The reinvention of bean bags as soft designer furniture

With ambient lounge, bean bag furniture isn’t what it used to be. In 2009, the ambient lounge team revolutionised soft furniture by designing a system that allows support and comfort while maintaining the look and feel of luxury. 

From cutting-edge fabrics to sustainable cushioning materials and ergonomic design, ambient lounge showcases trailblazing technologies to move traditional bean bags into the realm of structured soft furniture for interior and alfresco spaces in both commercial and residential projects. 

One of the brand’s best-selling lounges is the Butterfly sofa. This popular designer piece, offering a cocoon of comfort, was featured on House Rules. 

Some of the world’s largest architectural firms have commissioned the brand for their high-end projects, such as Changi Airport, Richard Branson’s Necker Island, England’s Football Association headquarters or the Kerry and Shangri-La hotel group.

The Ambi-spring system is a very difficult and intricate technique of manufacturing that requires multiple points of tensile elastics to be measured at exact lengths and tied within the product. The elastics allow for the product to retain an almost perfect and specific shape in any interior or outdoor space, turning the soft furniture into a beautiful designer piece.

Apart from holding the soft furniture’s shape, the internal elastics allow the premium SoLuxe Filling to move and flow within the structure, comparable to an hourglass. This provides more comfort and support. 

“The challenge with this method was to research and master the exact elastic tension that would allow the right amount of stretch while still not breaking under heavy strain, such as an adult jumping on the lounge,” explains ambient lounge founder Grant Morris.

In conversation with Grant Morris

Because of its uniquely designed system that allows the soft furniture to hold its shape, ambient lounge’s sofas, modular sets and loungers can support every body type of every age. Customers don’t have to worry about falling back or slumping. With this evolved version of designer furniture, they have the support they need.

The Butterfly sofa, for example, is made of 31 pieces and 92 points of internal elastics, all hand-tied and measured with precision inside the product. “No other soft furniture company has this sophisticated structure of internal elastics. We are defining a new furniture category,” says Grant.

Browse interior soft furniture

Whether for residential or commercial projects, customers can choose from a wide range of beautiful interior fabrics, also suitable for commercial applications, as well as USA-made Sunbrella, which is a solution-dyed breathable, linen-based outdoor fabric. Fabrics are chosen to suit the outgoing Aussie lifestyle. For commercial projects, the fabrics are certified for fire retardancy and can be customised to meet specific fire regulations in multiple countries. ambient lounge has created a line of designer-quality soft furniture that stands the test of time. 

Because of its high-standard certification compliance, ambient lounge has become a trusted soft furniture supplier for commercial facilities, such as hotels, student accommodations and government projects. 

For brand or large-scale projects, ambient lounge soft furniture can be customised for any Pantone colour or specific texture, including fire retardancy standards such as Crib5. Luxury brand Veuve Cliquot, for example, commissioned outdoor lounges in its Pantone colour orange for the Cliquot-in-the-snow event series. 

With the premium SoLuxe foam and bead mix filling, ambient lounge soft furniture can hold its shape longer than the generic bean bag. 

The secret lies in the filling, which is a mix of Dunlop’s hypoallergenic Endurro foam offcuts, chopped into cubes, and high-density beads to achieve the perfect bounce-back quality while maintaining a supportive form. The beads function as added support for the foam and give the furniture its form. The sustainable Soluxe foam protects the bead compression, which means that customers won’t need to top up as often as they would a traditional bean bag. There is also the option of recycled beads to achieve a fully sustainable product. 

Another unique point of difference is the thick layer of quilting underneath the fabric cover, increasing comfort, form and durability.

Discover outdoor soft furniture and designer bean bags

ambient lounge prides itself on being the only soft furniture company with a filling depot for the premium SoLuxe foam and bead mix in every Australian state. In Victoria, NSW and Queensland, turnaround times from order to delivery take around 10-12 working days, shortening the wait time for customers significantly compared to traditional sofa delivery times. With ambient lounge’s prefill service, customers avoid the hassle and potential mess of having to fill their soft furniture at home.

With more than 20 years of experience in the soft furniture industry and offices across the globe, including the UK, Germany, Spain, Norway, Chile, Japan, Singapore, the Middle East and the USA, ambient lounge is a trusted brand, disrupting the traditional furniture industry.  

For architects and designers, ambient lounge offers 3D assets and design assistance, including Augmented Reality technology to view a product in a specific space. 

More from ambient lounge on ArchiPro.

ambient lounge®, Sunbrella® and Soluxe® are trademarked. Endurro™ is a trademark of Dunlop.