Coalesse is a furniture company launched in 2008 as a division of Steelcase. It was a partnership of the companies Brayton, Metro, and Vecta. Coalesse officially launched during NeoCon 2008 in the Merchandise Mart with Frank Merlotti, Jr. as the head of the company. As of June 2008, Coalesse employed over 600 people. In 2012, Steelcase announced that Coalesse would be expanding their business operations in Europe.
Design Studio
Coalesse’s research and design teams were originally based in San Francisco. In 2016, their design team consisted of 7-8 designers working internally along with design partners around the world. In 2018, the design studio was relocated to Munich, Germany.
Some of Coalesse’s design partnerships include:
- Scott Wilson, SW_1 collection
- Cory Grosser, CG-1
- Toan Nguyen, Lagunitas collection
- Brian Kane, Bindu chairs
- Jean-Marie Massaud, Massaud work lounge
- Michael Young, LessThanFive chair
- Patricia Urquiola, Hosu lounge chair
- Emilia Borgthorsdottir, Sebastopol tables
- Designtex
- Arzu Studio Hope
- Sagegreenlife
- Viccarbe
- Carl Hansen & Son
- Emu
Awards
NeoCon Awards for Coalesse
2009
Gold Award
Denzien
2009
Silver Award
Emu Heaven
2010
Enhancements Silver Award
Topo Freestanding Collection
2010
Occasional Innovation Award
SW_1
2011
Gold Award
Sebastopol Table
2012
Silver Award, Innovation Award, Editor's Choice Award
Freestand Table
2013
Gold Award
Lagunitas
2014
Silver Award
LessThanFive
2018
Editor's Choice Award
Designtex + Coalesse Collection
Other Awards
2009
Bronze IDEA Award
Vecta Akira Tables
2009
Good Design Award
Andoo and Holy Day Collections
2010
Designs for Dignity Sustainability Award
2011
Interiors + Sources Readers' Choice Award: Honorable Mention
Sebastopol Table
2012
Interiors + Sources Readers' Choice Award: Honorable Mention
CG_1 Table
2013
Red Dot Design and Gold iF Design Awards
Hosu
2015
Red Dot Design Award
Massaud Work Lounge
2016
Good Design Award
LessThanFive Chair
2017
Gold iF Award
LessThanFive Chair
Timeline
People
Further reading
How is Furniture Designed to Help Work? Read This.
March 2016
What Happens after you Coalesse? The metamorphosis of Brayton, Metro & Vecta
Brad Powell
October 20, 2008
Documentaries, videos and podcasts
Celebrating 10 Years of Coalesse
