CategoriesDesign Interior

Customized BeneSit chairs

Did you know that you can design your very own BeneSit chair?

We want to support the use of BeneSit chairs in a great variety of use scenarios and interior design expressions. Therefore, we offer custom design where you can choose between 24 colors for both the top and the bottom section of the chair (see the pictures). 

You can see all 24 colors here and on the picture above.

Order your custom designed BeneSit chairs via this link.

Custom design chairs are the same price as standard chairs and delivery time is up to approx. 8-12 weeks.

Which colors you pick? 😍

CategoriesBack pain Design Working from home

A holistic approach and the revolutionary table

A BeneSit chair in size L used at a high kitchen table

Many people might think that a good sitting position requires a good chair. And we don’t disagree with that. But it definitely also requires a good table!

In BeneSit, we are often in dialogue with customers who want to use the BeneSit chair in a work situation. Then we ask about their work setup, as it is important for us to get a holistic picture of what it looks like when they are working. 

Through our collaboration with an occupational therapist, statements from experts and from our own experience, we have found that sitting tall with your knees below hip height and having an open hip is essential for a good posture.

To achieve this good sitting position, many people will find that the usual fixed office desks and dining tables are too low. The height-adjustable desk has made it possible to do personal adjustments and actually made it possible for office workers to choose the right chair for themselves, rather than choosing the right chair for the table.

We therefore always recommend using a height-adjustable desk, but also know that many people don’t have access to it in a home working situation. In this context, we want to inspire you to think a little “out of the box” and raise the computer to the ideal height (for example, by using a thick book or similar) in order to still be able to choose the chair that fits you.

Read more about the BeneSit chair and back pain here.

CategoriesDesign Entrepreneurship

Launch of new and improved seat

Here you can see the previous seat to the left (red chair) and the new seat to the right (petrol chair)

Today we want to share a little peek “behind the scenes” and into our production. We have been working on further developing the seat of the BeneSit chair and are now launching the new and improved seat!

The new seat…

💚 is moulded foam which minimizes waste

☁️ is made of highest quality foam

⭐️ provides more comfort

⬜️ has a more streamlined look

We refer to our instagram profile where we have shared a small video showing the previous and new seat up close.

We look forward to hearing your opinion on the new seat!

CategoriesDesign

Rethinking the way we sit

BeneSit rethinks the concept of “chairs” and the way we sit

If you were to ask a great number of people how they would define “a chair” the answer would probably be something along the lines of “something you can sit on that has four legs”.

We have a clear association connected to the word “chair” and therefore it is very understandable when people need a minute to figure out that the BeneSit is also a chair – despite it not having four legs.

Developing for the human body

An example of someone who is also rethinking the way we sit is Niels Diffrient. We have been inspired by his TED Talk where he shares his story about how he developed a new office chair based on a fundamental data set – the human body. 

He explains how the chair should do as much for office people as humanly and mechanistically possible and that no 20-page manual should be necessary. He says that “…the one thing they don’t need, is a chair that interferes with their main reason for sitting there”.

These points fit perfectly with the BeneSit vision of a good office chair. However, when we express that the chair should do as much for office people as possible, we probably mean it in a different way than Niels Diffrient.

Rather than supporting the person from head to toe and therefore helping the person to avoid engaging the body, we want the chair to support an active way of sitting. We believe that, in the long run, it is more helpful for office people to be supported in incorporating subtle movement in their sitting rather than “taking away” the movement and engagement of their sitting posture.

You can read more about the principles of the BeneSit chair here.

What are your thoughts? Should office chairs “take away” movement or initiate movement?

CategoriesBack pain Design

Design of children’s furniture

When discussing work space design, sitting positions and back pain we often think of adults. However, children also spend much of their time sitting down.

Today, we want to share some inspirational points from the article “Children’s behaviour and the design of school furniture” by Knight & Noyes. They explain that furniture is used extensively during childhood, which is a vital period of human physical development. A study even shows that children aged 13-16 were seated for 78.7% of their time in the classroom.

This illustrates the importance of well-designed school furniture. To ensure this we must consider the tasks children carry out at school to be able to identify the functions that are needed from the furniture. 

School furniture should support the children’s tasks

The article explains how the school furniture should support the two major tasks of school children; attending to the teacher and writing/drawing at the working surface. Furthermore the furniture should ensure that the children stay in one place (to not distract each other) as well as facilitate learning through a comfortable and stress-free workstation. 

Knight & Noyes explain how it is generally accepted that school furniture should be designed to accommodate movement while sitting. They present this as a paradox as they have just established that school furniture also should ensure that children stay in the same place.

We find this “paradox” very interesting and believe that this is exactly what we try to solve with the BeneSit chair. We do agree that school furniture should minimize distracting interactions and accommodate movement, but we do not agree that one excludes the other. 

The BeneSit chair creates a workstation which – through small movements – makes the child concentrate for longer and thereby also minimizes the distraction of other children. “Staying in the same place” and “movement” should not be seen as a paradox but rather two coexisting elements which create the basis for great children’s furniture.

Our BeneSit chair in the size Small is primarily developed for children who need higher movement freedom when carrying out seated work. You can read more about the BeneSit chair here.

CategoriesDesign

Functionality and aesthetics in product development

The BeneSit chair in size Small

At BeneSit, we often talk about functionality and aesthetics. It is an important priority for us that these two elements are integrated in our product.

According to this article published by Cambridge University Press, functionality refers to the performance of a product, while aesthetics represents the visual and ergonomic appeals of the product.

In our opinion, it is difficult – if not impossible – to create a successful product where only one of these elements is present. They must therefore coexist to meet both the practical and visual needs of the user.

The BeneSit chair has been designed with a starting point in functionality and through its simple construction and the few selected materials, the aesthetic is created. We believe that the two elements support each other, creating a better product overall.

What role do you think functionality and aesthetics play in the development of a product?

You can read more about the BeneSit chair here.

CategoriesDesign

Prioritising the fixed height in chair design

BeneSit chairs in heights S, M and L

Several times we have had interesting conversations with customers about our choice to design the BeneSit chair in four fixed heights rather than having one adjustable chair.

Of course, an adjustable chair can have many advantages, as one chair can be adapted to users with a large height difference.

However, there are several reasons why we have chosen the fixed heights of the BeneSit chairs, and we want to share them with you here.

When is the “correct” sitting position achieved?

During the development of the BeneSit chair, we were in close dialogue with talented occupational therapist Mette Boye. It quickly became clear that the correct sitting position is achieved by having more than 90 degrees between the upper body and the thighs. This meant that the correct chair height for one person would be a range rather than one specific height. In addition, we found two chair heights (which we now call M and L) that would be ideal for about 85-90% of the population. Later, we decided to introduce heights S and XL to ensure that we accommodate people of all heights. 

Weight of the chair

A clear advantage of having fixed heights is to avoid heavy mechanical parts in the construction of the chair. This means that we use fewer materials, but also that the weight of the chair is only a few kilos, making it easy to move around and use in different scenarios.

The design aspect

In addition, the absence of height-adjustable mechanical parts was a high-priority design decision. This ensures a simple construction and a minimalistic design, which also distinguishes the BeneSit chair from other more traditional office chairs.

You can read more about the BeneSit chair here.

CategoriesDesign Interior

“Resimercial” design

The BeneSit chair creates a homey and flexible work environment

Following on from last week’s blog post on trends in hybrid working and working from home, this week we’ll be delving into the principles of “resimercial” design. 

The word “resimercial” combines “residencial” and “commercial” and Work Design Magazine predicts that this concept will increasingly influence the way we design office landscapes and workplaces going forward. 

As Work Design Magazine describes here, the concept of “resimercial design” is about incorporating the comforts of the home environment into our work environment. The aim of this is to make the workplace a more comfortable place, which is a key factor in employee well-being and health. People are increasingly becoming the source of companies’ value – so it is important that the workplace supports its employees both mentally and physically.

Specifically, ‘resimercial design’ can be incorporated by using domestic artefacts such as lamps and carpets, adding multi-sensory elements such as plants, music and scents or by incorporating flexible ways of working. Flexibility in the workplace, for example, can be achieved by having flexible meeting spaces and offering employees alternative seating options.

Read more about our customized BeneSit chairs, which are ideal for companies that want to create more flexible working environments and focus more on employee well-being.

What would you implement in your company to create a more homey atmosphere?

CategoriesDesign Tips & Tricks

Trends within hybrid work

wgsn

As many of us have experienced first hand, the pandemic changed the way we work. A long period of working exclusively from home forced us to change up our work routines. Suddenly, we had to create a different office set-up, a different way of doing meetings and a different way of structuring our day – some began flexing work around family duties and hobbies. 

WGSN has shared some valuable insights into the current work-related tendencies and the trends that will unfold during the next few years. Here we will share and discuss some highlights from their article. 

 

Working from home increases productivity

The article shares some statistics showing how working from home has increased our productivity. Research shows that hybrid working leads to 15% more productivity while a global study shows that more than 60% of 20,000 respondents said they get more done working from home.

 

Hybrid work is here to stay

During the pandemic most people had to make do with a makeshift home office. WGSN predicts that people, over the next three years, will prioritize long-term set-ups e.g. with proper furniture that creates a healthy sitting position, just like the BeneSit chair.

 

Multifunctional products are key

When the office moves into the home, flexible and multifunctional products will become highly valuable. People will be more dependent on products which enables their existing spaces to be transformed into a working environment.

BeneSit’s customers often explain how they enjoy the flexibility of the chair – it works well both as a home office chair as well as a bar stool after working hours.

 

Design should target the domestic setting

Working from home also creates a need for more things in the home. These things should be designed to fit into the domestic setting rather than office aesthetics as it will create a more soothing and stress-relieving environment.

The BeneSit chair is designed to prevent and minimize back-pain while having a homey Danish design aesthetic. This makes it fit well into many home interior styles and is a great option for the home working environment. 

 

Thank you to WGSN for some very interesting insights. You can read the full article from WGSN here and more about the BeneSit chair here.

How are you planning on improving your home office in 2023?

CategoriesDesign Tips & Tricks

The meeting rooms of the future are flexible

benesit in coloplast

We all know the traditional meeting room with a big wooden table in the middle with chairs around the table and a projector showing a big screen on the end wall.

In recent years, the traditional meeting room has been challenged by new and different meeting rooms that cater more for creativity and different ways of holding meetings.

We at BeneSit find that the BeneSit chair is used in meeting rooms and in open office landscapes.

As this chair is actually developed to counteract back pain due to sedentary work, customers have been asked why they use it in meeting rooms and open office spaces.

The reason is that the chair is super lightweight and has a handle that makes it intuitive and simple to move from room to room, so it can be used as an extra chair (if there are many people at a meeting) or as seating (when there is an informal or unscheduled meeting).

“We hear that the chair is used in creative spaces because the design is alternative and the rounded base makes it fun to sit on and “opens up” creative thoughts and an open, playful mind,” says Peter Kragh, co-founder of BeneSit ApS.

The company “Sessions” is a meeting room expert and have produced this article on the flexible meeting room of the future (in Danish).

https://sessions.dk/fremtidens-moedelokale-er-fleksibelt/