Joachim Froment’s 0.6 Chair is a compact manifesto: a dining/café chair that pushes laminated wood to the edge of its structural capability by using a veneer + carbon-fibre sandwich and a two-part press mould. The project asks a simple question — how little material can you use and still make a robust, stackable chair — then answers it with an elegant mix of material science, craft and manufacturing thinking.
Product at a glance — what makes 0.6 special
0.6 is notable for three headline attributes: extreme thinness (the structural shell is engineered to be around 0.6 cm thick), very low weight (targeting under 2 kg), and a manufacturing method that sandwiches ultra-thin wood veneer with a carbon-fibre layer and forms the result in a two-part mould. The result reads visually as a nearly paper-thin shell that nevertheless performs for daily seating.
Designer mindset — scarcity, longevity and craft
Froment approached the project from an ecological and poetic stance: material scarcity is made visible rather than hidden. Instead of hiding production complexity behind brute volumes, he framed minimal material use as an ethical and aesthetic choice — a chair that makes the viewer aware of how precious timber is while offering a long-lasting object. The concept treats restraint as a design value: lightness equals respect for resources, and robustness equals design intelligence.
From idea to method — the development journey
0.6 began as an exercise in material limits and then became a pragmatic engineering challenge. The development path typically followed these stages:
Research & constraints: define performance targets (thickness < 6 mm, weight < 2 kg) and identify candidate materials and reinforcement strategies. Material experiments: test veneer layups and carbon-fibre placement to find a reliable sandwich geometry that resists bending and localized stress. Tooling concept: design a two-part press mould that can produce the seamless shell with controlled fibre orientation and veneer consolidation. Prototype iterations: build multiple prototype shells to validate stiffness, seat comfort and join behaviour under load. Testing & refinements: perform load cycles, stackability checks and finish trials to ensure the chair is not only striking but serviceable in café and residential contexts. This loop—sketch → material experiment → mould development → prototype → testing—turned a provocative idea into a buildable product.
Material logic — veneer + carbon fibre sandwich
The clever bit lies in the composite strategy. Ultra-thin wood veneer gives the chair a warm, tactile surface and visual continuity with timber furniture traditions. Carbon fibre gives the shell tensile strength and resistance to bending, allowing the overall thickness to be dramatically reduced. Laminating these together and forming them in a single press lets the design exploit wood’s aesthetics while relying on modern reinforcement where structure is critical. The approach intentionally minimises wood consumption while preserving the sensory qualities that make timber appealing.
Prototyping and engineering details
Turning the laminate idea into a reliable chair required careful control of several variables:
Adhesive systems: glue choice affects long-term durability and the composite’s fatigue life.
Fibre orientation: carbon layers must be oriented to resist expected bending moments without adding unnecessary stiffness in other directions.
Mould design & press parameters: a two-part mould must control springback and ensure consistent thickness.
Edge detailing & stacking geometry: thin shells can be sharp or brittle at edges; rounding and edge reinforcement preserve comfort and durability while enabling stackability.
The prototyping stage included full-scale tests and cyclic loading to ensure the chair behaved predictably in real use.
Sustainability — less material, longer life
0.6 frames sustainability in two linked ways. First, it deliberately reduces the quantity of wood required per seat, addressing resource pressure at the material level. Second, the design aims for longevity — lightweight but robust seating that resists early failure reduces churn and waste over time. The composite approach does require careful end-of-life planning (separation or recycling of mixed materials is harder than single-material components), but the overall strategy prioritises material efficiency and a long useful life.
Awards and recognition — early acclaim and the Rado Star Prize
0.6 won prominent recognition early in its life: the concept was selected as the winner of the inaugural Rado Star Prize UK at designjunction (2017), an accolade that highlighted its combination of design clarity and material innovation. The award brought public attention, editorial coverage and validation that accelerated conversations with manufacturers and galleries.
Where 0.6 performs — contexts and use cases
Because of its thin shell and minimalist footprint, 0.6 is particularly suited to:
Cafés and bistro seating where lightweight, stackable chairs simplify service and storage;
Modern dining interiors that value a sculptural, timber aesthetic without visual bulk;
Design exhibitions and galleries where the chair’s material story is a central talking point.
Specifiers should consider finish options and the implications of composite materials for outdoor use and long-term maintenance.
Manufacturing and commercialization considerations
Taking the 0.6 from prototype to product requires thoughtful industrial partnerships. Key commercialization topics include:
Tooling investment: precision press moulds and composite layup tooling are up-front costs that must be amortised over reasonable production runs.
Quality control: controlling veneer thickness, adhesive cure and carbon layup consistency is critical to avoid variability in stiffness and safety margins.
Service & warranty planning: because the chair uses advanced composites, clear guidance on care and allowable loads reduces warranty issues and buyer uncertainty.
Designs of this type are attractive to boutique manufacturers willing to invest in novel tooling or to contract producers who already work with composites and veneer processes.
Design lessons — what teams can learn from 0.6
1. Define an ethical constraint: designing to “use less” is both a creative brief and a sustainability strategy.
2. Marry craft with composites: combine traditional materials (veneer) with modern reinforcements (carbon) to leverage the best of both worlds.
3. Prototype at scale: thin shells reveal ergonomic and failure modes only when full-size models exist.
4. Plan manufacturing early: the feasibility of radical forms often hinges on realistic tooling and QC strategies.
5. Tell the material story: juries, buyers and editors respond to transparent narratives about why a material choice was made
draft a one-page technical spec (materials, dimensions, recommended finishes, prototyping notes) you can attach to a product page.
Which would be most useful?
