauty Contract seating manufacturers focus on customization, ergonomic superiority and design innovation O by Laurie Jones Office furniture, and specifically, contract seating, manufacturing companies have continued to build upon sales gains in early 2012. With the economy in both the U.S. and Canada on the road to recovery, the industry is preparing for a promising start to 2013. At NeoCon 2012, Haworth introduced the Lively Task and Side chairs, the newest additions to its seating family. "Lively offers affordability without compromise," says Adam Russo, communications specialist with Haworth. "Both chairs are customizable and meet the ergonomic-support needs of its users. Haworth's award-winning features for both the Zody® and Very® seating families provided an important base for many of Lively's ergonomic and healthy attributes. The Lively Task chair is a full-featured ergonomic chair that includes pneumatic seat-height adjustment, weight-assisted tilt tension, an upright back lock, and a tension back, as well as optional height-adjustable lumbar, seat-depth adjustment, forward tilt and four-dimensional arm adjustments. "The Lively Side chair is a perfect complement to the Task chair," says Russo. "The Side chair stacks in style, up to five high, freeing up valuable floor space, and allows users to outfit an office or conference room with the same Lively look." The entire Lively seating family provides users with tension back support through fabric that is strategically tensioned in four zones to allow for proper lumbar support, breathability, and comfort. Lively's tension back fabric is offered in nine colours, including Sunflower, Grass, Chocolate, Nickel, Tomato, Black, Steel, Miami and Geranium. It is also available fully upholstered, in a large number of Haworth fabric designs. BioFit Engineered Products recently developed custom ergonomic seating for the new facilities of two renowned Chicago hospitals. Seeking options for unique nurses' station configurations in their respective projects, designers of the Rush University Medical Center campus transformation and Lurie Children's Hospital turned to BioFit for seating alternatives. Coordinating with the design teams and relying on input from nurses, BioFit engineered two distinct surface-mounted models that were ultimately selected for the projects. "With company roots tracing back nearly 70 years, BioFit literally manufactures thousands of combinations of reliable ergonomic seating products," says Ed Metzger, president. "We also have a comprehensive line of tables for a range of industries, Contract Seating p44-45Seating.indd 45 including health care, education, office, hospitality, technology and more." Criteria for both of the new seating models at the Chicago hospitals included an extensive range of motion, adjustability, ergonomic performance, safety, ease of cleaning and durability. It was also important that the chairs stayed with the station for which they were designed to be available when needed. For the Rush project, LEED compliance was a primary consideration. "BioFit has a long tradition of innovation," says Metzger. "We have always prided ourselves in developing products to aid in worker comfort and performance, and this frequently means delivering custom-built, one-of-a-kind solutions." Borgo introduced the PF3 at the 2012 NeoCon show in June and again at IIDEX in September 2012 where it won Gold in the lounge seating category. "This design was a collaboration between Ares Line and Pininfarina Design who have created a collection of chairs and sofas that can be placed in prestigious, sophisticated waiting areas in a variety of settings, including offices and even residences," says Lucas Spassiani, vice president of marketing. "This product brings together high-level design and elegantly concealed modularity, allowing for an infinite number of combinations." Borgo will be importing some of the components, but will be upholstering the product in its manufacturing facility in Toronto. This is Italian design at its best with Canadian manufacturing excellence, with particular focus given Haworth's Lively chair. to eco-sustainability. "PF3 is a green product that will not contribute to the landfill," says Spassiani. "This is an exciting addition to the Borgo product lineup. At Borgo, we also specialize in fixed seating where we take Italian design and customize it to suit our North American demands." Among the new seating products released by Horizon in 2012 is the Cierra Series. "This series consists of a mid- and high-back base model with a broad range of mechanism, armrest, seat size and comfort enhancement options," says Patrick Flanagan, vice president, sales and marketing. "Dealers need this kind of product flexibility to meet the needs of their clients in various areas within a project. A uniform look and feel can be achieved without compromising in one area or overspending in another. It's very easy to do using the configurator tool on our new website." In preparation for the launch of its new catalogue in August, Horizon completed a thorough review and update of the existing product lines. One of the products receiving an overhaul was the E-Comm series, which now offers three backrest treatments, offering three unique esthetics. "An allnew, super-smooth synchronized knee tilt mechanism option is especially suited to task seating applications because it offers ergonomic adjustability in a simple and easy to use manner," says Flanagan. "The ergonomic functions and features we build in to chairs need to be intuitive so the user has a comfort level in using them, otherwise they are wasted." ■ december 2012 /45 11/16/12 3:27 PM