Birch Office Chair by Goodtone is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Platinum A' Design Award in Office Furniture Design Competition Category.
PlatinumOffice Furniture· 2025
Birch Office Chair
by Goodtone
Platinum A' Design Award Winner in Office Furniture Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #163625The Design
About Birch Office Chair
Birch is a high-performance flexible office chair with upgraded back comfort as its core. The designer uses the natural structural curves of the human body as the source of design inspiration, simulating the moving arcs of the human body's back and spine to present a linked double-back structure, which can easily handle the human body's forward, backward, side twisting and other movements, and can easily take care of a variety of usage scenarios.
The Recognition
About the Platinum A' Design Award
Birch Office Chair is a Platinum A' Design Award winner, an extremely prestigious recognition granted to truly exceptional, elegant, and magnificent designs. Platinum winners are marvels of creation, testaments to the limits of intellectual creativity, and demonstrate the unmatched professionalism and genius of their designers. These designs are expected to be the most renowned works that define the aesthetics of an era, contribute to the well-being of society, and push the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Birch Office Chair exhibits a transcendent level of excellence and unequivocally makes the world a better place with its advantageous and worthwhile characteristics. Birch Office Chair is a Platinum A' Design Award-winning work that triggers desires, inspires, excites, delights, and sparks great joy.
Where to Get It
High-Performance Ergonomic Office Chairs
We specialize in premium ergonomic office chairs that combine innovative design with exceptional comfort. Our award-winning seating solutions feature advanced support systems, premium materials, and meticulous engineering to enhance productivity and wellbeing in modern workspaces.
Explore CollectionInterviews
Grand Interview
Your innovative double-back structure in the Birch Office Chair represents a significant departure from traditional mesh chair designs - could you elaborate on how this breakthrough concept evolved during your three-year development process with ITO Design?
The double-back structure emerged from our shared belief with ITO Design that ergonomic support should move with the body, not against it. Over three years, we explored how to separate and articulate the upper and lower back zones to reflect actual spinal movement. Through repeated prototyping testing, we arrived at a solution that mirrors the natural curvature and motion of the spine — offering independent yet synchronized support for the back and lumbar regions.
The Birch Office Chair's integrated gliding support system provides three-in-one support for the back, waist, and sacrum - what inspired your team to develop this comprehensive approach to ergonomic comfort, and how did you validate its effectiveness?
We were driven by one question: how can we offer seamless, full-back support during posture shifts? The gliding support system was born from observing micro-movements during long working hours. By integrating flexible zones that shift in harmony with the user, we created a responsive system that supports the back, waist, and sacrum simultaneously.
Your placement of function control keys beneath the 3D armrest surface in the Birch Office Chair demonstrates thoughtful consideration of user interaction - what insights led to this innovative positioning, and how does it enhance the overall user experience?
The idea came from watching users reach awkwardly for levers under the seat. We asked ourselves, “Why not bring the controls where the hands already are?” By integrating adjustment keys beneath the 3D armrest, we reduced unnecessary movement and improved accessibility. The result is a more intuitive interaction—users adjust posture effortlessly without breaking focus.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Birch is a high-performance flexible office chair with upgraded back comfort as its core. The designer uses the natural structural curves of the human body as the source of design inspiration, simulating the moving arcs of the human body's back and spine to present a linked double-back structure, which can easily handle the human body's forward, backward, side twisting and other movements, and can easily take care of a variety of usage scenarios.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Width 660 mm x Depth 570-630 mm x Height 1170-1255 mm
- Tags
- Office Furniture, Office Chair, BIRCH, Double-back Support System
- Production Technology
- The integrated double-back flexible support system is the core of the Birch series. In view of the differences in individual waist physiological structures, Birch abandons the traditional structure of separated waist and back, and for the first time applies the innovative double-back linkage structure to create an integrated gliding support system, which effectively provides three-in-one support for the back, waist, and sacrum. The metal outer frame and the lightweight inner frame are equipped with dual mechanism functions of adaptive dynamic adjustment and back locking respectively. The lumbar support area can switch between dynamic and static states according to the user's sitting posture preferences, close to the body curve, relieve the pressure caused by sitting for a long time, and bring a relaxing experience close to "zero gravity".
- Design Challenge
- In terms of functional innovation, the Birch series simulates the active arc of the human back and spine to present a linked double-back structure, which can bear the body's forward leaning, backward leaning, side twisting and other movements, and can easily take care of a variety of usage scenarios. In terms of operational convenience, the function control keys are concentrated below the 3D armrest surface, which is more convenient and can be freely switched to different comfort states without bending over. In terms of appearance, the Birch series chair back support frame is made of one-piece aluminum alloy, which is light and strong. The side streamlines reflect the unique color, with a cool and high-end temperament. The full mesh material adds a sense of perspective beauty. The interweaving and collision of different elements convey the brand's unique aesthetic style in strength and elegance, fortitude and softness.
- Research
- For the beginning, Goodtone hoped to create an ergonomic chair that focused on improving the flexibility and comfort of the chair back. Therefore, we have been cooperating with the ITO Design for three years. In response to the pain points of lumbar support, we proposed a double-back flexible support system. Through the dual mechanisms of adaptive dynamic adjustment and back locking, Birch can offer customized comfortable lumbar support for users. In appearance, the Birch double-back structure consists of a metal chair back outer frame and a conventional inner frame. With a slim line profile, the chair body shape has a more modern and technological feel. High performance, higher-level comfort and aesthetics complement each other to form the new Birch.
- Inspiration
- Starting from the first design draft, our goal was to break the impression of the traditional mesh chair with a separate waist and back by innovating the structural function of the chair back. We hope to ensure that the user's back is fully supported without affecting the high-end one-piece appearance and texture they expect.
- Project Duration
- Birch was developed by Goodtone and ITO Design over a three-year period. The product appearance and functional structure design process was carried out in Germany, and the parts procurement and assembly process was completed in Goodtone‘s factory, Foshan, China. In March 2024, Birch made its first public appearance at CIFF, Guangzhou.
- Operation Flow
- Based on the BOCK core wire-controlled mechanism, Birch is not only equipped with seat height adjustment, seat cushion depth adjustment, three-level tilt angle locking, 3D armrests, but also quick tilt strength adjustment and chair back height adjustment. On the lower right side of the 3D armrest, the user can adjust the seat height by using the function key in coordination with the body's standing or sitting movements when in a normal sitting position. At the appropriate height, the user's feet should rest flat on the floor. When performing tasks or taking a short break, the user can lock the reclining angle of the chair back to maintain a fixed posture by using the function key on the lower left side of the 3D armrest. When users of different strengths exert different forces on the back of the chair, they can quickly control the resistance they feel when they lean back through the knob on the lower right side of the seat cushion. The lower left side of the seat cushion is equipped with a function key for adjusting the cushion forward and backward, allowing users of different heights to enjoy sufficient leg support.
- Patents
- Patented.
Patent No 8185576.
Patent Holder: Guangdong JE Furniture Co.,Ltd
Year: 2023
Jurisdiction: China - Team Members
- Designer: Cyrille Charier
Designer Team: ITO Design
Product Manger: Zuck Zhu
Product Manger: Aaron Peng - Image Credits
- Image #1-5: Photographer He Jiasheng
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