We are pleased to announce the arrival of the groundbreaking SILQ Office Chair in our showroom.
Pioneers in workplace design, Steelcase, launched SILQ last year in New York. The SILQ chair is now available to view and try for the first time in Western Australia at our Perth showroom.
AN IDEA.
The idea for SILQ was clear; Steelcase wanted to create a simple chair, more like an organism than machine, a chair that could operate intuitively and invited the human body to participate and respond to the experience.
The first sketches of SILQ were done back in 2008 by Steelcase vice president of Global Design and Engineering, James Ludwig. At the time, engineers were not able to produce the chair in the way Ludwig had imagined, an elegantly curved back chair stripped of complex engineering systems. Ludwig’s idea was carefully filed away until 2016.
INNOVATION.
In 2008 Ludwig put together a team to bring his idea to life. The design team had a new vision for SILQ – using material as the mechanism to design an office chair.
In 18 months, the team had completed the first version of SILQ in carbon fiber. Realising that the premium carbon fiber material would only be accessible to a small portion of the market, Ludwig’s small team of designers and engineers began working on the development of a a new high-performance polymer material that could emulate the qualities of carbon fiber but at a mass market price.
Seeking inspiration from aerospace, the motion of a high performance prosthetic leg and sculpture, the team were able to broaden their understanding of using advanced materials to created a highly responsive design system.
Pushing the boundaries of material science, Steelcase achieved a material process breakthrough allowing them to deliver their idea at mass scale. The company’s materials science breakthrough led to an all-new chair design that intuitively responds to human movement without the use of mechanisms.
“It’s all material-based, there are no hidden springs, no pivot points, no mechanical elements. There’s no machine. This is all based on the geometries, materials, and all the way we’ve handled those forces are based on the energy that you’re putting into it.”
– JAMES LUDWIG, Steelcase Vice President of Global Design and Engineering
Watch this video to learn more about the design process.
A DESIGN FOR TODAY.
The modern workplace is constantly changing and evolving. SILQ is a chair designed for flexible workspaces where workers are mobile and might work from their desk, collaborative spaces and communal work zones. Ludwig believes that a dynamic workplace requires office furniture that is equally as flexible.
SILQ eliminates the machinery typically found underneath most chairs and replaces it with a sleek silhouette and just one adjustment—height. Because of the flexibility and strength afforded by the carbon fiber back, every other part of the chair adapts to the person sitting in it, whether they’re six-foot-three or five-foot-three. The way SILQ responds to a person’s posture and stature is unique to each user because of the way the materiality, design and motion of the human body come together.
“The simplicity of this chair means anyone who sits in SILQ is going to be supported and delighted no matter where or how they are working.”
– JAMES LUDWIG, Steelcase Vice President of Global Design and Engineering
FEATURES.
Key features of the SILQ chair include:
- A curved, narrow back supported by a cradle of carbon fibre;
- Flexibility and support;
- Intuitive performance responding to natural movement of the human body;
- High-performance material;
- Simple yet functional design;
- Elegant, sleek profile;
- One manual adjustment mechanism for seat height;
- A huge range of material combinations allowing for personal expression.
ORDERING & AVAILABILITY
SILQ is available in the new high-performance polymer as well as premium carbon fiber.
Variants of the SILQ chair include a chair and stool, available with or without arms.
SILQ is available to order now, please contact our showroom for more information.
For more information about SILQ, we invite you to visit info.steelcase.com/silq-steelcase.
