INCLUSIVE WAITING SPACES
The design brief was simple: design a new inexpensive healthcare waiting room chair with the potential to be cross-category with non-healthcare environments. After some research, however, our team saw an opportunity to create a more innovative waiting room furniture system that was still cost effective.
Several research insights informed our designs. First, while filling a waiting room with single chairs, maximizes the number of seats, it doesn’t take into account how people
use the space. Also, while extreme users like bariatric and geriatric have unique needs, existing furniture solutions can call attention to their challenges; for example, a single waiting room chair with extra width for larger people can be ostracizing. Finally, our team saw an opportunity to reframe the healthcare aesthetic into something more familiar, comforting, and residential, especially during times of uncertainty.
Our solution, Embold, demonstrates inviting design, residential styling and comfortable seating that supports people’s natural movements. It works in many environments and supports people’s various needs with flexible applications for designers and customers.
In addition, if an organization’s patient profile changes over time, facility managers are able to move the arms to re-designate seating to accommodate changes in the healthcare population. Finally, Embold’s range of materiality encourages creativity and expression. With two back upholstery styles, wood and metal legs and two arm cap shapes with multiple materials offered, designers can move across the design spectrum and allow healthcare organizations to express their unique brand. Both chairs and tables are
going to be marketed across healthcare and corporate categories.
(project completed while at Steelcase)
CLIENT: Steelcase
INDUSTRY: Furniture
MARKET: Clinic Waiting Spaces
ROLE: Design
