Apple Park Office Chairs Ordered by Jony Ive: British-Designed ‘Pacific’ in Deep-Sea Blue

According to Bloomberg, Apple Park will bypass the classic and symbolic Herman Miller Aeron office chair, but rather go with a British-designed option, as decided by Chief Design Officer Jony Ive.

Vitra pacifica

The chair of choice? It’s called the Pacific, from Swiss furniture company Vitra, but designed by London studio Barber & Osgerby. Of course, the designers are friends of Jony Ive, who placed orders for custom chairs for every single desk in Apple Park:

But the Pacific has already racked up what might be the highest honor any design can receive in 2017: Its first customer was Jony Ive, Apple Inc.’s chief design officer. Ive is friends with Barber and Osgerby; during a social visit soon after they landed the Vitra commission, they sketched their early idea for him. Ive, as it happened, wasn’t finding any chairs he liked for Apple’s new 12,000-person headquarters designed by architect Norman Foster. “He looked, raised an eyebrow, and said, ‘That’s interesting,’?” Osgerby recalls. Ive eventually ordered one for every office desk on campus, each fitted with a custom-made fabric in a serene, deep-sea blue.

Here’s how the designers describe the Pacific Chair from their website:

Development of the Pacific Chair followed the guiding principle “full performance, quiet design” and achieved a harmonious combination of these two characteristics. The individual, high-quality components have a consistent design language, lending the Pacific Chair expressive clarity and precision. Its appearance is strongly defined by the backrest, which extends so far down that no mechanical components are visible from behind, with the exception of the base. With its linear silhouette and understated design, the chair is an ideal addition to any contemporary interior.

Yeah, that sounds like the perfect chair for Jony Ive and Apple Park.

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The Pacific base price is $1,185 USD, all the way up to $3,500 for premium leather versions. Let’s imagine all 12,000 employees need desk chairs at Apple Park—that’s $42 million USD alone on chairs (not taking into consideration a volume discount–not that Apple needs it!).

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