As a leading global furniture maker, Haworth partners with customers, dealers, and influencers to create spaces that result in effective people and efficient real estate. We continue to look ahead as we have for the past 75+ years, while staying true to our values. Our customer-first approach comes from our entrepreneurial spirit, design-forward thinking, and global, multicultural perspectives.
In the mid-1990s, Haworth explored new design possibilities in light of the expanding role of technology. An internal think tank of workplace scientists, designers, ergonomists, and analysts were charged with developing forward-thinking products—like Crossings, an early mobile furniture system—and more speculative concepts—such as Flo and Mind’Space, two workstation prototypes premised on the groundbreaking idea of “cognitive ergonomics.” In 2001, the Museum of Modern Art included Mind’Space in its Workspheres exhibition. These products set the stage for today’s workplace knowledge like Affordances and today’s products like Compose Echo.
Always with a mindset ahead of the present, Dick Haworth and his company were the first to recognize in the mid 1970s the demands office electronics would place on office interiors. He and a team of like-minded colleagues put together the world’s first modular pre-wired panel—with heart, passion, and ideas from the local hardware store. It shifted the office interiors paradigm forever and became the single most successful—and imitated—systems product on the planet.
To create a next-generation task chair, Haworth turned its focus from seating to sitting—putting the person at the center. Haworth Design Studio collaborated with ITO Design to bring Fern® to life by employing a process that merges hands-on craftsmanship with advanced technology. From the beginning, the design vision was “embedded intelligence”—you could see and feel how the chair worked without being overtly mechanical. Its natural architecture is as familiar as the fern in nature, which was the inspiration: simple in appearance but complex in design, engineering, and advanced materials. Fern sets a new benchmark for comfort and provides unparalleled support to its users.
Learn about Haworth’s history, our approach to workplace design, our company values, and more.
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Haworth is the founding brand of the Haworth Group, a portfolio of commercial interiors and lifestyle brands. See our brands that work with commercial clients.