Keep your seats

Mario Palmisano has been with Züco for 37 years and is head of the sewing workshop. When he cuts out the leather for an office swivel chair, he uses an entire cowhide – but only after carefully checking it for natural markings and flaws before placing the pattern pieces on it. When customers buy a high-end chair, they expect perfection.

Every piece that leaves the premises is the result of a long production chain. Take the DucaRe swivel chair, for instance: it contains components from 14 different suppliers and is made up of more than 100 individual parts. The metal legs, star base, castors, foams, upholstery fabrics, mechanism, wooden core, tiny plastic parts, straps and screws are combined to create a conglomerate of ingredients and materials destined for the sole purpose of providing ultimate comfort. After all, office workers often spend more time at their desk than they do in bed – regardless of whether they’re a CEO or a secretary. “As a small manufacturer, we depend on a well-functioning relationship with our suppliers. Upholstery and leatherworking are our main areas of expertise, so we work with a whole range of specialists. Although we’re still self-sufficient as an enterprise, we benefit from our parent company, the Dauphin HumanDesign Group. We use a shared distribution network, and the pool of potential partners is bigger. But we’re independent all the same: when we award a contract, it’s us that provides the construction plans and tools. And if the quality isn’t right, we’re free to change at any time,” explains managing director Klaus Roth.

New models are created in collaboration with a development company belonging to the Dauphin Group, which uses state-of-the-art technology to define the shape and design of the new furniture. The chair’s “outfit” comes from Züco. It builds the models too – with all the refinements that make a good office chair ergonomic and comfortable. “It’s important to us that we’re the ones who do the finishing and give the furniture its face. After all, many of our 40 employees have been working here for decades. They’re the people who have shaped Züco’s character,” says Roth.

The furniture is only produced to order and configured with the options the customer chooses. Tone-on-tone, perhaps? Or with a contrasting zip? It’s also up to customers to choose which cover fabric or leather they want, along with the colour of the metal and the legs. As for sustainability, Züco stands first and foremost for durability. Which is why its craftsmen regularly overhaul office chairs that have been in use for several decades – thus ensuring the secretary or CEO is sitting just as comfortably when they celebrate their 20th anniversary with the company as they did on their very first day.

ZÜCO: The Rheintal firm was founded by Karl Zünd in 1921 and originally specialised in saddlery. Later his sons took over the upholstered furniture division, invested in the facility and introduced the brand name Züco. Since 1998, Züco has been part of the German Dauphin HumanDesign Group, one of the leading swivel chair manufacturers in Europe. Today Züco continues to make top-quality office seating at its workshops in Rebstein in the Canton of St. Gallen.

Text: Mirjam Rombach
Photos: Christina Dragoi, Architect’s Mind GmbH & Co. (4), René Ruis (2)

Züco Bürositzmöbel AG
Staatsstrasse 77, 9445 Rebstein
Tel. 0041 (0)71 775 87 87
Fax 0041 (0)71 775 87 97
mail@zueco.ch