A chair is not something you need only inside the house. You need it out front in the porch, or maybe even outside on long trips and for that purpose, it needs to be portable. The large, space occupying chair is no good. The Ollie Chair looks like the most profound solution. Almost like a magician’s trick, the Ollie transforms from a flat wooden slab into a chair with the pull of a string.
Ollie is an implementation of tambour, a flexible surface made with slats of wood generally to hold a textile canvas. The flexible slatted wood surface along with an articulated aluminum body forms the Ollie. The chair employs origami techniques used for folding thick materials. Pull the string, and the chair flattens into a 2.25-inch thick board of wood. It does not just maximize space for you, but it also makes the transport more cost effective, eventually benefiting the environment.
A chair made of wooden slabs may sound like a formula for a backache, but the incredible design of the Ollie chair makes it ridiculously comfortable. Its comfort has been endorsed by people of all sizes who tried the chair for both short and long intervals of time.
Ollie is a weather resistant piece of furniture made with materials like anodized aluminum, stainless steel fasteners, and solid oiled teak hardwood. The chair has been salt tested, immersion tested and even frozen to make sure it can take the harsh effects of the real external environments.
The super portable chair weighs just 7.25 kg (16 pounds) which makes it fairly easy to carry. It might soon come with shoulder straps so you can carry it over long distances.
You do not necessarily have to bear with the boring wooden look of the chair. The tambour seat attaches with the metal base with slotted hooks at the top, and at the back with ring clips. You can easily change tambours for a better outlook, or to match your furniture. You can choose to use custom graphics, or plain teak fo whatever occasion you have in mind. The company aims to offer more custom versions with different materials that are sold separately, as for now there are only a few custom versions are available.
The Kickstarter campaign for the Ollie has successfully achieved $243,804 against its pledged goal of $80,000. The product is estimated to be shipped to its backers across the US by November this year. The expected retail price is $450 a chair, but the Kickstarter backers will be getting it at 30% off for $300.