Product development

June 8, 2020
October 25, 2022

The Background of Product Development: How to Make a Wooden Chair #3

A group of challenge addicts “Wow, this should be difficult.” This was the impression our product development team got when they first saw the sketches of the chair. At the same time, the stunningly beautiful design intrigued them. Someone said with enthusiasm, “We can learn a lot from overcoming the difficulties!” The chair, LAPIS, has a conventional Finnish look, designed by a Finnish designer couple, Sirkka and Timo Saarnio. This simple chair is composed of only three parts and is as light as three kilograms, with a backrest of beautiful grains, an ergonomic seating to fit the body line, and sturdy legs to firmly support body weight. The simple but strong structure was feasible by the latest technology (at that time) of wood molding press. Patience for the egos of wood pieces The product development team always struggles with wood warping even now. It was the biggest difficulty in developing […]

June 3, 2020
December 24, 2022

The Background of Product Development: How to Make a Wooden Chair #2

Savior after the collapse of Lehman In 2008, the great financial crisis started from the Wall Street and struck the whole world. Many companies faced business difficulties, and so did CondeHouse. We immediately needed a successful product in order to survive. That was the time when our best-selling chair, the WING Lux, was born (2009). Product changing the character of the Lux collection What if we gather all our technologies to make furniture without any thought of cost? This is the starting point of our Lux collection. The development of the Wing chair had already started as one of the Lux collection products, but the financial crisis drove us to change the concept of the Lux collection itself. Even though how much we improved quality, the market conditions didn’t allow luxury goods any more, at least in Japan at that time. We had to apply all of our technologies to […]

June 1, 2020
December 24, 2022

The Background of Product Development: How to Make a Wooden Chair #1

The long-selling chair was born unexpectedly This is a story about one of our long-selling chairs, of which name is “Golfer.” You will find it in the line from the rear leg to the backrest. The back part of the chair frame looks like a golf club when it’s seen from the side. That is the reason why the chair was named Golfer. Funnily enough, the design of our long-selling chair came from a rough sketch drawn by a new girl in the factory. A new face inspired the veteran craftsman In the very early days of the company, the management always seeked the ideas and designs of new products from the staff members. One day, a rough sketch caught the attention of our founder and reminded him of his training period. When studying furniture manufacturing in Germany, he saw the chair at a furniture shop. It was one of […]