Over the past year, bulthaup South Africa has worked with several companies to make these outstanding Danish products exclusively available. They include Dinesen floors and the furniture of Carl Hansen, Hans J. Wegner, and PP Møbler. Many of the classic chairs of Hans J. Wegner – made by Carl Hansen & Son  – are now available in a variety of new designer colours.

Carl Hansen & Son is adding two new elements to its Embrace Series, designed by Austrian design trio EOOS. The softly upholstered Embrace Chair, which was presented last year, is being joined by the Embrace Lounge Chair – a relaxed, exceptionally comfortable addition that naturally supplements Carl Hansen & Son’s furniture collection. The company is also launching a matching footstool.

How do you create an obvious connection between a dining chair and a lounge chair design – and combine a distinctive wood frame with soft upholstery in a new, simple and authentic way? Well-known Austrian design trio EOOS has addressed these questions for Carl Hansen & Son with its Embrace Lounge Chair. The elegant new piece corresponds to the Embrace Chair, which was added to the Carl Hansen & Son collection in 2015 and served as the starting point for its lounge counterpart with its simple, softly upholstered wooden frame. The Embrace Lounge Chair offers the same soft, snug feel as the dining chair – but in a more laid-back silhouette.

“The Embrace Series is based on a wood frame that, with its lightness, craftsmanship, quality – and especially its sculptural feel – reflects Carl Hansen & Son’s DNA. We then augment this with an extremely soft cushion that folds in three dimensions to provide support for the back and arms and create a unique wrap-around seat. Our aim was to create a chair that stood out from the crowd. In this design, the frame and the upholstery play equally significant roles,” explain the EOOS designers, who emphasize the way in which they have joined two distinct elements, each with its own strong identity. The design produces a light, floating appearance.

“The fundamental concept behind the Embrace Lounge Chair is the same as the Embrace Chair’s, but we have altered the proportions. The sitting position in the lounge chair is completely different, which has influenced all the angles and the entire geometry, and we have also played with the amount of filling in the cushions. The lounge chair enabled us to achieve a greater contrast between the soft upholstery and the simple wood frame. Greater volume, a softer filling and bolder proportions give the lounge chair a more enveloping feel. When you stand in front of the chair, you want to touch it, to sit in it, and to never leave it,” says Gernot Bohmann from EOOS.

“The Embrace Lounge Chair is an example of a completely new type of wooden chair that combines extreme lightness with fabulous comfort,” continues EOOS’s Martin Bergmann, who sought to create a chair that merges high-profile design and relaxed elegance.

Knud Erik Hansen, CEO of Carl Hansen & Son says: “Throughout the design process, we have had a very constructive dialog with the designers, who have an intuitive understanding of our DNA and values. Taking our history and our collection as their starting point, they have successfully managed to add new elements, especially in terms of upholstery, which lends an air of nonchalance to a classic look without compromising our high quality standards.”

Available from bulthaup South Africa

Tel.: +27 112625257; Web: www.livingkitchens.bulthaup.com; Email: info@bulthaup.co.za