Before Alumni’s inception, Brothers and Sons was in search of an alternative for the Woody chair. With initial drawings produced two years ago based on the Woody chair’s design, Alumni has now been produced into an autonomic collection. A vital step for the company in the design process was to research the production possibilities of aluminium as a primary material. And, after substantial investigations, the Alumni Alpha was the first successful design. From the outset, Brothers and Sons designed the Alpha chair with its intention for the lifestyle market, but today the company sees Alpha admirably inhabiting a high-end store or a designer’s showroom.
Clean, slick designs
Brothers and Sons’ aluminium concept came into play when the company wanted to incorporate an arm rest into its original Woody chair-inspired design, however the team hit a brick wall when it came to the wooden construction and were in search of another solution.
Shortly after this setback, Jasper Broeders, Owner of Brothers and Sons, announced his profound interest in producing a bucket seat from aluminium. Jasper wanted to develop a chair that would resemble the clean, slick lines of modern computers, such as those found on Apple’s products. With a design based on the focus of the material, the design process took flight with the sharp shape of the Woody the first step to designing a faceted bucket seat, as opposed to a round seat, which was a logic choice when using aluminium as a prime material.
Brothers and Sons wanted to eliminate the idea of its first Alumni chair being ‘the next plastic bucket seat’ and decided to break the standards with ‘real’ materials that anticipate a sense of touch.
It was a challenging road for Brothers and Sons to find the right production method for the Alumni collection. However, after testing several techniques, Brothers and Sons found a way to create the perfect design.
The final Alpha execution arose after deciding the bucket seat would not fit the original Woody underframe – it would have been too big and out of scale. During development, Brothers and Sons created the folded legs in the same aluminium material, which was a perfect fit and the Alumni Alpha was born.
Sporting a different look
After designing the Alpha, Brothers and Sons created four further bases. Today, the Alumni series provides clients with different looks and endless options of coatings and upholstery to make each chair suitable for a multitude of interior projects.
All Alumni models within the collection have no reference to one other, making each piece truly unique. There are five various models within the collection with a wide range of colours, coatings and upholstery.
From the beginning, Brothers and Sons was convinced the Alpha should be able to have an upholstery option. Firstly, due to user comfort, but also for a warm aesthetic and feel to suit clients’ preferences with an abundance of fabric and colour options.
Brothers and Sons wanted the linear shape of the bucket seat to keep its true character. It was important for the company to keep the inside and the outside separate, which is why Brothers and Sons prevented the fabric from folding over the edge of the chair, resulting in clear, crisp outlines as Jasper specified from the outset.
As a company, Brothers and Sons lays its focus on the high-end sector of the interior design world, with a blink towards the residential sector. For the future, the company believes that a home will easily be transferred into an office environment and vice versa, which is why the company introduced the Alumni Task to this innovative collection.
The collection
Designed for offices and meeting rooms, the Alumni Task is a simple, practical design. The chair’s height alignment has been specially developed for this piece, alongside the custom-made base which fits perfectly with the seat itself. Although a practical design, this piece still, as with the rest of the collection, makes a statement.
Another addition to the collection is the Alumni Wood, which the company describes as “a true valuable addition to the series”. This model fits particularly well within the hospitality sector and can even make a unique inclusion within the residential sector. The material contrast between the aluminium and an organic, warm material like wood results in its own character and stands out.
Sledge frames are proving popular within today’s furniture industry, so Brothers and Sons wanted to participate in this supply and demand. Regularly, a standard sledge frame is connected to a seat, but as the company designs every base separately, the sledge frame was designed specially for the Alumni seat, following the chair’s linear shape.
More feminine and less robust than the Alpha is the Alumni Grace. The name speaks for itself, the Alumni Grace is a graceful, light design. This particular model was designed for high-end restaurant, club and hotel sectors.
When designing this collection, Brothers and Sons found it vitally important to offer an entire collection to suit various areas of the industry. Which is why the company is currently in the development process for an Alumni bar stool to add to the collection, with a concept for the future of designing a lower and wider armchair addition.