Norix Furniture, a producer of innovative and durable furniture products for more than 30 years, has been named the gold medal winner of the Healthcare Design Magazine Product Innovation Awards, a competition that included a broad range of entries from a variety of categories such as technology/communications, appliances, medical supplies, lighting and furniture.

The Norix product that took home the prize was RockSmart, a contemporary rocking chair designed from the ground up for soothing comfort, exceptional durability and aesthetic appeal. The chair’s signature one-piece shape is sculpted from rotationally molded polyethylene for a calming, safe and comfortable rock. Its generous arc provides a relaxing and safe rocking action while securely affixed nylon runners protect floors. It’s also equipped with a rear bumper that indicates the limits of safe rocking.

“We truly appreciate the recognition from such a prestigious, industry-leading news source as Healthcare Design Magazine,” Brad Karl, Norix Director of Innovation, said. “RockSmart was not only a huge leap forward for Norix, but also for the concept of the rocking chair as we know it. We used evidence-based research along with a lot of creative thinking to create this product, and I think that resonated with those who judged and, inevitably, chose this as the winner.”

RockSmart was designed to provide a specific solution for the unique healthcare segments that are behavioral healthcare facilities. Patients in these environments can sometimes become unstable and act out in unpredictable and even harmful ways. RockSmart began with the insight that BHC environments do not always have the resources to meet the diverse and dynamic needs of all patients at once.

Norix, therefore, envisioned a self-soothing solution mindfully designed for these exceptional conditions. The meditative quality of gentle rocking is innate to the human experience. So is the need for safety. RockSmart is designed with soft design lines that avoid hard edges, has no vulnerable moving parts and is specifically built for extreme durability to protect patients and staff from the hazards created by product breakdown. With this product, Norix set out to deliver a contemporary rocking chair, with visual appeal and safety features, that helped create a calming experience for BHC patients.

“We believe that all people have the right to be safe and live in spaces that are humanized,” Karl said. “With RockSmart, we have delivered an aesthetically pleasing, highly durable product that gives BHC facilities peace of mind.”

Healthcare Design serves interior designers, architects, facility managers and all individuals who are involved in the design and construction of hospitals and other medical facilities. According to the news outlet, “A 16-member jury of industry leaders, including architects, designers, consultants, and providers, reviewed the submissions and narrowed the list down to the most innovative.”  RockSmart will be featured in a full page advertisement in the July issue of Healthcare Design, along with information regarding other winners and all entrants.

Those attending NeoCon 2016 on June 13-15 at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago can see – and rock in – a RockSmart at the Norix Furniture booth 7-2066. Attendees are invited to visit with company representatives to learn more about this new and exciting product that is like no other seating option on the market.

Do you really like this chair? If you are attending NeoCon 2016, you have a chance to win one. All you have to do is take a photo of one of them in our booth, then post it to your Twitter account. Include the hashtag #RockSmart in the post and rally your friends to like and retweet your photo. The pic with the most engagement wins. A couple of rules apply. We don’t mind who you work for. Everyone is eligible. But please post from your personal account. The chair can be shipped anywhere in the continental United States.

For more information on the chair, visit the RockSmart webpage. To read more about the Healthcare Design Magazine award, click here.