The Mat chair is the result of years of research to replace traditional 3D shell chair materials with sustainable, renewable solutions, including hemp and eelgrass, a seaweed found in abundance.
The name “Mat” refers to this material innovation. Designed in line with the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle, the Mat chair aims to minimize environmental impact by reusing production waste and facilitating end-of-life recycling.
The Mat chair meets the EN Level L2 test standard for strength, stability and durability. It is available in several versions, with or without upholstery, mounted on a powder-coated steel base. Production waste is recycled to create new chairs.
The Mat chair was developed by Danish design studio Foersom & Hiort-Lorenzen, who have been working on the subject of ecological chairs since the 1990s. Their first experiments involved cellulose materials. In 2008, they began testing hemp, a strong, durable natural fiber that requires little water, no pesticides and absorbs CO2. One hectare of hemp can capture around 15 tonnes of CO2 per season, underlining its potential as a carbon sequestration tool.
Eelgrass, still little-known, is a sustainable algae that has been used for centuries in Denmark for roof coverings. It also absorbs a lot of CO2 and has a low environmental impact. For the production of the Mat chair, eelgrass naturally washed up on the Danish coast is harvested and dried without disturbing the ecosystem, providing a natural, grainy texture when combined with hemp fibers.
In this way, the Mat collection embodies a revolutionary approach to furniture production, combining sustainability, aesthetics and respect for the environment.
Materials Hemp, seaweed, powder-coated steel Seat height 45 cm
Chair 51 x 53 x H79 cm Armchair 64 x 55 x H79 cm
chair – hemp + cream base
armchair – hemp + cream base
chair – hemp + black base
armchair – hemp + black base
chair – seaweed + cream base
armchair – seaweed + cream base
chair – seaweed + black base
armchair – seaweed + black base
front upholstered chair
from
hemp + Hallingdal 220
front upholstered armchair
from
hemp + Steelcut Trio 966
hemp + Hallingdal 100
fully upholstered chair
from
Hallingdal 200
fully upholstered armchair
from
Hallingdal 270
Hallingdal 224
Hallingdal 227
felt
plastic
With circularity and responsibility at the heart of its concerns, the Mat collection is designed for disassembly and recycling, ensuring that Mat chair components can be recycled into new productions, for a completely circular life cycle.
1) Harvesting
Mat Chair is made primarily from hemp fibers. Only the stalk is used, a part of the plant generally considered a by-product since the rest is used for textiles and food. Another variant is to add eelgrass, a type of seaweed that is harvested when it washes up on the beaches of the coast surrounding Denmark.
2) Grinding
After harvesting, the hemp stalks and eelgrass are sorted in the production plant. For shredding, hemp stalks, eelgrass and recycled Mat chair shells are shredded, guaranteeing homogeneous material composition and surface expression.
3) Binder
The shredded fibers are then mixed with a special, fully recyclable binder, designed to be and durability. The mixture is transformed into sheets that will become the shell of the chair.
4) Compression
The sheets are compressed to form chair shells. This process, perfected by experts, ensures that the recyclability of the materials is not compromised. Next, the shells are cut to size by experts, their edges meticulously sanded by hand, and their surface oiled by hand using a VOC-free linseed oil that guarantees a long-lasting finish.
5) The product
The result is the Mat Chair. Designed in a spirit of circularity, products can be taken back at the end of their life, after agreement. They will then be dismantled, sorted and remanufactured for new products.
6) Reuse
At our production plant in Denmark, waste from Mat shell production is sorted, shredded and transformed into new chairs. This is also where end-of-life steel chairs, shells and legs can be disassembled and reused..
Foersom & Hiort-Lorenzen
Johannes Foersom began his career as a cabinetmaker and Peter Hiort-Lorenzen started out as a carpenter building ship interiors before joining forces to form a Danish design duo.
For almost 50 years, they have been creating organic, functional and sustainable designs that bring long-term added value to people and their environment, expressing themselves in a design idiom that combines their knowledge of materials, market trends and a sense of innovation.
The duo has won several international awards and is praised for its experimentation with new materials and constructions.
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