One Brief: Four Concepts: Adjustable Furniture for Schools

Poor fitting school furniture may contribute to the discomfort of children and impaired musculoskeletal development. One possible solution is adjustable furniture which enables a wider range of children to be accommodated. However, in focussing primarily on anthropometry, the context in which the furniture is used is sometimes overlooked. Bearing this is mind; undergraduate industrial design students were given a brief to design adjustable furniture for schools which took account of the schoolroom context as well as considering the anthropometric characteristics of the end user. Over 20 different design concepts were developed. This paper examines the design rationale behind four of these, to exemplify the need to address the wider issues of educational ergonomics in the design of school equipment.