Launch: New designs in Pebble Collection

May 2, 2011

This month, we are pleased to launch new pieces in the Pebble Seating Collection – as favoured by Virgin Active Health Clubs, Australia. Inspired by worn river stones, Pebble’s many shapes cluster together, forming flexible, changeable group settings for your interior ‘landscape’. The playful shapes of Pebble offer you creative freedom within breakout spaces, meeting areas, libraries, schools, foyers and hotels.

New pieces:

pebble configurations

We invite you to play with Pebble in our showroom.

Extra large custom sizes are also possible, as  installed in the new Rio Tinto Tower Foyer, Brisbane, Qld. Watch this blog for more photos next month.

Leave a comment

Native Collection now certified FSC sustainable

April 21, 2011

Award winning designer furniture makers Schamburg + Alvisse are re-writing a few little rules, showing it’s possible for a small Australian business to create 100% Australian design built on guaranteed sustainability ethics, and community.

In 2008, Schamburg+Alvisse became Australia’s first furniture supplier to achieve Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. Now, the Native Collection of solid timber furniture is also FSC certified – being made from 100% sustainably harvested wood. FSC is arguably the world’s most trusted eco timber certification system, and is endorsed by Greenpeace, the WWF, and the GBCA. FSC is the most respected international timber certification scheme, based in Bonn, Germany (www.fsc.org).

Native are investing in the environment and sustainable logging practices by using only certified FSC timbers.

“Port of Call Table” design Dhiren Bhagwandas

Recognised by those in the know as the world’s most trusted eco timber certification system, FSC is endorsed by Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, the Green Building Council of Australia, and the USA. According to Greenpeace, “Credible certification gives a guarantee that a forest or plantation is ‘well-managed’ and meeting recognised international environmental and social standards.”

“Worker Stool” design Dhiren Bhagwandas

Accreditation means that buyers can have faith in the ‘green’ products they purchase; products can be trusted to be green.

Visit the Native Collection – Solid FSC timber tables & stools.

Leave a comment

S+A meets the highest AFRDI strength tests

April 13, 2011

The Izaak chair is awarded the highest AFRDI Rating – Severe Use (Commercial).

Your Health & Safety considerations are met by our chairs.

Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) considerations are on the rise with corporate and government managers – indicating they are addressing employee comfort, safety, and the long term performance of their furniture.The only way to ensure the compliance of seating to the Australian Standards is to purchase products that are independently tested and certified.

Every one of S+A’s stacking chair designs is independently tested by Furntech: AFRDI (Australasian Furnishing, Research & Development Institute). This reassures your Clients that S+A chairs meet Australian Standards for ‘Fixed Height Seating’, are fit for purpose and meet OH&S considerations for workplace safety.

The engineers at AFRDI rigorously test each product against the Australian Standards for:

Ergonomic Design    •    Stability & Safety    •   Strength & Durability

Schamburg+Alvisse chairs are AFRDI certified at these levels :

  1. Severe Commercial
  2. Heavy Commercial
  3. Commercial

Note: AFRDI* Certification does not relate to fabrics or other upholstery coverings – chairs comply with the standard if the fabrics or coverings used (if any) meet the flammability requirements of AS/NZS 4088.1 and the care labelling requirements of AS/NZS 1957.

For more information on AFRDI tested furniture please go to the Furntech web site: www.furntech.org.au

.

Leave a comment

Queensland Government : S+A an approved supplier

April 12, 2011

Schamburg+Alvisse is approved by the Queensland Government Chief Procurement Office (QGCPO) to supply furniture to Government funded Projects, meeting the strict guidelines of the supply specification, QGCPO-800-09 (PartB).

Of the twenty national suppliers approved, S+A is one of only two NSW furniture suppliers.

If you are working on a Government project in Queensland, you will know that the QGCPO has placed restrictions around the specification of furniture for Government Projects.  This initiative was prompted by a need to increase the safety, performance, quality, and eco-sustainability of furniture used in government sites.

The criteria includes :

  1. AFRDI Rating, to commercial levels
  2. Australian Standard Compliance
  3. Independent Eco-Accreditation
  4. Minimum 7 Year Warranty
  5. Testimonials

S+A will also partner with approved Queensland suppliers to offer a comprehensive product range.

For assistance about the new requirements of QGCPO-800-09 (PartB), and how S+A will assist you in meeting the requirements, please contact Luigi Vignando (S+A Sales Executive).

Email: Luigi@SAfurniture.com.au

Phone:  (02) 9212 7644.

Visit website : Queensland Government Chief Procurement Office (QGCPO)

Leave a comment

Sending out an SOS : Save Our Sofas

April 12, 2011

We all see them on the side of the road – unloved sofas and chairs awaiting the garbage truck (or a creative student household). Often, furniture is discarded when the upholstery wears out, long before its effective life is over. As an environmentally friendly alternative to retiring seating to landfill, Schamburg+Alvisse are sending out an SOS (Save our Sofas).

Our Product Stewardship Program aims to extend the life of your Schamburg+Alvisse furniture through our Recover & Recycling service. Ultimately, this helps you do your bit for the planet by reducing landfill, your carbon footprint, and the unnecessary waste of useful materials.

Schamburg+Alvisse Furniture  is committed to responsible life cycle management , the core principles of product stewardship and extended producer responsibility. As a manufacturer of seating, S+A understands that corporate social and environmental responsibility goes beyond the ‘point of sale’ and warranty periods.

Note: We couldnt find a photo of a discarded sofa we had produced (which is a good thing). However, we will take back any certified S+A seating and recycle them in the following ways:

Refurbishment of purchased certified products for possible reuse by existing customer or on selling/remarketing to new customers.

On selling or donation of certified products in existing condition to other commercial businesses or organisations.

Disassembly of purchased certified products for component and/or materials reuse in new product manufacturing.

Disassembly of certified products for materials recycling by approved operators/recycling companies.

For more information on our Product Stewardship Program, please contact our office on 02 9212 7644

Note: The customer shall bear the full costs of any activity associated with de-installation, collection and removal of products as specified.

Leave a comment

Award Winning Products: Schamburg+Alvisse

December 2, 2010

Pebble Ottoman wins S+A another Design Mark.



Leave a comment

S+A partner brands in World’s top logos, 2010

November 29, 2010

Two Schamburg + Alvisse partners, NATIVE and Food Wine &Design, have been honored in one of the world’s most prestigious book compilations of international logo designs : Los Logos 5

The logos for NATIVE and Food Wine &Design have assisted the brand building and recognition of the new companies in their first 12mths. The logos were both concepted by one8one7 (graphic design).

German publishers, Gestalten scour the international design scene each year for the best logos, offering a definitive overview of up-to-the-minute design, current advancements in logo work,  and the prevailing tendencies in graphics.

Los Logos 5 aims to be an archive of current design and educate designers and clients about which approaches make the best fit for a given project – an issue that is especially important in a challenging economy in which innovation and identity are essential.

Los Logos 5 is Available now through amazon or design book stores.

Congratulations to:

Leave a comment

Food Wine &Design raise $50,000 for children

November 25, 2010

Thank You

to the 200 guests who attended Food Wine &Design’s 2010 Melbourne Cup Celebration at Doltone House, Sydney. The afternoon was full of conviviality, collaboration, and contribution.

Food Wine &Design are proud to announce the combined fundraising  for the Children’s Hospital at Westmead has already generated more than $50,000….

You can still contribute a pledge today by emailing Rebecca Perry: rperry@response-group.com.au  -or- phone Food Wine &Design (02) 8217 4700.

Marc Schamburg is honoured to be the Creative Director of Food Wine &Design. “We are creating a vehicle for the design & construction industry to ‘give back’ though money & services for charitable community projects, particularly disabled and disadvantaged children”.

Proudly supporting:

• St Edmunds School (for intellectually disabled children)
• Shanti Woodend’s Bathroom project
• Wishlist for the Children’s Hospital at Westmead

Founded in 2009 by Rebecca Perry (Reponse-Group Australia), Food Wine and Design has cultivated support within the design and building industry through events and fundraising.

Melbourne Cup Event 2010

The room was energised, culminating with the running of the Melbourne Cup 150th anniversary race. Guests were riveted to the screen as the winning horses crossed the line. The race winners, Marc Schamburg (Schamburg+Alvisse), Joe Taouk (FDC) & Jeff Clarke (Crown Projects), Mark Oleks (Omax) & Louie Taouk (Combined Plumbing) donated their combined race winnings of $14,000 to the total afternoon’s fundraising.

View the full story and gallery at:

Food Wine &Design

Indesign Live (Media Partner)

Leave a comment

Crafty people making the world a better place

October 24, 2010

KNITTY GRITTY & LOOPY is a core group of ‘Gritters’ who meet up regularly to share knitting/weaving skills, working on different art projects as they pop up. Projects include the Knitta Please Project at The National Gallery of Canberra, where the facade of the building was covered in knitting.

Liane Rossler (of Dinosaur Designs) introduces  the group as: “People doing public art & craft projects, knitting & crocheting, weaving & felting… as our way to inspire a better (nicer) world.”

To highlight the possibility and recycling of plastic, the Gritters started making ‘plarn’ (plastic yarn) baskets from plastic bags for the 350 International Day of Climate Action in Sydney. A series of workshops for the public ensued, and people came along to plarn, knit, weave and crochet recycled containers for an exhibition held at The Sydney Opera House .

Young & old, boys & girls, talented & inexperienced were all involved, with all sorts of bits of plastic being used. Thousands of pieces of plastic bags were saved from landfill and the oceans. The result was a wonderful collaboration of individuality and unique talent.

Plans for the future include more public workshops, investigation and promoting awareness of the possibility of recycled materials and continued crafting fun.

You can join Knitty Gritty & Loopy for updates

The Sydney Hyperbolic Crocheted Coral Reef project at The Powerhouse Museum showcased the results of craft by hundreds of people who crocheted pieces of coral to form a gigantic installation.

The project was been described as,

“The higher order mathematics of hyperbolic space was once considered impossible to represent – until it was discovered that coral reefs were already doing the job. This large crocheted installation brings together science, art, philosophy and environment.”

Each year, the City of Sydney commissions a major community-based public art project as part of Art & About. This year, Reef Knot’s ‘I Heart Kings Cross’ project Reef Knot, a major public art event lasting two months with over 25 knitting circles and around 250 contributing knitters the installation went up around Kings Cross at the start of October 2009. The aim was to inspire and promote community diversity and acceptance through collaboratively creating and beautifying public space.

http://knittygrittyandloopy.blogspot.com


Leave a comment

Schamburg+Alvisse Furniture: Rethinking Plastic

September 23, 2010

Prue Rushton from Inside Out looks at how… in the hands of skilled designers and builders, ordinary and everyday materials in our lives can be elevated to pieces of pragmatic and poetic beauty. Among them are Schamburg + Alvisse.

“Being able to make something that’s holistically beautiful is one of my great loves.” Marc Schamburg

The turning point came around seven years ago when an American retail chain made an order for the ‘Stretch’ stool. At the time, this design was made out of a highly polished glass reinforced resin, never intended for mass production. For several days, designer Marc Schamburg and architect Michael Alvisse ruminated over the offer. “After visiting the factory, we realised the impact on the workers of producing something like that out of toxic materials and just the way we felt about the material. It didn’t feel right to go ahead,” says Marc. “We threw away hundreds of thousands of dollars, but we walked out of it feeling like we had made a stand and set a new direction for ourselves.”

Taking the discarded mould of a Original 1950s chair, Marc and Michael reworked and reupholstered this piece, releasing it as the shapely ‘O-50′ chair. At this time, the pair found a new recycling process… that suited the production of the chair.

“A magic moment happened and we thought… we’ll put a recycled design together with recycled materials. And the O-50 chair was born; the ultimate statement in up-cycling.” Marc Schamburg

The outcome was a beautiful mid-century-inspired chair made from recycled plastic that could be separated from its metal legs, which are partially recycled. Since then, they have added the ’O-25′, a new version of the O-50 with no arms. Rounding out the list is the ‘Stretch’ stool, now also made out of recycled plastic…

Some excerpts from Inside Out Magazine (2010 Sep issue)

credit to: Prue Rushton

Leave a comment