Sharing is caring: DAUPHIN

Shared joy is joy doubled. Modern life no longer requires the possession of countless status symbols and seeming necessities. These days, whether it’s bicycles or cars, apartments or food in restaurants (prior to corona, at least), almost anything can be shared. This is a trend that’s not only sustainable, it‘s one that is quickly spreading in different areas of our lives, in many different societies.

Even at work, the principle of ‘mine and yours’ no longer applies. Desk-sharing is as common as moving from sitting to standing desks, from office to open-office. Designer Jessica Engelhardt, part of the Dauphin design team, also works in a modern, dynamic, open-plan office – one which affords her the ability to withdraw into quieter creative spaces when necessary, as well as to take advantage of communication zones for exchanging ideas with colleagues.

So, hers was the right team to put in charge of designing an office chair which would be universally applicable and user-friendly, which would meet the highest ergonomic requirements, as well as the environmental guidelines set out by the EMAS advisory board, and which could be used by multiple different people without each individual having to make countless manual adjustments to adapt the chair to their own personal needs.

‘When you think of the design, think of a VW Golf’, Dauphin's managing director Dr. Jochen Ihring told Engelhardt before they set out on this creative journey. ‘This is a car which, somehow, everyone likes. It can be found everywhere – in every city and in all walks of life’. And indeed, she managed to put this advice into practice. The Stilo ES, is not the most imposing, but is still very present – combining stylish design and functionality.

Whether in a co-working space or in a call centre, in public areas or even in the home office, the Stilo ES makes an impression. Its modular principle allows customers to specify every detail individually, which in turn enables the company to bring prices down by producing components in large quantities.

Dauphin ensures the highest quality of materials and construction as usual, while at the same time offering a reasonably-priced model with a wide range of options – for example, different upholstery finishes for the height-adjustable backrest, a choice of armrests, Ergo headrest, the self-adjusting Syncro-Smart automatic system for adjusting to body weight, and individual balance technology.

Another advantage of the Stilo ES model is the antibacterial Silvertex® cover in combination with the MicroSilver BG™ technology, used for protection against infection. This was already being utilised in Dauphin's industrial lines long before the corona pandemic: in laboratories, food-production facilities and other areas with strict hygiene requirements. Now, it is becoming an infection-preventing standard.

In its more than 50 years of company history, Dauphin, with its spirit of innovation, has proved time and again how modern research can be translated into chair design. Dauphin has stood for ergonomics, design and ecology from the very beginning. With more than 85 patent applications and around 150 approved design patents, the family company from Offenhausen has grown into a multinational corporation over the last five decades.

The founder, Friedrich-Wilhelm Dauphin, who is now over 80 years old, still shapes the company. The enormous commitment he showed in 1968 to increase German sales of English brand Evertaut’s office chairs despite the moderate forecasts, as well as the courage to use this success as a basis for developing his own models, have served as powerful inspiration ever since. Visionary decisions and a passion for new things are core values in Dauphin’s company culture.

So, it’s no coincidence that the Stilo ES was born in the ‘valley of chairs’ – as the Offenhausen production facility was christened by industry insiders. It is the contemporary answer to the challenges of today's working world. As the holder of the renowned AGR seal of approval, it promotes healthy sitting and, as a versatile office chair with a clear design, it fits in with the diverse Dauphin range.

Incidentally, Engelhardt is also something of a Dauphin creation. When she started working in Offenhausen in 2011, the ink had hardly yet dried on her product design diploma from the Coburg University of Applied Sciences, from where she graduated in 2010. For her, there are no working methods which are incontrovertibly fixed, and the synthesis of creative work and intensive interdisciplinary cooperation – just a matter of course.

For Engelhardt, then, to paraphrase the old saying: Shared work is success doubled.

© Architonic