Guest Chairs

Fixed U base or swivel base

Two approaches sit side by side in this category, and the choice follows the room layout. Fixed-leg shells stay in the same place in front of the desk, keep the arrangement intact and need no maintenance. Dawn is built on chrome-plated U-shaped metal legs, and Dusk on a chrome-plated metal U base with a plywood and foam body. On the other side are swivel and castored shells, preferred where people need to change orientation during a conversation. Fora uses a swivel leg mechanism for freedom of movement. Tux offers the same shell with castored, fixed and wooden leg options, so the base decision can be made independently of the model.

Being the second chair of a series

Whether the guest chair shares a design language with the executive chair usually determines how coherent the room reads. Some series solve this directly: Elegance is offered in executive, staff and guest configurations, and Bosso is described as a series suited to executive, task and meeting use. In that case the tall shell behind the desk and the fixed shell in front of it are produced with the same upholstery and the same arm treatment. If separate series must be combined, the easiest common ground is arm material and upholstery colour; most shells in this catalogue pair aluminium or chrome arms with fabric upholstery.

Arms and backrest height

Almost every shell in this category has arms. Arms stabilise posture during short meetings and give support when standing, but in front of a narrow desk they also mean extra width, so any clearance check should include the arms. On the backrest side two groups separate. Mid-back shells are the standard measure for short sessions across a desk, while high-back shells are chosen for longer conversations. Dusk is defined around a high back for extended waiting and is built at 92 cm overall height. Owe answers the opposite brief as a minimal, timeless shell at 60x62x76 cm with a 43 cm seat height, adapting easily to rooms of different characters.

Clearance checks start in front of the desk

The step most often skipped when specifying a guest chair is calculating the floor it takes in front of the desk. Depth here runs from 40 to 98 cm, and that difference decides whether two chairs will sit side by side in the same room. Dusk works in tight rooms on a 64×64 cm footprint. Fora needs a wider zone at 70×86 cm, with the FOR 200 and FOR 300 versions at 112 cm and FOR 400L at 96 cm in height. Oslo is offered at 60x60x80 cm and 60x60x90 cm, and Tux at 137x66x81 cm. Set is not a single chair but a bench solution, produced at 120x40x75 cm, 140x40x75 cm and 180x40x75 cm; at 40 cm deep it builds a narrow line against a wall. Whatever the figure, add the circulation width the room needs in front of it.

Upholstery and shell construction

A guest chair is the most looked at and least used shell in a room, so the material decision sits between visual weight and ease of cleaning. Fabric is the most common option and ties the chair to the colour scheme of the rest of the room. Leather and faux leather are chosen on the executive floor and in heavily used meeting rooms. Two construction routes separate on the shell side: fixed bodies built with foam over plywood, as in Dusk and Dawn, and solid bodies made with fire-retardant polyurethane over steel construction or plywood, as in Oslo and Elegance. Arm material carries the same split, with aluminium and chrome arms reading sharper and upholstered arms reading warmer.

If several people will sit side by side, this is not the right category; corridor and lobby runs belong to waiting chairs. For sessions of a few hours around a table see meeting chairs, for the high-backed shell behind the desk see executive chairs, and for all-day operational use see task chairs. For the resting corner inside the same room see armchairs and sofas, and to compare every seating shell use the chairs parent page.