What carries your body when you sit on a sofa? Two systems do the work: elastic webbing, stretched across the frame, or steel springs set under the cushion. Saint Objets builds both in its atelier in the Emirates, webbing as the standard construction and its own spring seat as an option, so the sit can be chosen like a cloth.
What Webbing Does.
Elastic webbing is a lattice of tensioned straps fixed across the seat frame, under the foams. Each strap stretches a little under weight and pulls back when the weight leaves. Together they carry the body evenly across the whole seat.
It is the construction behind most contemporary design furniture, and for good reasons:
- It adds almost no height, so a sofa can sit low and thin, like Club 89 or Henri.
- It is even and quiet: no movement under the cushion, no sound, no bounce.
- It keeps its tension for years when the straps are of the right grade and correctly spaced.
Webbing gives what we call a precise sit. The body is held exactly where the drawing meant it to be.
What Springs Do.
A sprung seat replaces the lattice with steel springs set under the cushion, each one seated and tied by hand inside the frame. A spring stores the weight of the body and gives it back, slowly. The sit begins soft, then holds, and the body feels carried rather than placed.
It is the construction of the great lounge sofas of the last century, and it is more work: more height inside the frame, more hours at the bench, a seat that has to be tuned rather than simply assembled. Sarah Koben, the founder and Creative Director of Saint Objets, developed and prototyped the studio's own spring seat, and it is now offered as an option across the indoor collection.
Which One Feels Better.
Neither, in the abstract. They are two different sits, and the honest answer depends on three things:
- The room: a formal salon used a few evenings a month is served beautifully by webbing; a family room lived in for hours every day earns the spring seat.
- The silhouette: a very low, thin piece stays truer on webbing; a deep lounge sofa like La Vague, with its 75 cm seat depth, was drawn for the spring seat.
- The posture: if you sit upright, to read or to talk, choose webbing. If you sink, stretch and stay, choose springs.
How We Build Both.
Every Saint Objets sofa starts with a solid hardwood frame, jointed and glued, covered by a two year structural warranty against verified manufacturing defects. Our standard seat tensions elastic webbing over that frame. The optional spring seat sets steel springs into the same frame instead. Above either system the foams are layered by density, a firm core for shape and a softer top for the first contact, so the seat gives the feel of memory foam while keeping its line.
The silhouette does not change with the choice; the drawing accounts for the little extra height the springs bring. The cloth does not change either: European velvets, boucles and linens, OEKO-TEX where the certificate is available for the chosen cloth. The lead time stays at ten to thirty days.
You can see the two constructions across the collection: La Vague, Club 89, Serpentini and Mayfair are all built on webbing as standard and can be specified with the spring seat. Our page on spring sofas in Dubai gathers the pieces we recommend for it, and the architecture of comfort explains the proportions that come before either system.
Frequently asked questions.
Is a spring sofa more comfortable than a webbed sofa?
Not in the abstract. A sprung seat gives a deeper, slower sit with more travel; elastic webbing gives a firmer, more even seat that keeps a low silhouette thin. The right one depends on the room, the posture you want and how many hours a day the sofa is used.
Does Saint Objets offer springs on every sofa?
Our standard build is elastic webbing suspension under layered foams. Our exclusive spring seat, developed and prototyped in the studio, is available as an option on our indoor sofas and lounge armchairs. Outdoor pieces keep the webbing build.
Does the spring seat change the look of the sofa?
No. The frame, the silhouette and the cloth stay the same. The seat gains a little height and more depth of sit, which we account for in the drawing before the piece is built.
How long does a sprung sofa take to make?
Ten to thirty days, like every Saint Objets piece, according to the scale of the project, the number of pieces and the availability of the chosen cloth. The option is confirmed on the quotation before the order is placed.