THE NEW THINK® CHAIR: A SUSTAINABLE PIONEER

London, 1st April 2015 – Steelcase, the global leader in the office furniture industry, has officially launched the new Think® chair – smarter, simpler and fully committed to sustainability.

First launched in 2004, it was embraced as an innovation breakthrough in performance and quickly became a pioneer of sustainability. Steelcase always approaches innovation with sustainability in mind and this also drove the redesign process of Think®.

“Today, as we relaunch Think®, we’ve once again started with sustainability as a goal, proving that making products sustainable makes great business sense”, says Allan Smith, Global Marketing Director of Steelcase.

For the past 10 years the Steelcase design team have worked closely with eco-design networks to find additional improvement opportunities and suppliers who could provide appropriate recycling materials with the correct technical properties. The result is that, for the new Think® chair, a pre-consumer recycled polyamide was used on significant parts instead of the usual virgin polyamide, which helps reduce carbon emissions.

Upholstery techniques used for the back and seat on the 3D mesh versions enable effective disassembly at end-of-life. Think® will be packaged in four pieces to reduce environmental impact and the chair can be disassembled in five minutes with common hand tools, making it easier to recycle at the end-of-life.

Sebastien Zinck, Manager Sustainable Development says: “People are now much more aware of sustainability than they were a decade ago and now specifically ask for sustainable products.

“Companies are now expected to give precise sustainable information and Think® – having undergone a materials chemistry analysis and Life Cycle assessments to understand and minimise its lifelong impact on the environment – has evolved and shifted to meet the standards of today.”

Engineered by Steelcase in cooperation with Glen Oliver Löw, the original Think® brought a higher sustainability standard across industries, and was the first product in the world to be granted the Cradle to Cradle® environmental certification. Recycling potential and life cycle assessments were also key to the design process.

Think® has always supported the needs of mobile workers within the workplace and its new sleeker design makes it ideal for a variety of tasks. It has the comfort and technology of a task chair but the flexibility and design to be a conference chair.

Allan Smith then continued: “A lot has changed since the original Think® came into our lives. Think® has grown up so much in the last 10 years. It is more refined and elegant. We’ve harnessed all that innovation and intelligence and made it into something even better. “

Innovative Design Features and Functions

The most noticeable difference in Think® is the back of the chair. Instead of 20 independent flexors, there are now 15 uniquely shaped flexors that are linked together as part of the Integrated LiveBack System, designed to give users an unprecedented level of ergonomic support.

  • LiveBack System: The new Think® is smart. Its Integrated LiveBack system uses a system of energy to conform with the users body and moves as they change postures. It features an advanced weight-activated mechanism, so everybody can get comfortable, quickly.
  • Easy Disassembly: Think® has a smart design, which makes it easy to assemble and disassemble.
  • Ease of Use: The simple controls are more integrated in the design and are easier to adjust providing greater flexibility in task, collaborative, learning and social applications.
  • Multifunctionality: The chair can be used in a conference room, shared space, breakroom or café area.