An award-winning chair design from Australasian company Formway Furniture , the Life chair, was officially launched this week after already experiencing success in the North American market.
Life is the culmination of four years of research and design and is set to create a new international benchmark in office chairs. It was constructed in conjunction with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology from a minimum of materials that are environmentally friendly and ergonomically designed. Formway CEO Rick Wells says Life is unlike anything most people have experienced before.
“What’s most noticeable when you first sit in the chair is that it uses your own body weight to keep you in a constant equilibrium. It responds fluidly to your movements. It is also highly customisable and specable which means it’s going to appeal to a wide range of people and office situations,” says Mr Wells.
“It also looks great! We think it will create ‘chair envy’ in offices around the world.”
Formway has partnered with prestigious New York-based furniture company, Knoll Inc, well known for working with the world’s most respected designers, to manufacture and distribute the Life chair around the world. In Australia, Formway will manufacture the chair from its plants in Sydney and display the product in showrooms in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Wellington.
Mr Wells says that being recognised in the Task Chair category for Seating Design at NeoCon earlier this year - the prestigious trade fair for interior design and facilities management industries in Chicago - was of major significance for the Australasian-based company.
“Winning a gold award against the absolute leaders in the industry is an acknowledgement that Australasian design is the very best in the world and a signal that the Life chair will enjoy commercial success,” Mr Wells said.
Knoll CEO Andrew Cogan says the company is extremely pleased with the overwhelming response to Life at NeoCon, and he sees enormous opportunity for sales of Life throughout both North America and Europe.
“From our perspective, Life could not have had a better entrance to the market. We expect to sell in excess of 100,000 chairs in North America alone and winning a Gold Award at NeoCon will open up additional opportunities in the global market for the chair.”
The Life chair will be in Formway showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne from early September.