Vitra brings recyclable PU foam to Bascule lounge chair

Unveiled during the 3daysofdesign festival in Copenhagen in June, Bascule is scheduled for its commercial launch in September. The chair combines a loosely fitted, removable cover with a reclining mechanism that automatically responds to the user’s weight.

Bascule takes its name from the French word for seesaw. The mechanism, developed by Vitra’s engineering team, suspends the seat and backrest from pivot points concealed in the armrests. This allows the chair to move from an upright position to an almost horizontal recline without complex springs or oil dampers.

Studio Πfounders Lisa Ertel and Anne-Sophie Oberkrome treated the upholstery as a garment rather than a fixed skin. Its generously cut textile cover drapes over the structure like a jacket, tightening and forming different folds as the chair moves.

“For us, the comparison with a jacket couldn’t be more fitting,” said Oberkrome. “A favourite jacket you love to slip on, one that is soft, familiar and simply comfortable.”

The Bascule is offered in high- and low-back versions, with either a four-star aluminium swivel base or a wooden base. The high-back model includes an adjustable neck cushion, while complementary ottoman and bench options are also available.

Its construction avoids adhesives and uses separable components so that individual parts can be removed, repaired or replaced. Upholstery fabrics incorporate recycled PET fibres, while the cushions can be made from recycled fibres or V-Foam.

Developed jointly by Vitra and BASF, V-Foam is described by the companies as the world’s first economically recyclable polyurethane foam. Unlike conventional crosslinked flexible PU foam, it is meltable at the end of its service life.

Vitra said the material can be liquefied and used to produce new PU foam without loss of performance. Alternatively, it can be processed into granules for injection-moulded components. BASF said the foam can be completely recycled and converted into a new polyol using an energy-efficient process.

The material was initially introduced in smaller products, including office chairs and armchairs, because Vitra could manufacture the foam components at its own facilities. The company has subsequently worked with external suppliers to extend its use to larger upholstered products.

Vitra’s interest in polyurethane innovation stretches back more than six decades. Its collaboration with Danish designer Verner Panton began in 1963, when the company agreed to develop his proposal for a flowing, cantilevered plastic chair after numerous other manufacturers had rejected it.

A pilot series of 150 Panton Chairs was produced in 1967 using cold-pressed, glass-fibre-reinforced polyester. Following trials with rigid polyurethane foam supplied by Bayer, mass production began in 1968 using an innovative moulding process. The result was the first mass-produced resilient cantilever chair formed from a single piece of plastic.

Vitra later experimented with a BASF thermoplastic version before returning to rigid PU foam for the Panton Chair Classic in 1990. The company continues to sell that glossy PU version alongside an injection-moulded polypropylene model introduced in 1999.

The appearance of V-Foam in the Bascule therefore continues a relationship between Vitra, BASF and polyurethane that reaches back to the formative years of plastic furniture design. Its launch also coincides with the centenary of Panton’s birth, which Vitra and the Vitra Design Museum are marking throughout 2026.

Vitra has noted that V-Foam is not currently offered in the UK. British furniture fire-safety requirements would require flame retardants to be added to the formulation, preventing the foam from being recycled separately. This is because a spate of house fires in the UK during the 1980s led the government of the day to consider banning polyurethane from furniture. A compromise was found (add fire retardants) but the UK still has some of the most stringent fire-safety standards in the world.

Vitra