Repose 休闲椅 by John G Williams is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2019 A' Design Award 铁奖 in 家具设计 Competition Category.

铁家具· 2019

Repose 休闲椅

by John G Williams

Client: John G Williams Fine Furniture

A' Design Award 铁奖 Winner in 家具 Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #75298

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Colors

The Design

About Repose 休闲椅

Repose 是一款以实木打造的休闲椅。框架采用美国白蜡木,座面与靠背则选用美国黑胡桃木。深弧形座面由带斜角边的成型木片胶合拼接而成,是制作木桶所用的箍桶拼板工艺的极致演绎。内侧曲面以定制刀具加工至光滑细腻,而扶手顶面则保留了分段拼接的肌理。后腿采用蒸汽弯曲工艺成型,并对扶手起到稳固支撑的作用;插销榫接合进一步增强了整体结构强度。设计的目标,是仅凭实木本身达到软包座椅般的舒适体验。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 铁奖

Repose 休闲椅是 A' Design Award 铁奖得主，这是授予满足人们对设计精良的创作所期待的专业与工业要求的优良设计的声望认可。铁奖得主展现出其创作者的高超技艺、高度专业化、专家级的理解力和创造能力。预计Repose 休闲椅将成为一件备受推崇、令人钦佩且被珍爱的创作，既实用又创新。这件赢得 A' Design Award 铁奖的设计整合了行业最佳实践，并拥有与专业知识和才华相结合的称职技术特性。Repose 休闲椅因其严谨而受到尊重，旨在提供有助于让世界变得更美好的生活品质改善。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The Repose lounge chair is constructed from solid timber. The curved form is realized by an extreme form of the 'coopering' process - similar to the process used to construct round barrels from staves of timber.
Dimensions & Packaging: W 800, D 800, H 830 mm
Constructed from solid hardwood timber. Frame: American Ash. Seat and Back: American Walnut.
Joints use draw bore tenon joints for extra strength
Tags: Lounge, chair, wooden, artisanal, Danish, timber, art
Production Technology: This chair is not moulded, as some might expect, but is formed from solid timber. The deep sweeping form of the seat is made by laminating various pieces of timber, with angled edges, to form the desired curves. The inside curves are machined into smooth curves with custom made tooling; but the arm uppers retain some of the segmented feel - smooth enough and yet conveying a sense of where the piece came from. The rear legs are steam bent, to retain the overall simplicity, and to attenuate and stabilize the top part of the chair arms. The backrest is also a curved laminated, solid-wood form. It would also be possible to add a thin seat cushion, or perhaps to re-conceive the entire backrest as a custom moulded leather cushion
Design Challenge: The major unknown was how strong the seat section would be in bending - in other words if someone sat on the arms, would they break? It became apparent that the arms would need additional support given the depth of the form, and the inevitable flexibility (despite steps taken to add strength in the manufacturing process). It was found that the support pins at the rear of the arms were sufficient to stabilize the entire form - which was confirmed through trial and error.
Overall the challenge was to create a lounge chair that, despite being solid timber, would be as comfortable as an upholstered equivalent
Research: The method drew heavily on the methods used in earlier designs (eg Zene submitted last year), but took these to extremes to experiment with the art of the possible.
New tooling was developed, in the form of a type of drum sander run between centres on a woodworking lathe, to machine the large concave curves
Inspiration: The inspirational question behind Repose was: if the design language at the core of the Beke and Zene dining ranges were extended to lounge furniture, what would that look like? Could a form be created out of beautiful solid hardwood timber that was profoundly comfortable even though it may be challenging to manufacture? Could some sort of modern shell design be crafted out of solid timber to yield a beautiful striking new design ?
Project Duration: The project was designed and the first prototype built in 4 weeks, starting Dec 2018 and completing in Jan 2019 in Johannesburg South Africa. The design was refined and built in finished materials (Ash and Walnut) over the following 4 weeks.
Operation Flow: The user settles comfortably down into the seat using the armrests.
Various postures are supported sitting comfortably down in the seat.
Getting back out of the seat is very easy, and facilitated by the arms.
Patents: UK IPO design registration: 6053688
Team Members: John G Williams
Image Credits: All images: John G Williams