WE DREAM IT, RESEARCH IT, TEST IT AND GO FOR IT
RESEARCH, DESIGN AND INNOVATION
We always want to know more, so research sits at the centre of our design, with a combination of observational and data driven market research.
We love living in classrooms, looking and learning, spotting the pain points and the opportunities to solve them. The development of Bodyfurn, the original, dynamic student chair is a great example of that, where we observed and measured 20,000 children to design an award-winning chair for active learning. We’ve seen big changes in pedagogy over the years and we’re literally there as it happens, creating furniture to support it.
Our human-centred design approach is supported with global market research and we partner with our customers and the best in business. We’re constantly exploring ways to introduce environmental influences into our design, backed by scientific data. We conduct ongoing ergonomic, environmental and biophilic research to find the global breakthroughs and apply them to education, supporting student health and wellbeing.
Innovation seriously drives us, and we dedicate substantial investment each year into R&D. We keep on looking until we find the insights that lead us to the big innovations in school furniture design.
A TASTE OF OUR INNOVATION AT WORK
Bodyfurn®
The award-winning, original dynamic seating solution for active learning.
Postura® Max
The world’s biggest selling classroom chair.
Recycled Postura® Max
A responsible school chair that moves the dial on sustainability.
3D Learning Spaces App
An exciting 3D app that helps visualise all aspects of a fit-out. Our ground-breaking 3D Learning Spaces App helps customers visualise all aspects of their fit-out during the design process, with 2D room layouts, 3D plans, and virtual walkthroughs of learning spaces.
OUR STUDIOS AND THE WAY WE DO THINGS
Our talented designers convert the research and insights into innovative products that have the biggest impacts on learning – always conscious of the environmental impact on our planet and people.
We have two design studios aligned with our manufacturing plants in Sydney, Australia and Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. Our streamlined process from design to prototyping and manufacture (including testing), ensures design integrity and quality all the way.
That close connection and significant manufacturing capability across two sites, also means we get products to market faster and more reliably for our customers, quickly meeting the evolving approaches to teaching and learning.
COLLABORATIONS AND CONNECTIONS
We have an amazing team of concept designers and design engineers, but we believe effective collaboration leads to the most exciting discoveries. We connect with a range of incredibly smart, highly respected education specialists and academic institutions to find cutting-edge insights that influence our design and development of learning spaces. These include:
Waikato University in New Zealand created a Master’s Degree project using a sensor array system we developed, to create motion data on the use of our furniture in classrooms.
Massey University Design in New Zealand is our peer review partner.
Professor Stephen Heppell in England works with us in focused areas on how to improve learning outcomes.
Member of the Australian Furnishing Research & Development Institute (AFRDI) and Standards Committee in Australia.
