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British Airways
Club World Sleeper Seat
The focus of BA’s advertising, the business class sleeper seat has become an icon for the British Airways brand and is the profit engine of the business.
The airline’s business class customers have three key aspirations: privacy, flexibility and a good night’s sleep. By meeting all three needs, the sleeper seat has helped set a new direction for BA’s business.
The seat, the world’s first flat bed in business class, has been patented worldwide by BA. Its novel ‘ying-yang’ format, with front and rear-facing seats, enabled us to give a fully flat bed that takes up between 15% and 20% less space than competitive products. It also allows passengers to turn their seat into a bed without getting up.
From developing the initial concept to getting the seat airborne took just 16 months, a remarkably short time considering the seat’s unique design.
To generate the design we worked closely with BA’s brand and design management teams and their consumer research agencies. To deliver the design we led the work of human factor consultants, model-makers and digital modellers. We based our team at the office of the seat manufacturer, so together developing a seamless fit between the concept and reality.
In 2001 tangerine won the Grand Prix Award for Design Effectiveness from the Design Business Association. It is now one of the UK’s legendary examples of design effectiveness.
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Research and development stage of the project involved extensive ergonomics testing |
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The ‘Ying-yang’ configuration utilises the cabin area to it’s best effect |
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