How Teregie Developed Claé: From Biomechanics to Product Design

Most office chairs are sold on adjectives.

Ergonomic. Supportive. Premium. Comfortable.

But those words do not explain how a chair should actually work.

For Teregie, the development of Claé started with a different question:

What happens when the body sits for hours, but the chair does not move with it?

We do not sit in one fixed position all day. We lean forward to read. We shift while typing. We turn during a conversation. We recline during a call. Even when we think we are sitting still, the body keeps making small adjustments.

Teregie's research behind Claé focused on this reality. The organisation studied long periods of sitting, pressure buildup, muscle fatigue, restricted movement and how the body responds to sustained loads. This led to a change in the design question: instead of trying to hold the body in one ideal posture, how could a chair support movement and distribute load?

That question became the starting point for Claé.

The Problem With Holding One Posture

Traditional ergonomic thinking often focuses on achieving a correct sitting position.

Sit upright.

Keep your back supported.

Keep your feet grounded.

Keep your screen at the right height.

These are useful principles. But there is a problem when posture becomes something the body has to hold for hours.

Teregie's research takes a more dynamic view. Its Science of Claé page describes posture as something that changes as the body moves and shifts load. The company says this led it away from simple posture correction and towards what it calls dynamic load management.

That change sounds small.

It is not.

It affects almost every part of the chair.

From Biomechanics to Product Design

Biomechanics can explain how the body moves and handles force.

Product design has to turn that knowledge into something you can sit on.

That means translating an idea into springs, pads, adjustment points, foam densities and support surfaces.

Claé's design follows that path.

Its backrest does not rely on one rigid surface. Its lumbar support can be adjusted. Its armrests move in multiple directions. Its headrest can be positioned around the base of the skull. Its seat uses two foam densities.

Each feature deals with a different part of the same problem:

How can a chair support the body while allowing it to move?

A Backrest Designed as a System

A backrest has one obvious job: support your back.

But the back is not a flat surface.

Your shoulders, spine and pelvis all move differently. Your position also changes when you lean, reach or recline.

Claé addresses this with an Expandable Pad System. The backrest uses separate adaptive pads rather than one continuous support surface. Behind each pad are multi-directional springs that Teregie says flex with spinal movement and maintain contact as the user shifts position.

This changes the way the backrest behaves.

Instead of one rigid surface taking the load, the pads can respond across different areas of the back.

Teregie's design approach is built around that distribution of support. The goal is not to stop movement. It is to let the support system move with it.

Why the Adaptive Springs Matter

The adaptive spring system is one of the key differences in Claé's architecture.

Teregie describes its adaptive springs as multi-directional. They sit behind the individual pads and flex as the user's spine changes position.

Think about what happens during a normal work session.

You sit upright.

Then you lean closer to the screen.

Later, you lean back.

Then you shift your weight to one side.

A rigid backrest has to accommodate those changes from a fixed position. Claé is designed to respond to them.

That is the product-design decision behind the technology.

The chair moves because the person moves.

Lumbar Support That Can Be Adjusted

There is no single lumbar position that works perfectly for every person.

Body dimensions differ. So does the shape and position of the lower-back curve.

Claé uses height- and depth-adjustable lumbar support. Teregie says the system can be positioned to match the user's lumbar region while allowing subtle movement.

The important part is not simply having lumbar support.

It is being able to put that support where you need it.

This is a recurring idea in Claé's design. Support should be adjustable rather than assumed.

The Headrest Starts With the Base of the Skull

Headrests often get treated as a comfort feature.

Claé approaches the problem more precisely.

Its three-way adjustable headrest is designed around the occipital region, where the base of the skull meets the spine. Teregie says the system was designed to support the cervical area while adapting to changes in working position.

That matters because head support is about position, not just padding.

A headrest that sits too high, too low or too far forward may not provide the support the user expects.

So Claé makes the position adjustable.

Again, the principle is simple:

The support should adapt to the person.

Armrests Are Part of the Seating System

Armrests can look like a small detail.

For anyone who spends hours typing or using a mouse, they are not.

The position of the arms affects how the shoulders and upper body sit at the desk. That makes arm support part of the wider seating setup.

Claé uses 5D adaptable armrests. The system allows adjustment across multiple directions so users can position their arms for typing, calls and different working positions.

The important point is not the number "5D."

It is the range of movement behind it.

A developer typing at a keyboard, a designer using a mouse and someone leaning back during a video call may all need different arm positions.

A fixed armrest cannot account for all three.

Why Claé Uses Two Foam Densities

The same thinking continues beneath the user.

Claé uses a dual-density foam seat. Teregie describes a firmer inner layer that supports the pelvis and a softer outer layer that cushions areas exposed to pressure.

The design is not simply about making the seat softer.

A soft seat may feel comfortable when you first sit down. But seating also has to manage how the body is supported over time.

Using two densities gives Teregie more control over how the seat responds to different areas of the body.

It is another example of biomechanics becoming a physical design decision.

Designing for Movement, Not Stillness

This is the idea that connects the different systems.

The backrest moves.

The lumbar support adjusts.

The headrest changes position.

The armrests adapt.

The seat manages pressure through different foam densities.

None of these features exists in isolation.

Together, they support Teregie's broader approach to active sitting.

The Science of Claé describes this as a shift away from holding posture and towards supporting the body's natural changes in position.

That does not mean the chair is designed to make you constantly move.

It means movement is not treated as a problem the chair has to stop.

When Research Becomes Engineering

This is where Claé becomes more than a list of ergonomic features.

A research finding is useful only when it can influence a design decision.

If the body changes position, the backrest has to respond.

If people have different lumbar curves, the support needs adjustment.

If arm positions change during work, the armrests need range.

If different areas of the seat experience different pressure, the seat can be designed around that difference.

That is the bridge between biomechanics and product design.

It turns a question about the human body into something you can physically adjust with your hand.

The Role of Nature in Claé's Design Thinking

Teregie's Science of Claé also describes a biomimetic approach to its seating architecture. The company draws on natural load-bearing systems such as honeycombs, turtle shells and spider webs to explore how strength and resilience can come from distributing load rather than concentrating it in one place.

The connection is not about copying nature literally.

It is about borrowing a principle:

Do not make one part carry everything.

That idea fits the rest of Claé's architecture.

The backrest uses multiple pads.

The springs respond across different directions.

The seat uses different foam densities.

The support is spread across a system rather than concentrated in one rigid structure.

From One Idea to an Entire Chair

Good product design is rarely about one clever component.

It is about how well the different components work in sync with each other. 

Claé's adaptive springs, expandable pads, adjustable lumbar support, 3D occipital headrest, 5D armrests and dual-density seat all come from the same design direction.

Support should not mean stillness.

That is the central idea behind the chair.

The body changes position. The chair responds.

What Makes Claé Different?

The interesting part of Claé is not that it has many adjustments.

Plenty of ergonomic chairs do.

The difference is the reasoning behind those adjustments.

Teregie started with questions about movement, load and prolonged sitting. It then built those ideas into the physical architecture of the chair.

That is why Claé is better understood as a system rather than a collection of features.

The springs support movement.

The pads distribute contact.

The lumbar system adjusts to the individual.

The headrest follows the needs of the upper spine.

The armrests accommodate different working positions.

The seat uses different densities to manage support and pressure.

Each part has a job.

Together, they form one seating philosophy.

From Biomechanics to Something You Can Sit On

The journey from biomechanics to product design is not always visible in the finished product.

You see a chair.

You adjust a lever.

You lean back.

You type.

But behind those simple interactions are decisions about movement, force, support and human variation.

That is the thinking behind Claé.

It was not designed around the idea that the body should learn to sit perfectly still.

It was designed around a more useful question:

What if the chair learned to move with the body?

That question is where Claé's product design begins.