In time for the clamour for terrace seating and the general shift of living from indoor to out, Tom Dixon is launching his first fully fledged outdoor furniture collection
Groove is a set of dining chairs, stools and tables, distinguished by a simple, elegant silhouette, soft colour palette and textural detail in the form of curvy corrugation. It’s a distinctive design in durable aluminium, which still somehow possesses the timeless allure we have come to expect from the British designer and his eponymous brand.
Previously it was a category Dixon allowed to sit low down on the priority list, when outdoor living was more of a seasonal concern. The turbo boost that the pandemic gave to all-weather living under the stars, however, rocketed it to the top. “More and more our interior design division was having to specify outdoor furniture, so it made sense,” says the designer.
In fact, Dixon had been dabbling in the design of outdoor furniture for some time – in metal and cork notably – but by his own admission, the results of these forays were either uncomfortable, ugly or uncommercial. Dixon typically likes to jump into new waters with both feet, and take risks in pushing boundaries, whether it’s in the name of sustainability, efficiency or straight up innovation. But he will also be transparent when something doesn’t quite work. Groove consolidates the lessons learnt from past experimentation to make a viable and accessible design for outdoors.
The most obvious springboard for the eventual design is Hydro, an experimental chair designed a few years ago in collaboration with the Norwegian aluminium manufacturers of the same name, and showcased at Dixon’s 20th anniversary exhibition in 2022. Hydro specialises in low-carbon extruded aluminium made with renewable energy, and the joint project resulted in a chair that was light in weight, stackable and gained both its strength and style from corrugation. “I don’t like applied decoration much but I do like when you can highlight the structure in a decorative way,” says Dixon. “Hydro had this quality, which I often try and imbue my designs with – you can’t really tell when it’s from. It could easily be an art deco chair. It could be a postmodern chair from the 1980s. Or a future tech chair. I’m not trying to do a style here, I’m just trying to use corrugation in the most rational, simplistic way.”
Hydro had some comfort and stability issues, and, as it turned out, would have to be retailed at £2,000 to make it feasible. “It’s relatively easy to do extraordinary things for outdoors, but it’s relatively difficult to get them at the right price. People assume that outdoors should be cheap, but it’s got to be harder wearing, as well as lighter and stackable,” says the designer. To solve the problems Hydro presented and develop Groove, Dixon refined the ridges for increased comfort while retaining rigidity in the aluminium, and separated the seat structure from its supporting frame for increased stability and durability.
The clarity and adaptability of the corrugated motif and the purity of form mean that the collection can easily and cohesively grow with demand – new pieces are already on the drawing board. In addition to Groove, which comes in the soft shades Moss and Putty, the team have brought chargeable mobile versions of the brand’s lighting into play too – the Melt light has been developed that can be charged to last 10 hours and can either sit on a tripod or be hung from a tree or post (strap provided).
Images courtesy of Tom Dixon
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