GenoHotel

Thonet at the GenoHotel Karlsruhe: Comfort and design for the dining area

The GenoHotel in Karlsruhe is a light-filled space specialising in events, conferences, workshops and celebrations. Located in the peaceful surroundings of Oberwald on the outskirts of the city, it can accommodate up to 370 people and offers a wide range of meeting facilities. Amenities include 153 comfortable rooms, 33 creative meeting rooms, a sauna, a fitness room, a restaurant with a large outdoor terrace, and a bistro bar.

The aim for the hotel’s dining area was to find eye-catching chairs that would offer guests the necessary seating comfort after a long day of conferences or meetings. The restaurant opted for seating from Thonet, selecting 88 units of the model 404 SP and a total of 106 units of the models S 220 SP (without armrests) and S 220 SPF (with armrests).

Designed by Stefan Diez in 2007, the 404 wooden chair range draws on Thonet’s heritage of bentwood furniture, reinterpreting it from aesthetic and technological standpoints. The curved chair legs form a recessed 'knot' beneath the ergonomically shaped seat. Thanks to its generous proportions, the chair does not dictate a specific sitting position. The organically shaped backrest has a comfortable give, in keeping with Michael Thonet’s design philosophy.

To ensure they blended in perfectly with the surroundings, the oak chairs at the GenoHotel were stained using a colour sample. A basalt grey fabric was chosen for the upholstery. This combination of colours makes the chairs appear both understated and striking thanks to their unusual design.

To ensure a consistent look, the S 220 SP and S 220 SPF models were also custom-made to meet GenoHotel’s requirements. The chairs were upholstered in the same basalt-grey fabric and stained in accordance with the specified colour scheme.

Sam Hecht and Kim Colin of Industrial Facility transferred the design language of Thonet’s iconic bentwood chairs to the S 220 model, creating a material-efficient and stackable moulded wood chair. The S 220 features an ergonomic seat shell on a lightweight tubular steel frame, which gently supports the occupant. Maximum use is made of the technical possibilities offered by moulded wood, while the chair’s elegant hourglass shape gives the seat shell just the right amount of flexibility for added comfort. A rounded ‘waterfall edge’ prevents pressure points, enhances seating comfort and echoes the curves of the tubular steel base. The S 220 SPF version features bentwood armrests to complement this comfortable chair.

The new seating blends perfectly into the restaurant area and complements existing Thonet models in the hotel. The seminar rooms already contained chairs from the S 43 range, some of which were reupholstered and repainted in 2023 at Thonet's repair centre in Frankenberg. Rather than replacing them, Thonet chairs can be repaired and refurbished to be fit for use for many more decades, even after years of intensive daily use.