Introducing Cycle – made of 70% recycled aluminium

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. There is a fair amount of rigor and skill required to create a locally made product at this kind of price point,’ admits Adam Goodrum.

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.’