Introducing Cycle Designed by Adam Goodrum for Tait



Cycle is our first lightweight, stackable chair, made of 70% recycled aluminium.

Light, versatile and endlessly recyclable – aluminium is the remarkable material celebrated in the Cycle chair and barstool. Its unique characteristics enable the chair’s freeform frame to be processed efficiently on an advanced tube-bending machine – providing a vital, yet rare, cost-effective alternative to imported products.

Cycle is the result of designer Adam Goodrum and Tait Design Studio’s explorations into material efficiency, delivering a contemporary, commercial and streamlined aesthetic. Easier to carry, lift, stack, move and transport (equalling fewer carbon miles), Cycle’s minimal frame is elegantly stabilised with custom glides.

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and to us at Tait, developing a quality, local stacking chair alternative to imported products was an important brief to explore. Taking this challenge as a starting point, we worked with designer Adam Goodrum to embark on a series of material and form explorations that eventually resulted in the Cycle chair and barstool.

‘It was a challenge designing a commercial chair that competes with an imported chair, made in places where labour rates are a lot lower than Australia,’ admits Adam. ‘There is a fair amount of rigor and skill required to create a locally made product at this kind of price point.’

Aluminium, a new material exploration for us (with most of our metalwork being in heavier-weight mild and stainless steel), was a beacon of potential in the discovery phase. ‘We tried different materials to determine which would suit the manufacturing processes and meet the cost budget,’ explains Gordon Tait, our Founding Director and sheet metal craftsman. ‘We decided on aluminium for its workability and its lightweight properties. Using a single material also allows us to weld the entire chair in one process.’

Using the one material – 70% minimum recycled aluminium – the chair’s cost-effectiveness was embedded within each design and manufacturing decision we made. As well as enabling cost-effectiveness – and complementing popular architectural finishes, such as cement, brick and local timber – the recyclable qualities of aluminium also align with our sustainability criteria. Whilst the impact of large-scale industrial mining is complex, aluminium for the minimal Cycle contains at least 70% recycled material, and is endlessly recyclable.

‘The lightweight and stackable design will be cheaper to freight, equalling fewer carbon miles,’ explains our Creative Director Susan Tait, who spearheads our sustainability agenda. ‘The product can also be repaired and recoated as required – and can be 100% recycled at the end of its life.’

Whilst aluminium ticked many critical boxes, it required a significant investment of time and energy in the learning curve – as well as a physical investment to import an advanced tube-bending machine from Japan. This tube bender is now at home in our factory in Thomastown, adding to our growing suite of metal-crafting machines and capabilities.

 

Published 29 May 2024
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