Hiroi Chair: A wide and compact wooden chair designed for spatial harmony
The Hiroi Chair by Sam Hecht and Kim Colin reflects a balance between material integrity and spatial awareness. Designed under the studio Industrial Facility, the chair communicates a calm presence through its proportions and construction.
The chair is produced by the socially oriented company Ishinomaki Laboratory using locally sourced Japanese Cypress, known as Noto Hiba, valued for its subtle fragrance and natural resistance to humidity. The piece respects the inherent dimensions of the timber, allowing the material’s quality to guide its final form.
Its geometry follows a logic of reassurance and compactness. The chair is wider than it is deep, presenting a visual and physical steadiness. By placing the centre of gravity closer to the front, Hecht and Colin ensure a stable experience without excess structure.
The form’s simplicity allows it to adapt to smaller interiors, providing comfort within limited spatial arrangements. A single curved steel tube defines the back support, its open-ended gesture offering both visual lightness and an intuitive resting point for the arms.
Every detail of the Hiroi Chair demonstrates an economy of means. The wood’s natural surface is left honest, expressing the tactile quality of Noto Hiba while maintaining a quiet precision in its assembly.
The choice of steel introduces a material counterpoint that reinforces durability without dominating the composition. Each element fulfills a clear function, maintaining coherence between design intention and user experience.
Hiroi Chair aligns with Industrial Facility’s long-standing philosophy of creating beauty through utility. Since 2002, Hecht and Colin have built a practice recognized for thoughtful design grounded in everyday realities.
Their work with international clients such as Herman Miller, Muji, Mattiazzi, Wästberg, &Tradition, and Santa & Cole illustrates their consistent attention to clarity and human use. Their methodology connects industrial logic with a humane sensibility, making objects that are accessible, rational, and quietly refined.
As Royal Designers for Industry, their projects reside in the permanent collections of leading museums, including MoMA in New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Helsinki Design Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The Hiroi Chair continues this lineage, presenting a reflection on how proportion, material honesty, and spatial restraint can coexist in a single form. Its compact stance and open structure respond to contemporary living, where comfort and efficiency share equal value.
Through the precision of its design, the chair becomes an expression of measured calm—an object that holds its place without demand, offering presence through purpose.
All images courtesy of Ishinomaki Laboratory, shared with permission
