Herman Miller Aeron Chair - The Best Seat In the House?

The Herman Miller Aeron chair ushered in a new era of comfort for the typical chair-bound office worker. The Aeron chair was the brain child of two brilliant design minds in the persons of the late Bill Stumpf and the renowned Don Chadwick.

The Aeron was born in 1994 and it was immediately evident that here was something completely new as far as office chair design is concerned. One of the first things that people would notice is that the tried and tested method of thick padding and upholstery material had been replaced by an almost see through material. This new look material was given the name Pellicle weave and apart from being very funky to look at was also amazingly comfortable. The Pellicle weave molded to the person sitting on the chair and when the weather warmed up its design allowed the chair to breathe and in this way keep the sitter at a comfortable temperature.

In 1999 the Aeron chair was awarded the Best Design of the Decade by the Business Week Magazine and Industrial Designers Society of America.

It has also been incorporated into the New York Museum of Modern Art as a permanent display item.

In November 2000 a gentleman called Dr Brock became involved with Herman Miller Inc. Dr Brock a former downhill skier in his heyday had, since his skiing retirement become involved in a chiropractic clinic which proved to be very successful.

He also became an expert on ergonomically designed seating although up until this point he had never been involved in furniture design. He had however designed seating for a variety of specialist uses including US military fighter jet pilots and marine vessels.

Various study groups had discovered that many office workers had a tendency to lean forward in their office chair and this unhealthy posture over a period of time often led to fatigue, back strain and even headaches.

Dr Brock teamed up with the designers and engineers at Herman Miller Inc. and eventually designed a solution to this problem. They called their new mechanism PostureFit and it became incorporated into the Aeron chair design as an optional extra. Since that time it has gone on to be used in other Herman Miller chairs to good effect.

The sleek curved edges of the Aeron design mirror the curves of the human body and the chair definitely attained iconic status.

This wonderful chair can be adjusted quickly and easily. It can be bought in three different sizes A, B, and C or small medium and large so the chances are that whatever your size and weight there will be an Aeron chair that is comfortable for you.

The Aeron can be adjusted for seat height, armrest height, tilt tension, tilt limiter and of course the Posture Fit can be adjusted so that it offers that all-important support to your lower back.

The chair is made of parts that are 94% recyclable and the company offers a 12 year warranty that even covers all moving parts including castors and pneumatic cylinders.

When you add to all of this, the fact that more than two and a half million Herman Miller Aeron chairs have been sold since its development, then you know you are looking at a quality piece of furniture. It not only looks good but possibly more importantly, it has stood the test of time.

So is the Herman Miller Aeron chair the best seat in the house?

Well if sales are anything to judge by, then it could be the best seat in two and a half million "houses".

Best Design of the Decade, Museum of Modern Art, two and a half million sales; there can be no doubting the pedigree of the Herman Miller Aeron Chair.