September 12, 2018

Recliner Boosts Design Company

The Dominion Post, 17th February 2014

A Wellington company’s office chair design was worth nearly $60 million in the United States last year.

But it is taking its work from the office to the lounge, as it eyes new designs in the “traditional and established” recliner market.

Lower-Hutt based Formway Design Studio, originally established in 1956 as Petone Engineering, launches its first domestic furniture product in March.

The recliner, called Re-vive, was the result of about three years’ research and design and a move away from the company’s traditional office furniture products.

Co-general manager Kent Parker said high-end household chairs tended to be “design savvy” but not very functional, while the other end of the market was traditional and established.

“So we started to look at the opportunity of delivering a high-performance, high-aesthetic recliner for the market.