Drü

Active meetings wherever the conversation begins
  • Date
    March 2020
  • Location
    Lausanne
  • Context
    Écal BA Industrial Design
  • Role
    Object Design
    Prototype Build
  • Professor
    Luc Bergeron
The goal of the project: Design a tabouret, French for stool, with only flat materials. Cardboard sheets, wood boards or metal sheets. The creative challenge is to create a three-dimensional object with flat material pieces. How can you achieve stability and comfort? The result is Drü. A small stool for the office. Or wherever people want to get together to discuss. It’s higher than a normal chair which keeps you active and maybe even motivates you to use that whiteboard. It offers three different seating positions. It loves being nearby at the ready when a spontaneous meeting happens.

In my experience in working in offices discussions often start on the fly around the workspace, not in the meeting room. I wanted to design a stool that’s there when you need it.

Three different postures. Half leaning, half sitting againts the rounded seat edge. The other way around one foot on the side on the floor, one foot resting on the subtle footrest. The third one is with both feet on the footrest.

Integrated in the seat surface is a cut out handle for one-handed mobility. Leaving your other hand free for a notebook.

When one foot is on the footrest your thigh is straight, which creates a convenient note taking or laptop surface.

A 1:1 wood mockup helped me test stability, comfort, proportions, weight, use cases. I then updated the shape based on actual experience.

When you’re sitting with your feet on the footrest, your thighs are straight, meaning the curved seat is not needed.

The proportions changed quite a bit from the first mockup to the final prototype. The slanted footrest turned out to be much more comfortable.

This three panel construction is the origin of the design.

The stool is built from two bent pieces of wood. They are bent by bending and glueing thin sheets of wood together. Assembled with dowels or biscuit joints.

Due to the covid pandemic the workshop wasn't available, so I had to get creative at home with a 1:6 prototype.

Drü is a portable wooden stool for the office. For active meetings wherever the conversation begins.

Thanks for checking out my work.