LD Seating combines rigid and flexible PU in Terra Lounge armchair

LD Seating has used two forms of polyurethane to create what it describes as its softest armchair to date.

The Czech company developed the Terra Lounge over two years with Italian studio Orlandini Design. Instead of employing a conventional steel reinforcement, the chair uses a rigid PU shell to provide its strength and shape. This is combined with flexible molded PU foam for cushioning and comfort.

The seat incorporates foam of varying thicknesses and densities, including as much as 14 cm of softer foam in its central area. Firmer material around the edges provides stability and support as the user changes position.

“With Terra Lounge, we used rigid polyurethane for the internal insert, which was completely new territory for us. Until then, we had primarily worked with metal, a material that holds its shape to millimeter precision. Polyurethane behaves very differently, flexing and working within entirely different tolerances. Learning how to work with it allowed us to use an exceptionally soft foam.

“When we sat in the finished prototype for the first time, we immediately knew we had never created anything this comfortable before,” LD Seating’s technical team said.

The absence of metal reinforcement also simplifies the chair’s construction. LD Seating said the rigid structure and flexible padding can be separated at the end of the product’s life and recovered within a polyurethane recycling stream. Ground material can potentially be reused in the production of both rigid and flexible PU components.

The polyurethane parts are manufactured in Boskovice, Czech Republic, by PUR seating, an LD Seating subsidiary established in partnership with Italian polyurethane manufacturer Essepieffe.

PUR seating moved into an expanded 1,000-square-meter production facility in 2024, equipped with three polyurethane foaming machines. During 2025, it commissioned additional machinery for producing rigid PU, allowing LD Seating to bring production of structural PU components in-house.

Comfort was the starting point for the design, according to Folco Orlandini of Orlandini Design: “With Terra, we wanted to redesign how a lounge chair is shaped and experienced. Rather than following the familiar horizontal split between seat and backrest, the design is organised as a single, continuous form. The seating area is framed by two sculpted side panels that also serve as armrests, giving the chair a strong, recognisable shape while supporting the body in a balanced and comfortable way.”

The Terra Lounge collection was launched in February 2026. It comprises armchairs in two heights, a matching footrest and several base options. Selected high-back versions are also available with an integrated rocking mechanism.

Main photo: designer Folco Orlandini posing with the collection. Credit: LD Seating

LD Seating