Two years in the making, London-based Benjamin Hubert of experience design agency LAYER will launch the AXYL collection for UK furniture brand Allermuir at the 2017 London Design Festival (LDF) next week.

Does the world really need another chair? In an endless and deep sea of chairs, chairs, chairs, this question needs to be asked. But while there may be a surplus of the humble seating apparatus, we as an industry may not have discovered all the possibilities that the typology offers – the new and better ways to solve emerging issues around sitting, sustainability, convenience and so on.

“At LAYER we focus on finding new forms and formats that deliver something visually unique to the market whilst exceeding the necessary functional requirements,” says Hubert. “With the AXYL collection, I believe we have created a stacking chair with a truly new expression embodied in the identifiable inverted ‘Y’ silhouette of the aluminum casting.” Benjamin Hubert – Creative Director, LAYER

Comprising a chair, available with and without arms, a barstool and a cafe table, the AXYL collection by Benjamin Hubert (LAYER) and Allermuir utilises a strong geometric design language that is entirely original yet draws on familiar references, such as the A-frame typology and a Mid-Century Danish wrap-around shell.

AXYL is Hubert’s (and LAYER’s) first collaboration with a British furniture brand, and the intensive project, including high tooling investment, was completed in 2 years from sketch to full production.

At a glance, the new collection of chairs, bar stools and cafe tables by LAYER for Allermuir features a unique inverted ‘Y’ frame made from recycled aluminium, and uses environmentally-friendly materials, including recycled aluminium, recycled wood fibre, reclaimed timber, and recycled nylon.

The collection is part of LAYER’s ongoing commitment to working with companies to lower their impact on the environment. The recycled aluminium in the Y-frame of the chairs uses just 5% of the energy required to create new aluminium and also offers significant cost savings; the chair shells, stool tops and cafe table tops are available in a variety of low-impact materials, including recycled wood fiber, reclaimed timber and recycled nylon, offering an efficient way of re-using waste product from the furniture industry.

Maybe the world doesn’t need more chairs in their current format – but AXYL is new version of the product type – chair 2.0 if you like – where it moves beyond looking pretty and feeling confortable, to use every part of itself to serve a greater purpose outside of what we have come to expect.

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Allermuir is available in Australia from Zenith.