Contract Furniture Design Consultancies?

Hi All! Does anyone know which (if any) design consultancies have a strong expertise in contract furniture design? Ideally East Coast. Thank you!

I know a lot of individuals who do contract furniture design. Sometimes they have interns or assistant designers. I haven’t heard of any firms that specialize in it. It is an interesting business, largely royalty based, so I imagine keeping overhead low is probably important.

Thanks for the response! When I say contract furniture I mean furniture that is designed in high volume for commercial installation. For instance offices, hospitals, schools, etc. I know Birsel + Seck has done some office furniture in the past and I’m sure there are many others.

I understand and that is what I am referring to as well.

I work in that world. One firm that comes to mind for me that specializes in it is IDa.

I think Kem Studio and Observatory also do a lot there.

http://www.observatorydesign.com

Thank you! This is super helpful.

Just some off the top of my head…

Kane Design Studio - SF

Barber Osgerby - London

Studio Weber and Associates - Minneapolis

MASH studios - LA - design / manufacturer /collaborator more project based on the Interior level

FuseProject - SF

Eoos - Austria

Shibuleru - SF has office in NY

Studio B - NY

http://www.davidcoleridgeryan.com

Great guy, used to teach at Illinois, not sure what he’s up to these days.

Funny, I went to U of Illinois and worked at Steelcase and have never even heard of this guy, but very familiar with A LOT of the work on his site!
Thanks for sharing!

a couple of friends of mine who do a lot of contract furniture work:

Speaking of U of Illinois alumni, how about Ron Swanson? :laughing:

Populous is another firm I would throw into this list. Mainly an architecture and design firm, they also have a product design studio that works with large contract furniture manufacturers.

Q Design (Chicago) does good work. Kane Studio (Brian Kane) is another we’ve worked that’s easy to get along with. I know or have worked with many.

yeah, Nick gets / gives back to campus from time to time too