The unavoidable effects of ageing, combined with rising retirement ages, make workplace ergonomics more important than ever. These supportive products help keep work environments physically healthy.

Interstuhl’s Pure series of office task chairs feature automatically-adjusting ergonomic seat support, improving good posture in the workplace

Nine ergonomic office products that work for you and your body | Novità

Interstuhl’s Pure series of office task chairs feature automatically-adjusting ergonomic seat support, improving good posture in the workplace

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The 2020s will historically be marked as the point where a significant shift in workplace culture began. As flexible working locations and practices start to emerge, along with the increased use of AI and the growing acceptance of the four-day week, we’re spending less and less time at actual desks, wherever they are.


The importance of keeping workplaces physically healthy is just as high as focussing on mental health


That being said, however, with retirement ages rising all over the world, the importance of keeping workplaces physically healthy is just as high as the growing focus on mental health. These ten products for in and around the individual workspace help keep us feeling young and sprightly, even when our bodies are not.

VANK’s V6 swivel chair holds the user with an anatomical cushioned seat and moveable supports

Nine ergonomic office products that work for you and your body | Novità

VANK’s V6 swivel chair holds the user with an anatomical cushioned seat and moveable supports

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An adjustable chair that moulds to its user

Chairs that wrap around their user’s form with mouldable yet strong surfaces provide optimal back and neck support. VANK’s upholstered V6 swivel chair, for example, features a backrest with adjustable pressure and height, a height- and depth-adjustable seat and an award-winning anatomical seat cushion, ensuring both sections curve perfectly to the user’s spine, while also being strong enough to support their weight.

Pure’s chair-led lumbar support adjustment allows users to sit back and enjoy the comfort. Then get back to work

Nine ergonomic office products that work for you and your body | Novità

Pure’s chair-led lumbar support adjustment allows users to sit back and enjoy the comfort. Then get back to work

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A chair that does the work for you

While many ergonomic chairs’ adjustable sections offer personalised lumbar support, many are simply too confusing for the majority to operate efficiently. This is why the next generation of ergonomic chairs do the job for you. Interstuhl’s Pure series, for example, is a reactive chair that responds to its user, without asking them to make complex adjustments. ‘Complicated and heavy mechanisms are no longer required’ state Interstuhl.

The natural micro-movements our backs make throughout the day are fully supported, held by the Aeron chair’s flexible mesh back by ergonomic specialists Herman Miller

Nine ergonomic office products that work for you and your body | Novità

The natural micro-movements our backs make throughout the day are fully supported, held by the Aeron chair’s flexible mesh back by ergonomic specialists Herman Miller

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A chair that moves its user

‘Don’t get too comfortable’ is a generic warning based on the dangers of staying in one place for too long. Rarely is this more apt than when sitting. ‘Staying in one position reduces the natural pumping action of the muscles’, explains one of the leaders of ergonomic chair design Herman Miller. The manufacturer’s Aeron chair is an example of how an automatically tilting backrest continues to offer back support in any position, encouraging its user’s natural, healthy movement.

The complex seating position of a kneeling chair feels simple with Matilda’s welcoming Scandinavian design cues

Nine ergonomic office products that work for you and your body | Novità

The complex seating position of a kneeling chair feels simple with Matilda’s welcoming Scandinavian design cues

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A backless chair that reinvents the very concept of sitting

Orthopaedic science, while complex, is not rocket science. We all know we should sit up straight, with our heads straight and shoulders back, but knowing is not the same as doing. Backless kneeling ‘chairs’ work by forcing us to keep an upright posture, but while some can look like a Medieval torture device hidden under a cushion, Matilda, from manufacturer Nurus, has a softer, Scandinavian style.

The tall back panel that splits the two surfaces of Quadrifoglio’s double-adjustable-height desk, Up & Up, provides both users with privacy and aesthetic comfort

Nine ergonomic office products that work for you and your body | Novità

The tall back panel that splits the two surfaces of Quadrifoglio’s double-adjustable-height desk, Up & Up, provides both users with privacy and aesthetic comfort

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Standing desks: the stand-up option

Standing desks are a great way to encourage good posture in the workplace, and those that adjust their height are perfect for offices with shared workspaces. With a landscape of varying-height desktops, however, the accompanying cables and desk clutter can be a distraction in the eye-line of others. Quadrifoglio Group’s Up & Up double adjustable-height desk, however, adds a larger-than-average screen in between, covering up the unsightly mess made by the neighbours.

Aeris’s Muvman stool gives standing desk users a rest (top) and brings comfort to impromptu gatherings (bottom)

Nine ergonomic office products that work for you and your body | Novità

Aeris’s Muvman stool gives standing desk users a rest (top) and brings comfort to impromptu gatherings (bottom)

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A sitting, standing or leaning work stool

Despite the catchy name, users of standing desks aren’t forced to stand for hours at a time. In order to meet the higher needs of the changing desk topology, we need higher places to sit or to lean. Pivoting work stools like Aeris’ Muvman range can be height-adjustable to give both tall or short users support at a standing desk, and in positioning the pivotal joint close to the floor, Muvman manages to keep its user’s back straight when they tilt forward or back.

König+Neurath’s dual purpose K+N BALANCE.CHAIR is suitable for sitting or standing workspaces with the simple flip of its backrest

Nine ergonomic office products that work for you and your body | Novità

König+Neurath’s dual purpose K+N BALANCE.CHAIR is suitable for sitting or standing workspaces with the simple flip of its backrest

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A transformable chair/stool hybrid

The hybrid workplace must adapt to become a more flexible, changeable space to suit everyone’s favoured working practices and positions. As a part supportive ergonomic chair, part supportive ergonomic standing seat from König+Neurath, the K+N BALANCE.CHAIR is designed precisely for this purpose, saving both space and time by ensuring adjustable-height desks are joined by the right furniture at the right time.

The contours of Humanscale’s Pro Click Ergonomic Mouse allow it to glide across the work surface by holding the full weight of the hand

Nine ergonomic office products that work for you and your body | Novità

The contours of Humanscale’s Pro Click Ergonomic Mouse allow it to glide across the work surface by holding the full weight of the hand

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Ergonomic work accessories that support other body parts

It’s not just backs that suffer when chained to a desk. Many desktop accessories can improve the body’s other work-related aches and strains, too. Monitor risers and adjustable computer arms, for example, stop neck tension by keeping screens at the right height, while ergonomic accessories like split keyboards and supportive mice keep hands and wrists in natural positions. Curving to the user’s hand, Humanscale’s Pro Click Mouse glides across the desk by eliminating contact between the wrist and work surface.

By stimulating sensory tissue with low-frequency sinusoidal vibrations, Loook Industries’ Neuron Activation Pod brings efficient productivity-enhancing sleep and rest to the workplace

Nine ergonomic office products that work for you and your body | Novità

By stimulating sensory tissue with low-frequency sinusoidal vibrations, Loook Industries’ Neuron Activation Pod brings efficient productivity-enhancing sleep and rest to the workplace

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Sleep pods for improving work and rest

Many companies are seeing the benefits of well-rested employees in workplace productivity, with sleep pods now a more common sight in contemporary office interiors. A quick post-lunch siesta aids afternoon focus, concentration and creativity, after all. The Neuron Activation Pod from Loook Industries goes one step further. The enclosed chaise longue can stimulate sensory tissue using low-frequency sinusoidal vibrations, easing stress and improving metabolic rates to enhance post-use productivity.

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