An elegant office chair as suitable to the corporate work setting as to the home, Swurve was inspired by the genius of nature. And it’s also respectful of nature: Swurve is the first completely carbon neutral product by Keilhauer. “This is a huge milestone achievement for our sustainability program,” says Josephine Abate, Keilhauer’s Sustainability Officer. “We really dug into the product’s life cycle to learn its carbon footprint at every step of its design and manufacturing.”
Swurve represents the culmination of a decades-long investment by the leading North American manufacturer in sustainable production. Its life-cycle assessment protocol, conducted by a third party, involves sourcing from the local supply chain, manufacturing with waste diverting, energy-efficient processes, implementing an end-of-life recycling plan and offsetting transportation emissions by investing in carbon emission and climate change mitigation projects.
Keilhauer’s decision that an office chair would be its first carbon neutral product is related to scale: Office chairs are popular, regularly specified products – and therefore have the potential to make a global impact.
That Swurve treads lightly on the earth is underscored by its gracefully minimal look and feel. The chair is defined by a swooping arm that subtly twists as if it has grown organically from its body. “I looked at tree branches and bones which taper and are shaped by forces and stresses,” explains designer Andrew Jones. Renowned for his furniture both for indoors and out – he designed the beloved pink umbrellas at Toronto’s award-winning Sugar Beach as well as the Fleurt chairs that adorn New York’s Battery Park – Jones has been collaborating with the Keilhauer for many years.
Freely formed in the air between the two aluminum frames, Swurve’s ergonomic knit back makes the chair feel exceptionally light and agile, which encourages the user to lean back and move side to side. Augmenting this flexibility is Keilhauer’s patented syncro-tilt mechanism. “Swurve is a highly technical product, but it should never feel like it,” says Jones. “I wanted Swurve to feel welcoming, human and soft. It’s a minimal design, but also has character and a subtle presence.” Attaining such a pared-down, nature-inspired form required a fine-tuned design and prototyping process that emphasized comfort and performance. “In the end, there are lots of subtle refinements that people will probably never notice – but that do add up to a design which feels light, friendly and inevitable,” says Jones.
Boosting that friendly quotient, Swurve is offered in 22 wonderful mesh colours, including bold hues and gentle neutrals. A vinyl upholstery is available for environments with increased sanitization needs; the vinyl and leather upholstery options come in 40 shades. “The colours were picked to ensure the chair works in many environments and was a creative solution for designers,” explains Meghan Sherwin, Keilhauer’s Vice President of Marketing.
This style versatility makes Swurve a chair for any and every setting. And that means that it has the potential to be a major game changer, both in introducing a vibrant, elegant and minimal aesthetic and in heralding a greener future. For Keilhauer, the product’s legacy is already established: Swurve’s carbon neutral status highlights the manufacturer’s best practices and its forward-looking vision.
This content was published by Azure on behalf of Keilhauer.
Inspired by nature, the elegant and versatile Swurve is also light on the Earth.