Together, the screen and seat create an immersive/isolated environment that actually makes the movie experience better + safer.

London-based design studio LAYER has debuted a new kind of movie-theater seat titled ‘Sequel’ to mark the second, renewed era of film born as a result of the coronavirus. The virus has arguably crippled travel and entertainment the hardest, and LAYER’s design efforts seem to be rectifying the various inherent problems within these two areas. The Sequel seat was designed as a direct response to the coronavirus crippling movie-theaters and their enclosed, highly-packed spaces. The Sequel seats boast of a unique set of features, designed to make movie-going safer. The seats, made to be modular, come with partitions, storage space for your belongings, and self-sanitizing seat fabric in an effort to make it safer for patrons.

Unlike conventional theater-seats, Layer’s fully-adjustable seating modules are placed slightly further apart, with a frosted partition separating individuals. The seats are relatively slimmer than most plush cinema-sofas, but boast of the same level of comfort, thanks to advancements Layer’s made in seating design for its other projects – notably seating for the Airbus planes. The slim, spaced-apart design creates ample room between seats to store items like bags. These individual chambers come with UV-C lamps too, helping keep your belongings sterile.

Other pretty remarkable features include LED panels built into the headrests that allow each seat to flash the patron’s name and seat number, preventing mix-ups in the theater. Once you find your seat and make yourself comfortable, integrated speakers give you an immersive experience, making you feel like you’re right near the action. Flat, easy-to-clean trays let you munch on popcorn while you’re watching the movie too. Once you’re done, the seats auto-disinfect themselves, thanks to the use of an anti-microbial fabric that has copper strands woven into it. The seats are hydrophobic and stain-repelling too, making them much easier to maintain. This allows theater-staff to quickly clean the theaters and set them up for the next show.

Designer: LAYER Design (Benjamin Hubert)