Cobi Swivel-Base Stool

Steelcase History

In 1975, Steelcase began their introduction of advanced ergonomic office chairs that address and adapt to the body’s movements with the Sensor® chair. The Leap® chair (1999), which addressed the correlation between back pain and worker productivity came next, followed by the Think™ chair (2004), an intuitive, mid-priced and environmentally sustainable product. Still newer ergonomic task chairs include Amia® and Cobi®, both offering the comfort and support of higher-priced chairs.

Today, Steelcase, Inc. supplies thousands of products worldwide, including metal and wood office furniture, systems furniture, seating, computer support furniture, desks, tables, credenzas, filing cabinets, and office lighting. Their rich history actually began with the introduction of steel furnishings to building interiors at the turn of the century.

At the turn of the 20th century, steel construction was making building exteriors less flammable, but office interiors were still crowded with wooden furniture, and still heated and lighted by open flame appliances. Smoking presented another fire hazard because ashes were often dumped in wicker wastepaper baskets. Beginning in 1912 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, The Metal Office Furniture Company (renamed Steelcase in 1954) had just 15 employees and a single product — a fireproof, metal wastepaper basket named the Victor!

During the 1930s, Metal Office collaborated with world-famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright to produce furniture for the S.C. Johnson & Sons in Racine building, which Life magazine called “the most inspirational office building of the 20th century.”

During World War II, the company designed steel shipboard furniture for the U.S. Navy. One piece of Steelcase naval furniture was used for the historic signing of the surrender documents ending World War II.