Eames Soft Pad Chairs

What's In It For You

Product Story

You know it at first glance - it's an Eames design. Timeless, sophisticated, refined. In 1969, Charles and Ray Eames, the most famous design couple in the world, added cushions to their Aluminum Group to create Soft Pad chairs. This comfortable and luxurious chair sits equally well in retro interiors, elegant lobbies, or hip young offices. Add executive, management, side, and lounge models, and you have a statement of enduring design excellence.

Timeless Elegance

It's uncanny. A chair designed in 1958 as outdoor seating still manages to look both classic and contemporary in 21st century interiors. The chairs' clean, trim lines make them appropriate for all kinds of places, from classic and contemporary homes to elegant offices to hip startups.

Individually upholstered cushions. 2 3/4 inches thick. Brightly polished aluminum. Arms, frames, and bases. Executive and management models have seat-height and tilt-swivel adjustments.

Innovative Comfort

Never ones to favor style over substance, Charles and Ray Eames gave this chair an innovative suspension that creates a firm, flexible "sitting pocket" that conforms subtly to the body's shape. They created that suspension by stretching a continuous piece of seat-back upholstery tautly between lightweight aluminum side ribs. 2-3/4-inch-thick foam cushions make for comfortable sitting.

Pneumatic lift and tilt lock are available as options on the management and executive models.

Durability

With one-piece, curved aluminum side ribs and a five-star, die-cast aluminum base, the chair is strong, yet lightweight and easy to move.

Earth-Friendly

Aluminum Group chairs are made of 67% recycled materials and are 90% recyclable at the end of their useful life.

Charles and Ray Eames developed the Eames Soft Pad chair in 1969 as a luxury version of their Eames Aluminum Group chairs. Introduced in 1958, the Aluminum Group was a special project by Charles and Ray Eames for a private residence being designed by Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard for Cummins Engines founder J. Irwin Miller in Columbus, Indiana.
At the time, the furniture was called the "leisure group," or "indoor-outdoor group" since it was meant to address the lack of quality outdoor furniture on the market. Herman Miller began making the Aluminum Group chairs in 1958, and they have been in continuous demand ever since.
Known for their honest use of materials, the Eameses constructed their chairs with cast aluminum and a seat frame meant to support a stretched synthetic mesh. The seat-back suspension was a major technical achievement and represented a departure from the concept of the chair as a solid shell.

The chairs' simple lines, innovative use of materials, and suspension comfort have kept the Aluminum Group and Soft Pad chairs among the most popular seating choices for both offices and homes for over 50 years.