HORNBACH WERKSTÜCK - The Green Hidaway char - Designed by Front, Built by you (2023)

Finding a moment of calm and connecting with nature in a hectic and increasingly digitised world is becoming harder and harder, so European DIY chain HORNBACH has come to the rescue with the ‘Green Hideaway’ - the latest iteration in its WERKSTÜCK series, which aims to make high-end design accessible and more affordable. Based on the classic Swedish chair known as the pinnstol, the ‘Green Hideaway’ is more than a standout piece of self-build furniture that reflects the essence of 2023 - it’s a natural antidote to the pressures of urban life. A slice of woodland within the concrete jungle.

Featuring a natural wooden frame entwined with trailing greenery, the living chair taps into the millennial interiors trend for houseplants, taking it from decorative to a fully immersive, stress-busting experience. The concept was brought together by HORNBACH, its creative agency HeimatTBWA\, and visionary Swedish design duo Front/, known for their clean, Scandinavian design aesthetic that’s heavily inspired by nature. Despite being a designer piece, the ‘Green Hideaway’ can be constructed entirely from materials available in HORNBACH stores, allowing anyone to recreate it with the help of a template and instructions.

The idea behind the HORNBACH WERKSTÜCK series is to democratise great design through self-build designer objects. For just the price of the materials and a day or two of your time - plus a dash of passion for DIY - standout original pieces can become affordable luxuries.

This latest WERKSTÜCK edition, Front/’s ‘Green Hideaway’ is more than a design classic. The chair offers a green retreat within four walls, compensating for the lack of nature in people’s increasingly artificial environments and the impact of the last few years, which saw many homes turned into offices. It allows everyone to experience the great outdoors, even from a concrete high-rise. Blurring the lines between inside and out, ‘Green Hideaway’ is designed to evolve over time as the wood ages and the plants grow, like having a small corner of the forest in your living room or home office.

As well as its aesthetic appeal, ‘Green Hideaway’ offers some undeniable health benefits. A study by Cardiff University found that houseplants not only improve air quality by filtering out CO2, but can also increase productivity and concentration - invaluable for home workers struggling to maintain their work-life balance.

Thomas Schnaitmann, Director of Brand International for HORNBACH says:

“In these turbulent times it feels exactly right to offer a solution to help integrate nature - with its proven calming effect - into people’s daily lives.”

Front/ co-founder Anna Lindgren adds: “In Sweden nature is so much part of our lives, it’s like the forest is our second living room. But the modern world pulls people away from contact with nature. The ‘Green Hideaway’ is our antidote to this. It’s something that lives and evolves over time.”

Guido Heffels, leading creative for HORNBACH, says: “The idea behind the WERKSTÜCK series is to democratise great design. It’s an inspired idea - and one that we’re proud to be part of for five years now and counting. But more than that, in 2023 we think it’s very interesting to use design as a tool to improve people’s daily lives. In this case we’ve created a never-been-seen- before designer chair that’s really in tune with our modern age. And most importantly - you can’t buy it, you have to build it.”

With WERKSTÜCK Edition, HORNBACH is demonstrating its understanding of the value and relevance of high-end design. The campaign offers the possibility to build the chair yourself, with the aid of illustrated step-by-step instructions, a template and a materials and tools list. Aimed at both classic DIY enthusiasts and design-savvy lovers of fine craft, this model is pitched at a level that’s challenging enough to inspire, while still being achievable for non-professionals. All the materials required to make the ‘Green Hideaway’ are available globally in all HORNBACH stores.

The international WERKSTÜCK campaign launches first in Sweden, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, before rolling out in other countries. It will run both online and on TV, accompanied by a short film documentary, print ads and the DIY magazine.

About Front/:
The Front/ design studio led by Anna Lindgren and Sofia Lagerkvist works for a wide range of international clients and is represented at MoMAin New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and Centre Pompidou Paris, among others. Their work has an increasingly strong focus on materials and elements from nature.