Rachael Bernstone meets the founder of Swedish furniture company OFFECCT, who work with established and emerging designers to create fresh and innovative pieces.
October 13th, 2009
As well as drawing on the rich tradition of Scandinavian design, Swedish company, Offecct aims to imbue its activities with a contemporary green tinge, according to co-founder and managing director, Kurt Tingdal.
“Offecct’s environmental strategy is as important as quality and design, and can be seen in everything from which glue is used at the office to the choice of materials, transportation and logistics,” Tingdal says. ’¨’¨
“Much of the product range has received the Nordic Swan eco-label and the company is ISO 14001 (environmental management) and ISO 9001 (quality) certified. The reason is simple – we want to take responsibility for the future.”
Tingdal founded Offecct with design manager, Anders Englund in 1990, choosing the name as an imaginative concoction of the Swedish word ‘offentlig’ (meaning public) and the English word ‘affect’. The play on words is a succinct representation of the company’s core mission: to affect public space and generate creative meeting places.
From its headquarters in Tibro, a small town in a forest setting with a long history of furniture production and handicraft, Offecct combines Swedish craftsmanship with international innovation, to create intelligent and sustainable design. ’¨’¨The factory and production line sits alongside the head office and showroom, housed in a space that was re-designed by Sweden’s Claesson Koivisto Rune Architects in 2005.
Offecct works with established and emerging designers to produce pieces that represent “the most ecological alternative in all we do”, Tingdal says…
To read the rest of this article click here to download the PDF (2.28MB) of C Magazine Issue #3, or pick up your print copy from the Corporate Culture Showrooms.
Issue #3 of C Magazine includes a profile of Louis Poulsen Lighting, the story of the Corporate Culture Design Journey, Karen Ninness and Jason Hess at the Stockholm Furniture fair and lots more.

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