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The chair starts at $8,995, but that doesn’t include the side table or ottoman. Add these up and it costs $10,995. The model shown above uses alpaca wool fabric and costs $14,995. (There are more than 300 fabrics and colors to choose from, and the swivel table comes in a variety of woods.) The Herman Miller Eames, from which the Diffrient Lounge also takes inspiration, It costs about $8,500 todaydepending on the skin you choose.
“The Eames design is obviously an iconic design, it’s timeless and beautiful, but it’s not something you can work on comfortably for a long time,” says Silva.
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Don’t let the lounge’s name fool you. Silva assures me that every chair the company designs is designed with comfort in mind, with an adjustable work surface and headrest that allows for different positions. While traditional lounge chairs focus on style, Silva says the lounge prioritizes comfort. In the short time I spent in the chair, it already felt comfortable, warm, yet supportive. Mechanical levers made it easy to convert the chair to a more active sitting position or a more relaxed position, without disrupting the ergonomics of a laptop on the table.
Silva says Devrent had long been thinking about the idea of a lounge chair that could also function as a workstation, and he believed technology would allow people to work in different ways.
“The chair acknowledges the fact that creativity and productivity don’t necessarily happen when you’re tied to your desk,” he says. “They happen in different positions; more relaxed or moving around the office, and this chair supports those transitions.”
King recites a famous quote from Different: “The best chair is the bed.” When you sit upright, your weight puts pressure on your spine, but when you lean back, much of that weight goes to the backrest, so when you lie down, there is much less pressure on your spine. “Leaning is really healthy,” says King. “He always thought it would be a good way to work.”
Luxury seat
How does a chair cost $15,000? Silva highlights Humanscale’s long-standing approach to simplicity. Ultimately, it’s the hallmark of the original Freedom Chair. Although the Diffrient Lounge may not look very complicated, by its design it cleverly hides the geometric mechanical system with clean lines and curves. There’s even some automation in the headrest. If you are fully reclined and the headrest is in the forward position to support your head, when you move back up, the headrest will automatically move to the neutral position.
