Launched during Salone del Mobile 2022, giroflex 150 is a limited edition wooden office chair designed in collaboration with BIG-GAME and Karimoku New Standard (KNS). “The journey in creating giroflex 150 actually also began at Salone del Mobile, but four years ago.” Say BIG-GAME, continuing, “Whilst visiting the KNS exhibition, their Art Director David Glaettli told us they were interested in designing some items of office furniture. That same evening we also met up with Flokk Design Manager Øystein Austad, and we pitched him the idea of a wooden office chair built in collaboration between BIG-GAME, Flokk and KNS. We knew of the rich history of wooden office chairs within the Giroflex brand, so it made sense that the chair would be a Giroflex chair. Four years later, we are back in Milan with the result of this collaboration, giroflex 150.”
Whilst this may be the first collaboration between a Flokk brand and KNS, BIG-GAME has worked on various projects with KNS for over 10 years and was familiar with their extremely high-quality output, state-of-the-art production methods, and their environmental impact – making them perfect partners for Flokk.
BIG-GAME; “Within the bigger Karimoku company, the KNS line is specifically designed around sustainably sourced, high-quality Japanese oak harvested in domestic forests – because of the small sections of the trees (that are cut to make space for other trees to grow bigger), this natural resource would otherwise be turned to paper pulp. When collaborating with companies, we believe in long-term relationships, allowing us to build ambitious projects with a common goal.”
With the 150 anniversary of Giroflex on the horizon, the ambitions for the project began to take shape. BIG-GAME was well aware of the rich heritage of Giroflex wooden seating, and with a little research, wanted to bring out the best of the past, whilst adding all the touches expected from modern office seating. By celebrating the past, but looking to the future, giroflex 150 would be a perfect representation of where the brand stands after 15 decades of design.
BIG-GAME: “We investigated in-depth Giroflex’s heritage in that field (of wooden office seating) and were amazed by the quality of the products that were made in the past. You can buy fifty-years-old wooden Giroflex task chairs today and they still work!”
“We took some chairs from the archive to our studio and studied them in detail. We wanted to retain some elements of their design language and constructive logic. Of course, our expectations in terms of ergonomics and comfort have evolved dramatically so we set ourselves the goal of giving the user the experience of a synchro chair. We also designed all the wooden parts with extra comfort in mind so that all edges and curves are really soft on the sitter’s body.”
“This great attention to comfort, along with the updated lines, makes the giroflex 150 a definite upgrade from its ancestors. Apart from the gas lift to change the height, giroflex 150 requires no other settings at all. It naturally adapts to the weight of the person sitting on it. Using the latest technology in synchro movement and ergonomics, giroflex 150 is a wooden chair with a very contemporary sensation of balance and dynamism to it.”
Most office chairs today are made from a combination of plastics, fabrics, and metals, largely down to material costs, convenience and efficiency, - especially when it comes to mass production – but there are some distinct advantages when it comes to wooden furniture. Perhaps most interestingly is the fact that wooden furniture gets better with age. As opposed to the material fading and losing its colour and rigidity, if well maintained, wood ages magnificently.
BIG-GAME: “(With plastic) You can create a lightweight shell to hide away all the components underneath the chair or a simple backrest that includes all the necessary connection parts in one piece. This is not possible with wood, where you have to make several manual operations to implement the connections and create smooth surface lines. On the upside, wood has a warm touch, it ages beautifully so the seat actually gets better with age and patina, and you can repair it more easily.”
Giroflex 150 – available to pre-order now
This unique blend of sustainably sourced wood, handcrafted components, and modern design is what makes giroflex 150 such a stunning statement piece, and why numbers are limited to only 150 individual chairs, available in five different wood stain colours.
If you are interested in purchasing giroflex 150, click here to find out more. Production will begin in August 2022, but pre-order is available now via the link above.
