Zeph Chair

Overview

The Zeph Chair is a multipurpose seat with a one-piece shell, drawn by Studio 7.5 and introduced by Herman Miller in 2022, with a one-piece kinematic monoshell on a five-star base.

Construction

A monoshell molded from 10% glass-filled polypropylene with a natural recline of up to 12.8 degrees, optional 3D Knit seat pad or unibody, and fixed arms molded into the shell or no arms.

Specifications

The multipurpose chair is 29.2 to 34.8 in high and 24.2 in wide with arms, with a seat height of 14.6 to 20.2 in; the maximum user weight is 350 lb (158.7 kg).

Students and a mid-century archetype

Herman Miller's design story says Studio 7.5 found the initial inspiration for Zeph with students at the University of the Arts Berlin and the Weißensee School of Art and Design, where the designers teach. They wanted a decent, honest, simple tool that gets the most important things right, as Carola Zwick puts it, and Burkhard Schmitz says the aim was to boil down the essence of an ergonomic chair rather than make a budget chair.

Image source: Herman Miller — Zeph Chair · © Herman Miller and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official product page ↗ · Image use & copyright policy

Between the Eames shell and ergonomics

The studio was equally interested in two archetypes from Herman Miller's catalogue, the mid-century chairs such as the Eames Shell and 30-plus years of ergonomic seating, and set out to bridge the two with a shell chair that moves.