Inspired by my own ethnographic research with the emergency services, this chair was designed for their staff rooms & dining areas, enabling our tired heroes to enjoy a rejuvenating post-lunch nap. Its innovative mechanism exploits the fact that standing up is a process of pushing down; pressing on the arm-rests uses the occupants own body weight to return the reclined seat to an upright position. An ergonomics rig was created to explore the optimum seat & backrest angles when eating and resting. Full-sized prototypes were built to assess the mechanisms & usability, these were tested with users at the RCA and at Kensington fire station.
Short-listed for the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre ‘Design for Our Future Selves’ competition 2003.
Development & testing
Ergonomics rig
Extracts from the sketchbook
Engineering calculations
