Chair Profile: Knoll Life Chair
If you are looking for a great task chair, you should certainly consider Knoll's Life chair. This product does not have as big a name as the Aeron (from Herman Miller) but it is critically acclaimed and has become one of the more popular options in high-end task seating today.
The Life is Knoll's flagship task chair. It is available with a number of options that will put it anywhere from the mid-hundred dollar range ($800 or so) to well over $1000 for a single chair. This is the type of model that is great for a single user or that can easily outfit an entire office. It's most direct competitor is the Aeron, but there is also the Steelcase Leap, Humanscale Freedom, and a few others.
Looking at the chair we can see that it is high-tech looking, but still elegantly styled. It is functional enough to be a task chair, but certainly nice enough that it could be a great executive chair as well. It is available in a number of fabrics, from basic ones to high-end weaves, as well as leather, and with or without a additional padding.
Some options when purchasing include: material, lumbar support (included or not), armrests (not there, simple ones, or fully adjustable), with or without casters, an aluminum or plastic base, clear or standard casters, and more.
On-chair adjustments include (in model pictured above): armrest height, armrest pads side-to-side and front-to-back, seat height, seat depth, recline tension, and recline lock (known as upright lock).
If you are concerned with environmental impact you should be happy to know that it is made of raw materials with a recycled content of 52 percent (plastic) and 62 percent (aluminum). The chair is available with 100% recycled content fabric 70 percent to 80 percent of component parts readily recyclable.