Why Are Some Office Chairs So Expensive? | ARTiculations

If you’ve ever looked into buying an office
chair and have say looked up some options

online - you’ll find that it's possible
to buy one for about $50.

There are also ones for between a hundred
to a thousand.

And there are ones for over a thousand dollars.

You may think to yourself- aren't they all
just things we put our butts on?

What's with the big price range?

And what kind of crazy person would spend
over a thousand dollars on a chair?

Well let me tell you a story.

The first chair I ever bought for myself was
a chair from I think Walmart for like $39.99.

After about 18 months of use, an arm had broken
off, the adjustable seat had gotten stuck,

the vinyl had ripped in a bunch of places
and the seat cushion was as flat as pancake.

In fact, this chair wasn’t even frequently
used - I maybe sat in it for about

1-2 hours a day on average.

A good, durable office chair should last about
10-15 years while being used continuously

for an average of a 40 hour work week.

A cheap chair may cost you less initially,
but if you had to replace it every year or two

It may end up costing you more in the
end.

And that's not even mentioning that cheaper
chairs are often very uncomfortable

and not ergonomically designed.

This is not to say that every single person
needs to spend a thousand dollars on a chair.

For light residential use, you could probably
find a good quality chair for that purpose

for a few hundred dollars.

But if you're looking to buy a chair for business
use, or you work from home and you do

spend about 40 hours a week sitting it
in - you probably want to look into spending

a little bit more to get a good quality chair
for the long term.

Designing a quality commercial office chair
often takes years

and cost a lot of money to implement.

It involves a lot of research and development,
testing of materials, concepts iterations,

and involve the work and input of many scientists,
engineers, designers, technologists and even

healthcare professionals.

For instance - the Steelcase leap chair took
four years to develop, cost 35 million dollars,

and involved 11 academic studies.

But why do furniture manufacturers bother
with doing all of those things?

Well one, because it takes a lot of work to
develop something that's strong and durable.

Most commercial manufactures will put their
chair designs through vigorous testing methods

for function and durability.

An example of this is the ISO 21015 test for
office work chairs.

This test would determine the stability, strength
and durability of a chair by applying various

standardized simulations of functional use
as well as expected misuse.

Number two, most high quality chairs are extensively
ergonomically designed, since most of us expect

to sit in them for up to 40 hours a week.

Sitting for a long period of time in an uncomfortable
seat, a poorly supported cushion, or a strained

position - could lead to severe health conditions.

Thus a chair should not only be comfortable,
but also adjustable.

So most professional office chairs are designed
with mechanisms that allow a user to easily

adjust seat height, back angles, seat depth,
chair tilt, arm location, chair width, tension,

and sometimes even the locations of lumbar
support - allowing the chair to adapt to your

body type, work conditions and personal preference.

Many commercial office chairs are also customizable.

At a residential furniture store you generally
have a limited choice of design and fabric

options, because manufactures can keep costs
low by manufacturing a few standardized products

in mass quantity.

But commercial customers usually require a
wider selection of options, so commercial

suppliers generally have a higher per-item
cost.

A commercial chair supplier usually allows
you to choose from a greater selection of

designs, finishes, and fabric options.

You can even bring in your own fabric, or
have the option of printing a custom graphic

or pattern onto the fabric.

Many commercial businesses want to be able
to reflect their brand colour or image in

the design of their offices, especially if
it's for a customer facing environment.

But if you're just a person who's looking
for a simple functional chair for your

home office - you most likely don’t need
all of that.

But the option is there if you have a very
specific design in mind.

Ultimately - a great chair, like all great
designs, seamlessly ties together elegant

form, innovative technology and functional
excellence.

The Aeron chair, a Herman Miller product that
was designed by Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick

In 1994 - is actually a part of the collection
in the Museum of Modern Art.

An interesting and innovative part of their
design is that its seat as well as back are

actually not built out of traditional upholstery.

It's made out of an intricate network of polyester
mesh that’s stretched over an aluminum frame.

This make it light and flexible yet durable,
resilient, stain proof, splash proof and its

open mesh helps to keep your butt airy and
cool.

So if you’re looking to buy a chair - whether
you're looking for a classic work of of art

that's worth of a museum, or you're just looking
for a simple functional chair - hopefully

this gives you a little bit of an idea into
what to consider and what to look for.

Often I like to talk about how “everything
in this world is designed” - from the concrete

curbs on the side the road, to toilet partitions
in a public bathroom, to the plastic trims

on the edges of a chair.

Most people don’t even realize, or take
for granted just how much work and thought

has gone into designing some of the most ubiquitous
things in the world.

So I'd love to hear from you guys.

What are some of your curious questions about
the design world, or just what are some of

your questions about the everyday objects
around you.

Feel free to leave it in the comments below,

or suggest it to me via any of my social media accounts.

Thanks for watching and happy sitting!