Two design routes to active office seating
Two brands sit at the centre of this collection. Varier from Norway, building kneeling chairs and active seating around shape rather than mechanism. CoreChair from Canada, building movement into a chair that looks like a normal office chair from across the room.
Both build chairs designed for full workdays, taking different design routes to the same goal: a seat that moves with you instead of locking you into one position.
Varier and the Norwegian design tradition
Varier is the chair line that came out of Stokke's seating work in Norway in the late 1970s. The first rocking kneeling chair, designed by Peter Opsvik, shaped what the modern kneeling chair category became.
The lineup since has stayed close to that philosophy. Shape does most of the work. Materials are wood and quality fabric. Chairs are built to last across decades, not warranty cycles.
The Varier range at Active Goods covers kneeling chairs in several shapes, a height-adjustable sit-stand stool, a multi-position reclining chair, and sculptural lounge pieces. Each suits a different sitting style.
CoreChair and what it does differently
CoreChair takes a different route to the same goal. Where Varier uses shape, CoreChair uses a mechanism.
- Pivot point: sits under the centre of balance and allows up to 14 degrees of motion in any direction.
- Sculpted seat: includes a pelvic stabilizer that keeps the spine balanced through the day.
- Wheeled base: standard desk-level adjustment and free movement around your workspace.
CoreChair is made in Canada, with warranty service and replacement parts handled locally. The line covers a main active desk chair, a variant model, and an active perching stool.
How do you choose between Varier and CoreChair?
The two brands don't really compete. They solve overlapping problems with different design vocabularies, and most customers pick based on what feels right for their workspace.
- Pick Varier if you want a kneeling chair, a sit-stand stool, a reclining chair, or a seat that reads as design furniture as much as office equipment.
- Pick CoreChair if you want one chair that looks and functions like a normal office chair but builds movement into the seat.
The two also pair well together. A CoreChair as your primary desk seat with a Varier kneeling chair nearby for rotation works in a single home office, and a CoreChair plus a sit-stand stool covers both seated and standing modes at a sit-stand desk.
Where these chairs fit in your setup
Office chairs from this collection match well with sit-stand desks from the Office collection and the laptop and monitor stands in Desktop Ergonomics. Sit-stand stools also cross over into Stools for users who mostly stand and want a perching option.
Help picking?
If you want help comparing two or three models or planning a custom upholstery order, contact us. We've taken a lot of customers through this decision and can usually shorten the shortlist quickly.
