An ergonomic armchair does not have to look like medical equipment. And a designer chair should not be beautiful only until someone actually sits on it.
It sounds obvious, but for years ergonomics and aesthetics in contract interior design were treated almost like opposite ends of a spectrum. On one side: adjustment, support, angles and technical parameters. On the other: line, proportion, colour and material. The designer was expected to find a compromise.
The more interesting projects begin when no compromise is needed.
Because ergonomics is not a collection of mechanisms hidden beneath the seat. It is the way furniture responds to the body, time and situation. We sit differently during a two-hour meeting, differently during a quick conversation over coffee, and differently again when we are trying to focus on a document or have ten minutes between meetings.
A contemporary interior therefore does not need one “ergonomic piece of furniture”. It needs different forms of comfort.
Start with the situation. Choose the furniture afterwards
In a catalogue, it is easy to compare one chair with another or one armchair with another. In a real interior, another comparison is far more useful: what will the user actually be doing here?
If they are going to spend an hour at a conference table, they need stable support and the freedom to change position. If the space is intended for a five-minute conversation, ease of sitting down and standing up matters more. In a focus zone, reducing stimuli and creating a sense of enclosure become important. In a lounge area, the ability to relax the body matters. In a waiting area, the furniture needs to work for different users, including people who may find it difficult to rise from a low seat.
Good design therefore starts not with the question, “which model do we like?”, but with another one: how long will someone sit here, and what will they need during that time?
It seems like a small shift in perspective. In practice, it helps avoid interiors that look excellent in photographs but work much less effectively from Monday to Friday.
Comfort does not always mean softness
A sofa can be extremely soft and still be completely unergonomic in the context in which it has been placed.
Imagine an office reception. A guest is waiting a few minutes before a meeting. They have a coat, a bag, perhaps a laptop. They sink into a deep, low sofa and, a moment later, have to get out of it while trying to retain at least some degree of business composure.
The sofa itself is not the problem. The scenario is.
In contract interiors, ergonomics is about proportions: seat height and depth, backrest angle, armrests, lumbar support, but also the amount of space around the furniture. Comfort comes from the relationship between the person, the piece of furniture and the activity.
That is why solutions such as DAY work well in meeting rooms, cafeterias and workspaces. Its slightly resilient backrest with a lumbar curve follows the ergonomics of the back, while the thin metal legs give the chair visual lightness. It is a good example of an ergonomic feature that does not complicate the form. On the contrary – it becomes a natural part of it.
Furniture can change the way we work
The contemporary office no longer operates at one single rhythm.
At 9:00, the team needs a place for a quick meeting. At 11:00, someone wants to work in silence for an hour. In the afternoon, two people discuss a project outside the conference room. Someone takes a phone call. Someone else wants to step away from their desk for a moment but still keep working.
If the entire office offers nothing but desks and meeting rooms, people start adapting the space themselves. Conversations move into the kitchen, calls into the corridor, and work requiring concentration happens with headphones on.
Spatial ergonomics is also about making sure people do not have to fight the interior.
This is where FRAME becomes particularly interesting. It is not a single armchair, but an extensive collection that makes it possible to create different working conditions – from seating and tables to mobile screens and solutions with mediaports. Its compact elements can create temporary areas of separation even where there is no room for another enclosed meeting room.
Seen this way, ergonomics goes beyond the shape of the seat. It also concerns the level of privacy, the number of stimuli and the ability to choose a place that fits the task at hand.
A good backrest can also become part of the architecture
High backrests have an interesting property: they work for the body and for the interior at the same time.
They support the user, but they can also visually enclose a small zone, reduce the view of a busy open-plan office and partially take over the function of a partition. It is a good example of ergonomics becoming part of the spatial composition.
The NEBULA collection makes it possible to create more sheltered areas for meetings and rest. Upholstered elements and available screens also help improve acoustics, which in open spaces is just as important to comfort as the shape of the seat itself. KLEIBER also recommends Nebula as a solution for interiors struggling with noise in open-plan offices.
Instead of building another small room, it becomes possible to create a place that remains part of the open office while sending a clear signal to the user: the pace is different here.
And very often, that is exactly what is missing.
Ergonomics for the eyes and ears
The spine is not the only part of the human body worth considering in a project.
An office can have perfectly profiled chairs and still be exhausting throughout the day. Too many conversations, movement behind the user, reflected light, intense colours and the lack of any place where the number of stimuli can be reduced for a while are enough to create discomfort.
That is why sensory comfort is increasingly becoming part of the conversation.
For neurodiverse users, it can be especially important, but in practice everyone benefits from it. A quieter part of the office is not useful only to someone with ADHD. It helps anyone who needs to read a twenty-page agreement or prepare a presentation without involuntarily taking part in four conversations happening nearby.
KLEIBER has addressed this subject in the context of designing for neurodiverse teams, pointing out that flexible zoning, upholstered furniture and shielding elements can regulate the level of stimuli without closing the entire office into separate rooms.
Here, function and aesthetics meet particularly clearly. A high-backed armchair, an upholstered screen or a soft sofa can improve working conditions while giving the interior a distinct architectural rhythm.
Meeting rooms need ergonomics too – just a different kind
Ergonomics does not always mean extensive adjustment mechanisms.
In a conference room, users usually do not sit for eight hours. They change position, turn towards other participants, watch a presentation and take notes. The furniture should support these movements rather than lock the body into one position.
In spaces like these, lightness works well – both physically and visually.
ZOOM can be combined with different base options, allowing the same formal language to work in different settings: around a conference table, in an executive office, in a meeting area or in a more representative part of the workplace. From an architect’s point of view, this matters. An ergonomic solution should not require introducing a piece of furniture that appears stylistically disconnected from the rest of the project.
Visual coherence is part of comfort too. Not for the spine – for the eye.
The lounge area is not a reward for finishing your work
Soft seating in offices is still often described as a “relaxation zone”, as though sitting there were an activity suspiciously unrelated to work.
And yet one of the most important meetings of the day may take place on a sofa.
A less formal seating position changes the dynamics of a conversation. Two armchairs placed at an angle encourage a different kind of interaction than two chairs facing one another across a large table. A sofa may be used for rest, but it can work equally well for a quick consultation, a one-to-one conversation or half an hour of laptop work.
Here too, ergonomics means matching the position to the type of interaction.
Collections such as EPIC – with its soft yet architecturally distinctive form – and NEBULA, which can create both open and more sheltered layouts, work well in these scenarios.
Design does not have to reveal that a very specific functional task lies behind an attractive form.
It is usually better when it does not.
The body likes change
One of the biggest misconceptions about ergonomics is the idea that there is one perfect sitting position.
There is not.
Even the most correct posture becomes tiring if we stay in it long enough. The body needs movement and change. That is why a well-designed office should allow users to move between different types of places.
Desk. Meeting room. High table. Armchair. Sofa. Focus zone.
A few minutes away from the workstation.
In an environment like this, ergonomics stops being a feature of one product and becomes a feature of the entire interior.
The architect is therefore not designing the most comfortable chair in the world. They are designing a sequence of positions, activities and places between which the user can move throughout the day.
That is a much more interesting task.
A clearly profiled backrest can become a distinctive formal feature. An armrest can define the line of an armchair. A high panel can shape the composition of an entire zone. The structure of the base can make a piece of furniture appear lighter while maintaining stability.
Good design does not hide function.
It gives function a form.
FAQ
What does ergonomics mean in office design?
Office ergonomics is not limited to a properly profiled chair. It also includes the ability to change position, choosing a place that suits the task, acoustics, reducing stimuli and clearly separating zones for meetings, concentration, rest and individual work.
Can ergonomic furniture also be design-led?
Yes. Functionality can be an integral part of the form. Profiled backrests, armrests, high panels and lightweight bases can support user comfort while also building the architectural character of an interior.
Which KLEIBER furniture works well in an ergonomic office?
Depending on the function of the space, it is worth considering DAY for meeting rooms, cafeterias and shared spaces, FRAME for focus zones and individual work, NEBULA for areas requiring greater privacy and acoustic comfort, and ZOOM for meeting rooms and representative office spaces.
How should furniture be selected for different office zones?
Start by defining the user scenario. Consider how long someone will sit there, whether they will work on a laptop, talk, wait, rest or need to reduce stimuli. Only then should seat height and depth, the type of backrest and additional functions be selected.
Can a lounge area be used for work?
Yes. Contemporary lounge areas are not designed exclusively for rest. They can support short conversations, consultations, laptop work or one-to-one meetings. Their ergonomics should therefore respond to an informal but still professional mode of use.
Why is acoustics part of ergonomics?
Because work comfort depends not only on body position but also on the number of stimuli. Excessive noise and nearby conversations make concentration more difficult and increase fatigue. Upholstered furniture, high backrests and screens can help create calmer zones without building additional walls.
Is one ergonomic chair enough to create a comfortable office?
No. Users change tasks and positions throughout the day. A well-designed office should provide different places – workstations, meeting rooms, focus zones, armchairs, sofas and spaces for less formal conversations. Ergonomics is a feature of the entire working environment, not of one product.
Read also
– How to design office work zones that support meetings, focus and rest?
– Where does the noise end and the work begin? Focus zone design in open-plan offices
– The Architecture of the Senses. How to Design an Office for Neurodiverse Teams?
– Fewer walls, more possibilities. How furniture optimises office space without breaking concrete
