The steelcase
waiting room.

Partner: Steelcase Health

My part: Principal Industrial Designer at Steelcase

The challenge: How can a seating system ease your wait? 

What design revealed: The typical waiting room design approach is to stuff as many single chairs as possible into a tiny room. But this approach excludes geriatric and bariatric patients, and frankly, isn’t that comfortable for anyone. 

Introducing… the Steelcase Embold collection of furniture designed to help patients relax in a stressful healthcare setting. Borrowing from the familiarity and comfort of the furniture we have at home, the Embold chairs and couches aren’t just inviting. They’re also fully customizable: healthcare organizations can move the arms to create more or less seating, choose textiles and woods to match their brand, and make waiting a little less painful for their patients.

The waiting room design vision of bringing the living room to the hospital was so successful that Steelcase is now partnering with West Elm to repurpose and healthify their residential furniture portfolio.