TAKT Designs an Eco-Task Chair for Home Offices

Since the pandemic, more and more people have been working from home and many will continue to do so at least some of the time. But there has not been a lot of decent furniture designed for this role, especially for people who care about good design as well as ergonomics and comfort.

Danish "eco-design" company TAKT addresses this niche with the Cross Task Chair. The chair is designed to complement its Cross Table, which was designed to be both a dining table and a work desk because furniture has to do double duty in smaller spaces.

They note: "With working from home now an ongoing reality for many of us at least some of the time, the aesthetic gulf between office furniture and home interiors has become increasingly apparent. Cross Task Chair is TAKT’s response to this shift."

The chair is designed as "a versatile, ergonomic task chair ideally proportioned for compact spaces" by design firm Pearson Lloyd. Tom Lloyd, a co-founder of Pearson Lloyd, says in a press release provided to Treehugger, “The Cross Task Chair has a wonderfully clean and simple appearance. It’s a task chair that can be viewed from all sides—even from under the seat—without disturbing the elegance of its expression.”

There is a lot to love about the chair and the company that makes it. The designated B-Corp describes itself:

"TAKT is the furniture company rethinking the way to design, build and sell furniture for the mutual benefit of people and planet. Launched in Copenhagen in 2019, TAKT aims to reinvent the Scandinavian design tradition for the modern day. Sustainable materials and production methods are at the heart of its mission to provide high-quality design at accessible prices—without having a negative impact on the planet."

The chair is designed as a flatpack that ships in its own little suitcase. TAKT says it can pack three times as much product into the same space, minimizing carbon dioxide emissions from shipping.

It also provides a complete carbon footprint for the chair. I asked who did it and was told: "Usually, it is done via Målbar [an interesting looking calculator] but for Cross Task Chair it has been done by us via self-assessment until Målbar has their new tool up and running since they are currently updating it to follow the EU PEF [Product Environmental Footprint] method. Until they are finished with that they don't make a 'Målbar certification"' but we are using the tool to make a self-assessment."

It is nice to see it all broken down graphically, although I wish they broke it down by the components. I can only assume the carbon storage is in the wood, and the materials with the big 57.2 kilograms of CO2e is the metal base. I asked what the 1.3 kilograms from the use phase could be but did not get a response to that question. They then offset the carbon emissions with Finnish company Puro.Earth, a carbon removal marketplace that looks legit.

TAKT claims it is designed for disassembly. "It is quick and straightforward to assemble, and each component can be easily removed or replaced if needed, thereby extending the chair’s lifespan."

But there is an interesting contradiction on their website, where it notes that "for Cross Task Chair, you should be aware that once you have assembled the gas spring with the star base and you sit on the chair, it is almost impossible to disassemble these two parts afterwards."

So even though it has a 30-day return policy, you can only evaluate the fit and finish. You can't assemble it and then try to return it. This seemed a bit strange, but TAKT tells Treehugger, "It is possible to separate the components, but it is with a strong force—e.g., a hammer or a clamp. Therefore it will leave marks where the components have been assembled and therefore we cannot send it to another customer."

This doesn't sound like a true design for disassembly to me, but this stuff is hard. Still, there's a lot to admire about this kind of company and product.

• It's made with FSC-certified wood and "other controlled material."
• It's designed for the changing world of work, for smaller spaces, for double duty.
• TAKT is a B-Corp, a certification system "measuring a company's entire social and environmental impact."

The company also addresses something we have often complained about, where there are vague, made-up commitments.

"There is too much hot air when it comes to sustainability. We are different. Aiming to clearly explain the efforts we make to help you live sustainably, we believe in transparency and recognised external certification. We strongly believe that transparency and external certification is important for you as a consumer. This is the only way for you to ensure that there is substance behind it all."

And finally, a comment dear to my heart: "We ought to produce, distribute and consume differently—with greater care. ⁠Good design must continue to bring joy and presence." More companies should think like this.

It's not too overpriced at 349 Euros ($367) with free shipping in Europe. More at TAKT.