Hemp and Seaweed Combine to Create Sustainable Shell Chair

The plastic shell chair is iconic and ubiquitous, used at countless cafes and restaurants throughout the world. The simple form and ergonomic shape makes it practical and inexpensive to produce.

But what if you could keep the form but replace the plastic entirely, using sustainable materials? That’s the idea behind the Mat Chair, developed over a number of years by Foersom & Hiort-Lorenzen and produced by Norman Copenhagen.

With a variety of chair versions made from hemp or hemp + eelgrass, a type of seaweed, it’s clear that the materials have made a giant leap to be formed into strong, versatile furniture.

Both hemp and seaweed are easy to grow and absorb a lot of carbon. Neither require pesticides or fertilizers to grow, and have unique properties that make them good for forming into shapes for furniture.

Hemp fibers are processed and combined with a fully recyclable binder, and then pressed into a chair form. The familiar shape makes the chair approachable and familiar, even though it’s using entirely new materials.

“With innovation and circularity at its core, Mat is an exploration of how to create a contemporary shell chair with materials that have a lower environmental impact than the industry norm.

Designed by Danish design studio Foersom & Hiort-Lorenzen, this new chair design is the result of years of research and development. The shell of the Mat Chair is innovatively crafted using hemp and eelgrass, a type of seaweed. The materials constitute the very essence of the design.

Not only do the materials provide a more responsible product, they also play a key role in the aesthetic of the design, highlighting the natural beauty and tactility of the materials.”

-Normann Copenhagen