KI Highlights How Cogni Seating Continues to Make Its Mark on Student Learning at EDspaces 2026

Thoughtful classroom seating solutions from KI, shown at EDspaces Booth #2001, respond to the diverse ways students experience learning.

GREEN BAY, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Learning looks different from student to student. The environments where it happens should make room for those differences. At EDspaces 2026, October 28-30 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Mo., KI will feature Cogni Seating at Booth #2001, highlighting how the collection was designed to support the diverse needs and behaviors students bring into the classroom.

Introduced in 2025, Cogni was developed around the understanding that students have different preferences, physical needs, and ways of participating in the learning environment. Since its launch, the collection has continued to gain recognition across the education, architecture, and design communities, including second-place recognition in the 2025 Product Innovation Awards from EDspaces and Learning by Design, Silver recognition in the 2025 Best of NeoCon awards, a 2025 Best of Year finalist designation from Interior Design, and a 2026 Red Dot Award: Product Design.

Designed Around How Students Learn

Rather than treating movement and sensory input as distractions, Cogni incorporates them into its design to support a range of sitting styles and learning needs. Combining insights from educators and students to address the physical experience of learning, Cogni’s features were developed to support natural movement, sensory input, and different sitting methods without disrupting the flexibility of an active classroom.

“Cogni was designed around the understanding that students bring different needs and preferences into the classroom,” said Bryan Ballegeer, vice president of sales & marketing for education markets at KI. “Movement, comfort, and choice can look different from one learner to the next. Our goal was to create seating that gives students flexibility while giving educators a solution that works within the demands of a classroom.”

Cogni features a contoured seat, flexible back, and multiple seating configurations designed to accommodate different ages, postures, and classroom activities. A patent-pending tactile seat surface provides sensory feedback, while a patent-pending heel-wheel feature supports mobility. The collection is available in cantilever, four-leg, stool, task chair, and task stool configurations, with a range of colors, finishes, and upholstery options.

Together, these features give schools more options for creating classrooms that can accommodate different learners without requiring a one-size-fits-all approach to seating.

A Year of Learning from the Classroom

Since Cogni’s introduction, KI has continued to learn from educators, students, and design professionals who are using and evaluating the seating in real learning environments.

At a middle school in Southern California, the principal and school psychologist immediately saw that Cogni addressed one of their most pressing needs: helping students self-regulate. The psychologist pointed to the sensory and movement features KI designed into the chair, which gave their students physical, tactile outlets to calm and refocus.

These experiences continue to inform how KI thinks about seating as part of the larger learning environment. Rather than designing around a single idea of how a student should sit or participate, Cogni reflects an approach that gives learners and educators greater flexibility within the classroom.

According to Ballegeer, “Cogni started with a question we kept asking ourselves at KI: What if a chair could do more than hold a student in place? We designed it more as an aid for students to better regulate themselves in their learning environments and engage with their classmates and teachers. The joy educators have shown in bringing that idea to life in their classrooms has been incredible to watch.”

Continuing the Learner-Centered Conversation

At EDspaces, Cogni will serve as one example of how KI’s “Portraits of a Learner” concept translates into product design. The concept recognizes that every student brings a different combination of needs, strengths, behaviors, and experiences into the learning environment. For KI, Cogni demonstrates what can happen when those differences are considered from the beginning of the design process.

Cogni will be featured at Booth #2001 throughout EDspaces 2026, alongside three new KI solutions and several recently introduced and established products, including, Kiaura Collection™, built with Cognetic Technology™, Tributaire Collection, Outspan Outdoor Collection, and Clamber Tiered Seating.

KI Wall and Pallas Textiles will also be represented in the booth, extending the conversation beyond furniture to the architectural and textile elements that help shape learning environments.

Attendees can experience Cogni firsthand and explore how thoughtful seating design can support more responsive learning environments. For more information about KI and Cogni, visit ki.com/edspaces/2026.

ABOUT KI

KI manufactures innovative furniture for education, healthcare, government, and corporate markets. The employee-owned company is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with sales and manufacturing facilities worldwide. KI tailors products and service solutions to the specific needs of each customer through its unique design and manufacturing philosophy. For more information, visit ki.com.