Jonas Stokke

Ada

LK Hjelle wanted to develop their first dining chair, and they approached me for the task. The family-owned producer is located in an industrial cluster that contains world-class competence in furniture production. In the municipality of Sykkylven, you will find woodwork, steel, upholstery, and even packaging produced within a 30 km radius. The result is a hyper-local product of the highest quality.

Foam model of Ada chair by Jonas Stokke. Seated on a blue toolbox, as a mockup to test height. Foam model of Ada chair by Jonas Stokke. Seated on a blue toolbox, as a mockup to test height.
Mock-up testing meetingpoint of different bases and the foam
photo of Ada chair with card sheet for testingphoto of Ada chair with card sheet for testing

Ada is a designed as a platform, to be able to scale up and down in complexity and comfort according to need. From a simple stackable conference chair to an executive C-level piece.

The chair has a universal interface between base, seat, back and loop armrests.

Separate, interchangeable parts mean efficient production, easy repair and maintenance, and simple disassembly at the end of life.


high back leather office chari Ada by Jonas Stokke and Hjelle. Open loop armrests in aluminiumhigh back leather office chari Ada by Jonas Stokke and Hjelle. Open loop armrests in aluminium
Ada Chair designed by Jonas Stokke for LK Hjelle, close upAda Chair designed by Jonas Stokke for LK Hjelle, close up
Ada chair designed by Jonas Stokke, next to dining tableAda chair designed by Jonas Stokke, next to dining table

Ada might be petite, but it is important that it still offers solid lumbar support. You should be comfortable, also over a long dinner party for example.

Even though the chair was designed for a domestic setting we were tapped by interior designers who were looking for this type of chair for offices. We started to investigate what a taller back or an open armrest might look like. In the end we ended up making three different seats, five different backs, and several bases, resulting in dozens of potential variations.

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