Design led childcare company New Shoots, approached Think - Shift to design a product that provides children a comforting sense of enclosure in their childcare centres; a chair that serves as a space for children to get away from the noise and busyness of their surrounding environment. The chair was required to be aesthetically on brand, safe, comfortable, user friendly for children and carers alike, extremely hard wearing and be produced in New Zealand with natural materials and a sustainable approach.

设计领导的托儿公司新芽，走近思考

The Hideaway Chair is a bent ply wood and upholstered children’s chair, with an encompassing spherical shell made up of four swooping semi circular sections. Hideaway’s spherical form provides enclosure, for visual and audio privacy, as well as an invitation for children to sit in which ever fashion makes them feel most relaxed. The Chair is uncommonly low to the ground, suggesting to children that its for them, not for adults. Gaps between each bent ply section allow dirt to fall through and each upholstered panel is fixed to the chair using clips that allow them to be easily removed for cleaning or replacement. Additionally, the chair can be broken down to fit into a small box for more efficient and sustainable shipping.

折叠式椅子是一种弯曲的胶木和软垫儿童椅子，有一个包覆球壳由四个倾斜的半圆部分组成。隐蔽处的球形形式提供了围护，为视觉和音频的隐私，以及邀请孩子们坐在那里，让他们感到最放松。椅子不寻常地低到地面，向孩子们建议，这是给他们的，而不是给成年人的。每个弯曲的铺层段之间的间隙允许污物通过，每个软垫面板被固定在椅子上，使用夹子，使它们容易被移除，以便清洗或更换。此外，椅子可以分解，以适应一个小盒子，更有效率和可持续的航运。

Aesthetically the chair needed to fit the New Shoots ‘high design’ brand but also appeal to children over anyone else. The chair’s curving front profile gives it the visual softness required, while its faceted side profile makes it feel contemporary and unique. As well as looking clearly natural and high quality, all materials used are extremely hard wearing to survive the harshness of a childcare environment.

在美学上，这把椅子需要符合新芽的高设计品牌，但也对儿童比其他任何人都有吸引力。椅子的弯曲前轮廓给它所需的视觉柔软，而它的面侧面轮廓使它感觉现代和独特。除了看上去很自然和高质量外，所有使用的材料都很难穿着，才能在恶劣的儿童保育环境中生存下来。

To design this product, we had to disregard everything we knew about ergonomics. In early stage research, we discovered evidence which backed up our intuition that children do not sit the same way adults do. We noted that, when given the opportunity, children in the centres sit upside-down, side-ways, curled up in a ball, with their friends, by themselves, with a blanket, on their knees, on their backs… Just about every way they can sit, other than the up-right, straight-backed position that adult chairs force them into. We therefore concluded that the design required was not a scaled down version of a ‘comforting’ adult’s chair, but a whole new approach to ergonomics and a feeling of comfort. Hideaway Chair is being used in New Shoots childcare facilities around New Zealand and is being developed for internal distribution in the near future. The Hideaway Chair prototype was manufactured by Starex

为了设计这个产品，我们不得不无视我们对人体工程学所知道的一切。在早期的研究中，我们发现了支持我们直觉的证据，即孩子们不像成年人那样坐着。我们注意到，当有机会的时候，中心里的孩子们会倒坐着，侧身，蜷缩在一个球里，和他们的朋友们一起，独自一人，拿着毯子，跪在地上，背着…。他们可以坐的每一种方式，除了成人椅子强迫他们进入的朝右、直背的姿势之外。因此，我们得出的结论是，所需的设计不是一种缩小版的“舒适”成人椅子，而是一种全新的人体工程学方法和舒适感。新西兰各地的“新芽”托儿设施正在使用隐蔽椅，并在不久的将来为内部分发而开发。副座椅原型是由Starex公司制造的。