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Innovation in Danish furniture design
But how does one generate innovation in Danish furniture design? Rolf Hay points out:

“When I’m asked what’s new in Danish furniture design, I always say that there is nothing new. The basic furniture items like the table, the chair and the bed have not changed since the 1950’s. But our resources are different now. And our consumption pattern has changed. That’s what’s new.”

Rolf Hay’s interest in furniture design that uses contemporary resources aimed at creating innovative products through new production approaches, technology and materials. This design approach was essential in the company’s successful collaboration with furniture designers Johannes Foersom and Peter Hiort-Lorenzen. The production and design of the ‘Blow’ chair was one of HAY’s commercial successes, and it has received praise from the industry for representing a new innovative approach to Danish furniture design.

The story behind the Blow chair
The inspiration for the production of the Blow chair sprang from the challenges inherent in upholstered furniture. It is costly to produce upholstered furniture in Denmark, as the upholstery is done by hand, and it is a process that is difficult to industrialise. The basic principle in Foersom & Hiort-Lorenzen’s design was a chair that was produced as a ‘bean bag’, only supported by the cover and the upholstery. Therefore, they had to find an alternative production approach, or the chair would be prohibitively costly to manufacture.

The idea for an alternative approach to upholstery came from the car industry. For years, car makers have used a procedure for making car seats where polyurethane is injected into the cover. When the foam sets the chair feels padded, without being too soft or too hard. The end-result is also very durable. The method is based on placing the cover in a mould for mass-production – and that was the next challenge.

The method is not in use in Denmark, so HAY had to find a blacksmith and a factory that would be able to make the mould, and which also had the machinery for the production process.

They managed to find both in Jutland. The blacksmith there cast the mould, which the Blow cover was placed in. The polyurethane was injected into the cover. Then followed the tense waiting time until the foam set, and hopefully, a finished Blow chair would emerge. It did! The last procedure was to sew the many joints together, and the chair was done. The process proved to be more economical in terms of freight costs: It is not nearly as expensive to ship a cover as a heavy chair to be upholstered.

The Blow chair spelled the beginning of a whole range of new innovative furniture designs from HAY, including designer Louise Campbell’s ‘Prince Chair’ and designers Torpe/Kölsch’s ‘MORMOR’ sofa – both have won awards for outstanding design and innovative production.

“HAY has been successful because we have in-depth knowledge of and a passion for furniture design. And because we are not afraid to maintain focus and take our design ideas all the way. This focus promotes dedication and consistency, which in turn promotes knowledge and skills,” says Rolf Hay

Sustainability
To Rolf Hay, design exists on the terms of architecture. He is not the only person to hold this view, but it still marks a crucial difference in comparison with many other furniture makers. Another corporate tenet is that quality and sustainable production are related.

“There is an inherent ideal of sustainability in the very ambition of designing quality furniture. People look after quality things and like to keep them around for many years, and that helps protect the environment in comparison with the many low quality furniture designs you see today, which wind up on the scrap heap after just a few years,” says Rolf Hay.

Another aspect of sustainable furniture design lies in the production process and the choice of materials. HAY uses all the modern production processes and seeks to bring innovation into the industry, as new, sustainable developments require insights into new technology and materials.

HAY's new target group
According to Rolf Hay, HAY’s furniture is in the middle to upper end of the price range. HAY targets a broad customer group, 20-70-year-olds with an interest in design. HAY wants to produce quality furniture for everyone and help make good furniture design more accessible. The company’s philosophy is that a growing number of consumers are going to be interested in design.

“The young people, between 20 and 30, are an interesting target group. When I was 20 years old, for example, I had no idea who Arne Jacobsen was – today’s young people do. It’s a very different target group compared with the 1950’s, when 20-30-year-olds couldn’t afford design furniture and also cared little about it. Today, they are much more knowledgeable and independent as consumers, and they recognise and appreciate quality. Interior design has also become an essential part of our lifestyle, and I think that’s a trend that’s here to stay,” says Rolf Hay.

A passion for design
After completing upper secondary school and his mandatory military service, Rolf Hay wanted the experience of living abroad. He wound up in Hannover, where he worked in a furniture store. Here, he met the Danish furniture agent Peter Biel, who was to have quite an influence on Rolf Hay’s life. Peter Biel had more than 30 years of experience with furniture sales in Germany and a passion for furniture design. Rolf hay soon came to share this passion, and over the following months he devoured Peter Biel’s countless books on furniture design and architecture. This sparked an interest in design and architecture that has remained strong ever since, and Rolf Hay had found the direction of his life.

After his stay in Germany, Rolf Hay returned to Denmark, where he spent the next many years working in practically all the major Danish furniture houses. But it was not until he met Director Troels Holck Povlsen of Bestseller A/S that he really developed the dream of becoming a furniture designer.

“He and I shared the same values, opinions and gut feelings about what is right and what works in furniture design, and we both had a passion for good design,” says Rolf Hay about his meeting with Troels Holck Povlsen. “In our opinion, Danish furniture design had been in stagnation for 10-15 years, and we felt that we could do better than the existing furniture companies. There was plenty of room for innovation and development,” Rolf Hay adds.

With the ambitious vision of helping to bring Danish furniture design back to the level of its golden age in the 1950’s and 60’s through modern innovation, the two decided to combine their efforts, and in November 2004, they founded the furniture company HAY.