Founded in 1948 by G. W. Haworth, Haworth has organically grown to become a global leader in the contract furnishing business. From humble beginnings crafting wood furniture in a mid-western town on the shores of Lake Michigan, the company today is a dynamic force that partners with clients and designers to present innovative product and design solutions that help to redefine the way in which we work and live.
Haworth’s offering is myriad, with a unique selection of task chairs, workstations, tables, desks, lounge furniture, storage solutions, partitions, collaborative products and a range of lighting and acoustic solutions for every project. With ranges that can be specified for the workplace, education, aged care, hospitality and home office sectors, Haworth delivers product that can meet a brief perfectly, delivering quality and style with assurance and passion.
While HAWORTH designs and manufactures its own products, the iconic brands of Cassina, cappellini, Poltrona Frau, Janus et Cie and BLUESCAPE are an integral part of the company’s portfolio. These iconic brands are further complemented by a curated selection of industry leading furniture companies including, Boss Design, Framery, Pablo Designs, GAN, IQ Commercial and BuzziSpace, all of which form the HAWORTH Collection.
HAWORTH boasts an astounding array of products from more than 120 individual designers and there is a plethora of choice in style, facility and utility. Many of the best architects and product innovators from around the world contribute to HAWORTH’s unique collections and this includes such luminaries as Barber Osgerby, David Trubridge, Erwan Bouroullec, Foster + Partner, Gehry Partners, Herzog & De Meuron, Jean-Marie Massaud, Marcel Wanders, Nendo, Piero Lissoni, Snøhetta and Tom Dixon. Of special note is the relationship HAWORTH has with Patricia Urquiola, who designs exclusively for HAWORTH.
However HAWORTH is not just about products, of course they are fabulous, however there is a much bigger picture to consider. HAWORTH realises that to value add is to ensure relevance in an every-changing world, and with more than 70 years of experience, the company intends to be the dominant supplier for the next 70. To further enhance the well being and nurturing of workers careful space planning is imperative and HAWORTH is at the forefront of helping designers create successful and visionary workplaces.
To this end, the creation of ‘Ideation’ was conceived. Ideation is a process that supports strategic thinking and actually encourages and facilitates collaboration with clients. It begins with helping them to fully understand their work space and how it operates, then data is analysed and finally assessed with the help of Co-Designer, the first AI-based parametric tool in the industry that helps discover better ways of utilising space, products and ways of working in situ. With the help of Co-Designer, HAWORTH and its client can collaborate to establish how best to utilise and inhabit a workplace and achieve a superior working environment.
As well as the HAWORTH tools for understanding a work space there are also the ideas of wellness, nurturing and Biophillic Design, the connection between nature and the built environment. Realising the importance of light and air, natural materials and colours plays an essential role in creating the ideal workplace and HAWORTH embraces and utilises these concepts to help augment the rigour of a working life.
There are other initiatives from HAWORTH that sets the company apart from its peers and this is to again value add to products in multiple ways. Not only does HAWORTH offer those in the commercial realm the opportunity to finance their new workplace products through a partnership with Macquarie Bank but it is working on Second Life, a process that re-purposes and distributes used products.
With its impeccable design heritage, HAWORTH has the ability and credentials to embrace the future. Through its Organic Workspace perspective, challenges in this ‘new normal’ are addressed through innovation and creativity as we return to work(place). HAWORTH aims to make our environments a better place for all to inhabit with a total package of product and planning that takes the company into another realm.
