The ten best office chairs Friday 14 January 2011 00:00 GMT The ten best office chairs Whether you need to ease your executive stress or curl up in your study at home, sit back and relax with the latest in funky furniture... Click on the image on the right to launch the gallery 3D Models / Revit Why I Sit in Sayl Photographer Alice Gao was drawn to the unique details of the Sayl Chair. Part of the Thrive Portfolio See how this product can contribute to your environmental goals. How to tune and use your chair for maximum comfort and support. Sayl User Adjustment Guide Herman Miller's Sayl Chair Earns Inaugural Core77 Design Award Herman Miller's Sayl Chair Awarded IDEA Silver Herman Miller's Sayl Chair Receives IDA "Product Design of the Year" Sayl chair wins Interior Design's "Best of Year Product" award in Seating: Contract/Task category. Sayl chair wins FX International's Interior Design Award for Best Workplace Seating.
Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) awards a Silver Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) to the Sayl family of seating. Sayl chair wins Reader's Choice award in TreeHugger's Best of Green: Design and Architecture category. Sayl chair named "Product Design of the Year" by the 2010 International Design Awards (IDA) jury. What's In It For You Product StoryGood design, healthy support, and exceptional value are always attractive—and Sayl delivers all three. By using smart engineering to transform simple materials, we were able to make Sayl attainable for more people. A New Reference PointSayl designer Yves Béhar and our development team considered and reconsidered every part of the design—and, in the end, created a full family of seating that sets the reference point in its class for quality, performance, and design. 3D Intelligent BackSayl’s unframed 3D Intelligent back lets you stretch and move, striking a healthy balance between support and freedom.
The elastomer strands of the suspension back vary in thickness and tension to provide greater support in the transition areas along the spine and less everywhere else to encourage a full range of seated movement. PostureFitThe construction of Sayl’s 3D Intelligent suspension back provides passive PostureFit sacral support, which allows your spine to maintain its natural “S” shape and empowers your body to maintain a healthful posture with less fatigue. Dynamic SupportThe foundational shell of the fully upholstered work chair mimics the 3D Intelligent suspension, providing similar dynamic support in a more traditional back. An optional lumbar support is available on both work chair models and provides adjustment over a 4-inch (10 cm) range. Inspired by SuspensionInspired by suspension bridges—structures that deliver the most using the least material—Yves Béhar applied the engineering principles of these amazing structures to create Sayl. The Eco-Dematerialized design of the work chair uses less material in more inventive ways to provide ergonomic support for people up to 350 pounds (159 kg).
Aesthetic ChoicesSayl’s unframed back and Y-Tower support create a striking visual aesthetic that reveals both the designer’s inspiration and intent. The stretch-knit back cover provides a softer, warmer aesthetic while maintaining the beauty, support, and breathability of Sayl’s signature 3-D suspension back. A fully upholstered version is also available. Both offer an expressive palette that will complement any environment. Responsible DesignWe produce Sayl on three continents to reduce the distance between the factory and the buyer. This product contains no PVCs and its materials are almost entirely recyclable. A Full Family of Seating The smart engineering and high style of the Sayl work chair also can be found in the Sayl stool and side chair. Work chairs, side chairs, and stools feature an upholstered seat with either a suspension or upholstered back. Side chairs feature either a 4-leg, which stacks up to 4-high, or sled base. We asked designer Yves Béhar to design a highly affordable chair that would incorporate everything Herman Miller is known for—beautiful design, first-class ergonomics, elegant engineering, and respect for the environment.
Béhar, who calls San Francisco home, began by looking at designs that deliver the most with the least. And then he took a look at his city's best-known landmark: the Golden Gate Bridge. Béhar wondered, could the engineering principles of a suspension bridge be applied to a chair? The notion of using a suspension tower to support an unframed suspension back meant that the elastomer material could be stretched in a way that provides the greatest tension at points where support is needed and the least in areas that would allow for the most expansive range of motion. So why "Sayl", rather than, say, "Bridge"? Take a look at the chair from the side. See the resemblance to a full mainsail? The name reflects the sailing vessels that pass beneath the bridges that inspired the original design. Replacing the "i" in "sail" with a "y" is a nod to the innovative Y-Tower structure of the work chair.I tried a lot of high end office chairs and settled on a Soma Comfort tall back chair.
I am tall and have RSI and both of those affected my choice so it might not be the best for you, but it's definitely worth trying out. They don't sell direct so you have to find a place near you that carries them.They are expensive (good deals can be found on eBay or Craigslist), but worth the investment for people who spend over 8 hours per day on a chair.My Herman Miller chair is the best I've ever sat in. There are many models, in all price ranges, and they are all great, but the one I settled on was the one that, when I sat in it, felt like it was made especially for me.These pictures are the web picture of the Aeron model (l), and the one I own and the one I sit in (r).I invested in a Soma Comfort custom purchased office chair. It really is great to customize and know exactly what you're getting with a Soma chair, but the ordering form is a little cryptic and requires a good knowledge of your size and ergonomic needs. It's also pretty pricey (but can you put a price on the seat you spend your life in?)