JU students design furniture for forest hotel by Gert Wingårdh

Students who recently graduated from the Product Development with Furniture Design programme at the School of Engineering (JTH) at Jönköping University (JU) have designed and built furniture for the Trakt Forest Hotel in Holsbybrunn outside of Vetlanda. The hotel is designed by Gert Wingårdh, famous from the TV show "Husdrömmar", and will be inaugurated on 14 June.

The collaboration began when the owners of Trakt Forest Hotel, Mattias and Sandra Sälleteg, read about the Product Development with Furniture Design programme online and contacted the Programme Director Victor Strandgren. They also visited Träcentrum in Nässjö , home to the programme, and gave feedback to the students in the project during the building process.
“It is such a unique opportunity for us to have Trakt Forest Hotel as a showroom for furniture from our programme. It is a very good exposure area for us, which we can update regularly. I am impressed by the students in the project, who have managed to design furniture that I believe will enhance the hotel guests' experience,” says Victor Strandgren.

Wooden chairs, coffee table and benches

The hotel has five forest suites and the students have designed and manufactured two wooden chairs and a coffee table for each suite. The furniture is placed by the panoramic windows with beautiful views of the forest. In addition, the Product Development with Furniture Design students have provided a bench for every suite.

Viggo Grip and Lina Palmér were two of the students who worked with the furniture. They were inspired by the Småland spindle chairs but wanted more of a lounge feeling, which resulted in a sturdy wicker chair with a proper backrest tilt.

“We tried to emphasize the forest by using only oak and with a hand-planed surface on certain components to get a natural feeling,” says Viggo Grip.

A modern version of the Småland spindlechair

Lina Palmér likens their chair, which is called "Virga" (stick in Latin), to a modern version of the Småland spindlechair.

“It is a solid chair and you should feel the quality and luxury. The furniture has a kind of playfulness about it, at the same time as being elegant and simple in its design. The inclination of the back of the chairs looks excessive, but you sit comfortably and that is the main thing,” says Lina Palmér.

“A great honor”

The students describe the project as incredibly educational and that it has put their knowledge to the test. They think it is fun that the furniture will be used by the hotel guests and see it as a great honor that the furniture will be in rooms designed by Gert Wingårdh.

“He has a fantastic knowledge of design, so it feels absolutely incredible,” says Lina Palmér.