Chair – Hab Chair & Table, Designed by Brigitte Shim & Howard Sutcliffe; Fabricated by Nienkamper
Brigitte Shim, RAIC, OAA & Howard Sutcliffe, MRAIC, OAA
Shim-Sutcliffe Architects
Firm Profile
Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe are partners as well as collaborators. They have created a firm and a life around their shared passion of architecture, landscape and furniture. Their interest in construction and fabrication of building sites and their intersections has forced them to question fundamental relationships between object and ground, building and landscape, man and nature. Though their backgrounds and sensibilities are very different, their similar education and architectural journeys together offer a rich starting point for their work.
Their studio, Shim-Sutcliffe Architects is located in Toronto Canada. The city’s diversity and ethnicity make a vital metropolis reflective of both global and North American sensibilities. The work references both the city and its landscape within the urban core of Toronto and the many particular landscapes around it. The studio works in an intense and probing way sharing ideas through drawings, models and discussions with the numerous remarkable clients who have put their faith in them over the years.
HAB Chair – Designer’s Statement
For design to create transformative environments, it must address multiple scales from furniture to architecture to landscape. Each scale of investigation connects design to issues of materials, craft and production.
While we were working on a northern retreat on the Canadian Shield, we were inspired by everything from the vernacular Muskoka chair to children collecting fireflies in a jar. During this exciting design process, the HAB line was conceived.
The HAB chair rethinks the timeless outdoor lounge chair and creates a modern version that can be used indoors and outdoors. The oversized arms allow you to manage a drink, a newspaper and your laptop at the same time.
Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe, Shim-Sutcliffe Architects
Evolution of the HAB Chair
Image 1. The investigation started with cardboard study models of the HAB chair utilizing a wooden seat and back and metal legs.
Image 2. Prototype for HAB chair in with mahogany seat and back and stainless steel legs. Custom designed chair built in a woodworking studio, Toronto, Canada.
Image 3. Shim-Sutcliffe is invited by Nienkamper to work on a production version of the HAB chair. Nienkamper has been a leading manufacturer of modern furniture in North America since 1968. Shim-Sutcliffe work directly with company owner, Klaus Nienkamper and master craftsman Willy Ewaschuk to develop a production prototype for the HAB chair. The image shows Howard Sutcliffe, Klaus Nienkamper and Willy Ewaschuk (left to right) in the Nienkamper’s Toronto factory reviewing production prototypes.
Image 4. View of prototype plywood moulds in Nienkamper studio. Prototypes of the chair were created using vacuum presses in the Nienkamper factory. Each piece was scrutinized, critiqued and refined. The collaborative process between Shim-Sutcliffe and Nienkamper reflects a desire to design an elegant production chair that shares many affinities with our earlier custom made prototypes.
Image 5. ¾ back view of HAB chair. Designed by Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe. Pictured: Moulded plywood in natural state maple finish with steel base. Dimensions W 35 ¾” X d 31” X H 28 ¾ “. Seat Height 15” x Arm Height 23 ¾”. Manufactured by Nienkamper. www.nienkamper.com
Image 6. Side view of HAB chair. Designed by Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe. Pictured: Moulded plywood in natural state maple finish with steel base. Dimensions W 35 ¾” X d 31” X H 28 ¾ “. Seat Height 15” x Arm Height 23 ¾”. Manufactured by Nienkamper. www.nienkamper.com