A Visit From Herman Miller

Recently a representative from Herman Miller came to speak to our class. Herman Miller is not only a leader in designing office furniture and systems but also a leader in companies going green. The representative informed us about many of the company’s office systems, furnishings and how the company creates products that are sustainable and well made.



Herman Miller's Green Factory in Zeeland, Michigan



Herman Miller makes chairs that are universal and comfortable for everyone. This means designing a chair that is comfortable for someone who is under five feet tall as well as someone who is over six feet tall.   They focus on support of the lower back when they design the back of their chairs the representative explained to us that to properly support the back the lower part of the back must be properly aligned with the rest of the back. We were told that each chair is designed to support the users back by adding extra support at the bottom.  They also consider that each person is different and they’re newer chairs are made to adjust to the pressure each individual puts on the back of the chair and conform to their body. I was very fascinated with their new SAYL Chair (pictured below) which was inspired by the Golden Gate Bridge. The material used in the back of the chair is flexible and conforms to the users back .this chair is unique in that it is frameless the “Y” backing of the chair holds up the top corners of the material and the bottom of it is stretched to the bottom corners of the chair.



Herman Miller SAYL chair



All of Herman Miller’s products are sustainable and they use a cradle to cradle approach. In everything they make they consider how they can recycle the materials they use and whenever possible use materials that can be composted at the end of their useful life.  They also use designs that use fewer materials and are easy to ship in smaller packaging. (The SAYL chair is a good example of this)

The representative reminded us to consider “creep space” in our space planning using office systems. Creep space is the thickness of the partitions in the office systems. Although the walls aren’t very thick using many systems and not recognizing that extra few inches adds up greatly when you fill the room with systems furnishings. She also explained that office systems based off 120 degree angles work well when you have to design around obstacles such as columns because taking one portion of the system away doesn’t leave an odd gap and is more versatile than plain linear systems.



Herman Miller's "My Studio" office system



This presentation was especially helpful to us because we will be using Herman Miller’s Resolve office system in our office project this semester. We were able to ask questions about this product. We learned that this system is pole based and to eliminate the clustering mess of electrical wires, the wires are run through the poles to help keep work stations less cluttered. This system is run off the 120 degree concept which means that they are extremely versatile and can fit in many different configurations. Also they have customizable panels which allow companies to use whatever images they choose (should they want to choose a specific image) to be printed on the panels.  At first glance I thought the overhead panels coming off the top of the poles looked very bizarre and I could not imagine why anyone would want them over their heads. The speaker explained that those panels are helpful in offices with very high ceilings to give workers a sense of scale in the room and not to feel uncomfortable in very tall surroundings.



Herman Miller Resovle System