Our Design Process

As a seating specialist, Via Seating has a creative spirit driven to innovate. The company’s creative energy is highly focused on all categories of seating, from indoor » environments to outside » open spaces. Via offers the broadest range of seating under one brand synonymous with quality, comfort and reliability. Experiencing Via’s online presentation creates the opportunity to wonder, to think differently and to have a sense of surprise at every click. Every product shown online has its own story and a reason for being that sets it apart in the market.

There is more than meets the eye with every piece, such as Via’s first-to-market, patented, self-sanitizing, copper mesh » back seating technology. This award-winning innovation was inspired by solving a problem for a client. Another example is the interactive, lobby motion-lounge » collections that support wellness and collaboration by encouraging playful movement. Each piece tells its own story and delivers an experience that encourages ongoing discussion and exploration.

Via Seating believes we are one step away from the next great discovery born from listening to clients and responding with great solutions to meet the challenges of our time.

It’s all in our DNA

Our Design Team

Via Seating has a full-time new product development team, Studio V », that consists of engineers, designers, ergonomists and market experts. This team is continuously working on research, development and improvement of products. At Via Seating, we don’t believe in leaving great products behind or holding back on progress. Studio V improves upon the ergonomics, the design and the use of existing product lines and the development of new, cutting-edge seating solutions.

Via Seating’s design team utilizes 3D printer technology to sculpt and test custom parts. First, the team shapes a part such as a new arm width adjustment bracket in a 3D modeling software. This is then printed by the 3D printer, which builds the part to spec in modeling plastic. Finally, the true-to-size prototype is tested for look, feel and functionality in its application. This results in thorough parts shaped exactly to function seamlessly with the final chair design and deliver a great seating experience.

Sustainable Design

At Via Seating, we understand that great chairs are consciously built. This is at the forefront of our minds from the design phase to a chair’s end of life. Throughout the chair production process, we are consistently reducing green house gas emissions, reducing water use and reducing solid waste. We use materials that are environmentally-friendly and safe for use. Our result is safe and sustainable, great chairs.

DfE Lead Design

All Via Seating products follow the Design for the Environment (DfE) design approach ». During this process, all components are screened to identify and assess the human and ecosystem health impacts of chemicals of concern. We screen all product components to the ANSI/BIFMA e3-2019 Annex B- List of Chemicals of Concern and the California Proposition 65 List.

Environmental Impact

All Via Seating products are BIFMA LEVEL® certified. LEVEL^® is an evaluation and certification system for environmentally-preferable and socially-responsible office furniture. 3rd party certification is achieved by conformance to a multi-attribute standard created by the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association (BIFMA) that evaluates product impacts across categories including Materials, Energy, Human Health and Social Responsibility.

Via Seating products qualify for various sustainably minded evaluation system point contributions, including:

End of Life

Via Seating provides accessible care guidelines » that help maintain the quality of every product and easy-to-follow disassembly instructions » when a product reaches the end of its life.

Commitment to Quality

Via Seating’s Quality Assurance & Improvement Commitment

A robust network of checks and balances are built into the production of every single chair at every level of Via Seating, so that each product coming off the line is built correctly to the highest standard. Beginning with the vendor, parts are inspected upon arrival by the engineering team who compare them to diagrams and existing measurements ensuring conformance. When greenlit (ie. approved), parts move into the production warehouse where they will continue to be scrutinized by the kitter who gathers the parts, the cutter and sewer of the materials used for upholstery of the chair, the multiple assemblers who physically construct the final product, the leadership team who sit test and inspect it, the boxer who wraps and packages the completed chair and the shipping staff who label the box and load it onto an outgoing delivery vehicle.