32 For many years now, we have had a servicing and customer service department that refurbishes and repairs Girsberger chairs, if they have become worn or faulty after years of use. Over time, the number of orders grew and we received more and more enquiries about worn chairs from other manufacturers. That gave rise to the separate business unit called “ Girsberger Remanufacturing”. The range of services it offers has grown steadily over the years and now includes the following: • Refurbishing and repairing Girsberger chairs and tables • Repairing chairs and tables made by other manufacturers • Refurbishing furniture from public buildings (concert halls, old people’s homes, restaurants, hotels, churches, etc.) • Adding new functions and features to existing furniture (new upholstery, flame-retardant treatments, better acoustic properties etc.) • Upcycling existing office furniture to meet new usage requirements (old office furniture is turned into new products, for example, in the context of “ new work”) The purpose of all these measures is the same: to preserve existing furniture and avoid the need to buy new items. In this way we are putting the circular economy into practice and preserving precious resources. Here are a few real-life examples: At Schweizerische Post AG, numerous Girsberger swivel chairs and visitor seats were refurbished in situ during 2023, without interfering with work processes at all. New gas springs were fitted, sliders and upholstery were either cleaned or in some cases completely replaced. Schweizerische Post saved money, because refurbishing the chairs was considerably cheaper than buying new ones. It also counted towards Schweizerische Post’s own sustainability efforts and targets. Another example is the Brauweiler Abbey cultural centre in Germany. There they had over 490 Fritz Hansen chairs, the 3107 model, the covers of which had become extremely threadbare after years of use. This is a chair design classic from the 1950s, designed by Arne Jacobsen. To throw away the chairs would have been a shame, and buying 490 new chairs would have cost a lot of money. So, we reupholstered all 490 chairs and fitted them with stacking buffers to protect the covers better in future. The Café Boy restaurant in Zurich was furnished with 85 old wooden chairs. After many decades of use, they were worn and tatty. When the restaurant was undergoing a complete renovation, it was decided that the chairs should not be replaced but refurbished, to maintain the authenticity of the interior. The old varnish was removed by careful sand-blasting. After that, the chairs were repaired and sanded down by hand. Then they were stained in two colours and revarnished, to return them to their original condition. Ecology Remanufacturing und upcycling of existing furniture Mathias Seiler Head of Design and Marketing, Girsberger Holding AG
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