West Street Chair by Case Case

The West Street Chair is a pared-down design based on a simple cube shape. The result of a challenge that designer Robin Day took on to create a chair with the simplest form, the West Street Chair started life as a personal project. Named after the home Robin and Lucienne Day moved to in 1999, 21 West Street, this modern chair was taken on by Case as a simple desk or occasional chair.

From as early as the 1980s “my father had been working on the idea of an armchair based on the form of a cube” explains Paula Day, daughter of Robin Day. Robin hand-crafted a prototype of the West Street Chair in his workshop in Chelsea. The Financial Times wrote in 2014 “most of the Days’ married life – more than half a century – was spent at their London riverside home on Cheyne Walk, where they worked at back-to-back drawing boards in their ground-floor studio, and where Robin designed in his basement workshop”. Paula explains “for many years my parents used it as their ‘telephone’ chair in the living room at Cheyne Walk, and later in Chichester [at 21 West Street]. I now have it in my own home.”

Robin and Lucienne modelled the interior of 21 West Street, just opposite Chichester cathedral, on a smaller version of their Chelsea home at Cheyne Walk. Robin built a small studio in the courtyard garden, where he finished the design.

The solid wood frame has upholstered leather pads on the seat and back, with the back pad angled slightly for extra comfort.

Materials
– Solid wood frame in oak or walnut
– Upholstered leather seat and back pads

Dimensions
– H 72 / W 52.4 / D 50 cm

Design
– Robin Day