Designed for Sitting, Made for Movement

With the PUREis3, Interstuhl has now developed a solution to the negative consequences of the so-called sedentary lifestyle. Instead of sitting rigidly, the office swivel chair keeps the seated person mobile at all times.  The design of the office swivel chair is characterised by its so-called Smart Spring. This runs along the backrest down to the chair column. Due to the material composition, the swivel chair can be moved in all directions and thus supports active sitting. It adapts to any person sitting on it, whatever their height and weight. All the user has to do is adjust the seat height by hand. Industrial designer Andreas Krob from the Swiss b4k office approached Interstuhl with this claim over five years ago in order to develop the PUREis3 with the company. The basic idea and shape were identified relatively quickly, but the search for the right material composition for the Smart Spring proved challenging for the designers and product developers alike.

Together with the Berlin-based engineer Joachim Brüske, Krob worked intensively on the optimisation of the Smart Spring technology, focusing primarily on the interplay of static properties and force flows in the material. Since the swivel chair is very light, it can be easily moved. It is suitable for conference rooms and team meetings as well as for concentrated desk work. The design and the large selection of colours and fabrics give planners plenty of creative freedom, with a choice between a mesh or padded backrest. Smart Spring, the chair column and the optional armrests in various designs are uniformly available in either white or black for all models. How much movement is actually possible on the PUREis3 has been examined by ETH Zurich in a biomechanical report. The report’s conclusion: The chair offers material flexibility of up to 22° per side in the upper back area, a back opening-angle of up to 38° and a lateral movement spectrum of up to 26° for the seat surface. For even more movement an app called S 4.0 has been created. This “Active Sitting Solution”, developed by Interstuhl and Garmin, analyses individual sitting behaviour and helps improve it further. The solution is rounded off by instructions for easy-to-complete office workouts and prompts to change sitting posture.