Ara Brochure
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Ara is the first task chair designed, developed and manufactured in Europe to achieve Cradle to Cradle certification, Cradle to Cradle is a growing standard that creates manufactured product within closed loop systems where all materials are sale and beneficial. They either biodegrade naturally or can be fully recycled into new high quality products, again and again.

Design Gerard Taylor with Orangebox Design Team that redefines our perspective on sustainability.

O recyclable, but that's not the point. Equally important is the ability to support recyclable products with better systems for recycling. Whenever we recycle, we need to retain the value in the materials themselves and the resources invested in making them. We believe the answer lies in manufacturing with closed loop cycles. These encourage true re-cycling rather than the still damaging process of down-cycling materials, which is one step closer to landfill. Ara is the first task chair developed and manufactured in Europe to achieve Cradle to Cradle accreditation.

Ara now expands to nine ranging from the original polymer back which has six colour combination choices, an upholstered seat and back - available in the fabric of your choice and the new Ara mesh available as slate grey or black.

specification options

For those who simply prefer the look and feel of a textile back Aia is now available as a mesh solution, which is as simple and effective as the elastomer membrane. The specially developed soft touch mesh has also been designed using materials and assembly techniques which deliver a long and useful life while facilitating effective recycling. The ergonomic refinement of the mesh comes from its ability to locally deform to the shape of your back to provide superb support over a large contact area. And because were all different shapes & sizes, a height and depth adjustable lumbar pad can...

The design of the adaptive elastomer membrane is How could we make a back that looks great, uses less material and is extremely comfortable while delivering continuous support? The pattern in the membrane not only gives the chair its distinct visual character, it also promotes airflow through the back.

Comfort re-invented. We wanted to make Ara as simple as we could, both visually and functionally. But simple doesn't come easily. Our first challenge was to mate the frame and the back membrane without fasteners, or fuss fit between the two parts delivers our ultimate goal - visual simplicity and a construction that's designed for disassembly and recycling when the time comes.

We love aluminium. Its got everything. Great looks. Impressive structural performance and recyclability with almost no loss of quality, so we can use nearly 100% recycled content. Die casting the vertebra in a single piece of aluminium keeps part count and material variation to a minimum. The vertebra's organic form is deliberately influenced by nature's designs for skeletal structures. It's economic with material and at the same time, incredibly strong and effortlessly stylish.

Arm support that's there only when you need it. Knowing that sometimes you want to get closer to your desk, Ara's soft-touch arm pads can be rotated out of the way when required. To prevent any unexpected movement when getting up out of the chair, they automatically lock in the forward position. Traditional polyurethane (PU) arm pads, some ol ours included, are commonly moulded over an internal support plate, resulting in a composite part that can be problematic to recycle. Getting the plate out is one thing and reusing the PU is another. Our goal was to design a new arm pad that was more...

The clever, flexible bit. Ara's character and performance are defined by the design of the chair's adaptive elastomer membrane. The rigid outer frame supports the membrane with a posturally correct 'S' shape and its flexibility allows it to adjust automatically to the profile of your back. The elastomeric membrane accommodates different shapes and sizes and responds subtly to changes in your back profile as you perform different tasks. So whether you're reaching forward to type, turning sideways to talk to a colleague or reclining while on the phone, you'll always feel comfortable and...

For those who prefer an upholstered chair. Ara's elastomer membrane remains active even with a slim upholstered back due to the design of the foam's internal structure.

Ergonomic Refinement. Ara's ergonomic engineering is designed to accommodate diverse body weights, shapes 8c sizes. Each user can fine-tune the chair's settings to their precise preferences through Ara's seven adjustment settings, with controls that are clearly marked and intuitive to use.

1. Multi-adjustable arms. Soft touch pads can be rotated 1 additional safety. 2. Multi-adjustable lumbar. Both height and depth adjustably 3. Seat height control. Lift to raise and lower seat heigh 4. Seat slide control. Press to adjust seat depth to suit yf 5. Back lock control. Lift to unlock the recline of the bad 6. Body weight control. Turn to adjust. Tunes the tension & automcrticcdlY lock forward for : fine-tuning sectting comfort. to lock the back in the position you want, back recline to suit your body weight.

ARA orangebox At a time when population growth and resource depletion are both accelerating fast, we believe that being environmentally "less bad" is no longer an acceptable option.

Cradle to Cradle is an approach to design which asks us to “remake the way we make things” thinking about the materials we use, how our products are designed and assembled, and their cycles of use with our customers. The process is very simply based upon the way nature uses materials. A tree will produce leaves and blossom that ultimately fall to the ground when their job is done, but they then become food for organisms and generate new growth. When your waste = food then you have no waste. In Cradle to Cradle terms, materials can be conceived in one of two ways; either as biological...