Designed by Keiji Takeuchi
At first, Lotti seems so simple. But look again: the stout oversized legs, the curved waterfall seat, the magical floating backrest. Suddenly its clever, considered, playful personality comes into focus. Zoom in and there’s a sustainability story to discover: a circular design that puts material intelligence and longevity first. Now dunk it in colour. Refine it with wood. Express your creativity and make it yours – it’s time for you to cast your creative spell.
When we design, we spend a lot of time paring back – refining, removing, concealing, until the things that aren’t there become as important to the character of the piece as the things that are. With Lotti, you don’t see the fasteners that attach the seat. You don’t see the fixings that secure the backrest – which floats, as if suspended in air. What you see is what’s left, not what’s added. There’s a pleasing mystery to that – a kind of magic.
Sustainability in Lotti is rooted in considered decisions about materials, construction and longevity – choices that quietly reduce impact over the life of the chair. Designed for high‑use environments, its most sustainable quality is simple: it’s built to keep going for a very long time – whether through its inherent strength and quality or the ease of disassembly.
Every fixing in Lotti is removable and can be accessed without specialist tools. There’s no glue locking components together, so it can be fully disassembled, serviced and returned to use without fuss, stress or friction.
Sustainable thinking extends into materiality and engineering. The plastic contains recycled content and the plywood components are finished with a water‑based lacquer. The steel frame has been carefully refined, reducing wall thickness to remove unnecessary material without compromising strength.
We used our product scorecard during the design process to calculate the environmental impact of different solutions. It helped us weigh our choices, challenging us at every stage to seek better outcomes. The result is a chair whose sustainability value is practical not performative.
Keiji Takeuchi is a multi-disciplinary designer from Japan, now based in Milan. Whether creating a coffee grinder, café chair or a walking stick, he prioritises simplicity, function and feeling, always designing with people in mind. As he puts it, “Fundamentally, design is really about care.”
We spent hours refining Lotti by millimetres and degrees to make sure it’s comfortable for all kinds of people. The seat has a gentle waterfall edge at the front, designed to avoid pressure behind the legs. A subtle dish to the seat holds you in place, even when leaning forward. And the sculpted backrest supports the body without creating unpleasant hotspots. People don’t associate café chairs with comfort – Lotti is out to change minds.
NOLOT10N
Lotti Chair
w440 d500 h760
seat 445 (mm)
weight 6.4 kg
w17.5 d19.5 h30
seat 17.5 (in)
weight 14.1 lb
Solid Oak
Polypropylene
Light Pink
RAL 3015
Traffic Red
RAL 3020
Traffic Orange
RAL 2009
Broom Yellow
RAL 1032
Moss Green
RAL 6005
Leaf Green
RAL6002
Pale Green
RAL 6021
Pastel Blue
RAL 5024
Dark Blue
RAL 5001
Steel Blue
RAL 5011
Black Grey
RAL 7021
Jet Black
RAL 9005
Stone Grey
RAL 7030
Silver
RAL 9006
Oyster
RAL 1013
Signal White
RAL 9003
Broom Yellow
RAL 1032
Traffic Red
RAL 3020
Steel Blue
RAL 5011
Moss Green
RAL 6005
Pastel Blue
RAL 5024
Pale Green
RAL 6021
Oyster
RAL 1013
Black Grey
RAL 7021
Stone Grey
RAL 7030
Signal White
RAL 9003
The Lotti Chair is available in a range of finishes but for the purpose of this document we have a specific example from the range: Lotti Chair with plywood seat and backrest.
All figures use UK-based industrial manufacturing data. The kg CO2e calculations are based on the cradle-to-gate phases of a Life Cycle Assessment at NaughtOne’s factory in Elland, UK.
A NaughtOne design isn’t just an expression of our creativity – it’s a canvas for expressing your creativity. Which is why Lotti, like all NaughtOne products, can be specified in a near endless array of finishes.
Make a statement with bright colour pops or blend in with cool neutrals.
