Sharing Joy: A Lounge Chair Redefining Pet-Friendly Furniture

Winner of the Silver A' Furniture Design Award, Zhe Gao's innovative design caters to both pet owners and their furry friends.

Sharing Joy, an award-winning lounge chair designed by Zhe Gao and Youjin Song, redefines pet-friendly furniture by creating a shared space for pets and their owners. Inspired by the posture of sleeping cats, this design combines minimalist style with functionality, resulting in a unique piece of furniture that is both aesthetically pleasing and practical.

The design's unique properties lie in its dual functionality. The lounge chair, with its soft edges and simple geometric shapes, can be used by both the pet and the owner simultaneously without disturbing each other's space. The O-shaped element, a key feature of the design, can transform into a tunnel for cats to pass through or extend to form the chair legs, maintaining the product's concise consistency.

The Sharing Joy lounge chair is made using pipe bending and welding for the main frame, while the cushion part is connected with the main frame through screws after combining the finalized cotton and wood board. The backrest skeleton is molded to meet the need for strength and toughness before being covered with soft bag cloth and connected with the main frame. The platform can be connected with the main frame through screws according to the use requirements.

Measuring 850 mm in width, 920 mm in depth, and 970 mm in height, the Sharing Joy lounge chair is a versatile piece of furniture that can be placed anywhere in the home. When used as shared furniture for pets, the O-shaped tunnel on the back of the seat caters to cats' behavior of liking to get into small spaces. The increased area of the right armrest of the chair forms a cat jumping platform, increasing the chair's attraction for cats.

The design project started in Zhengzhou in March 2021 and was completed in September 2021. The biggest challenge during the research and design process was finding the coordination between the pet products and furniture size to satisfy both the cat and the owner in terms of comfort. Another challenge was adapting pet-shared furniture to the style of the home environment while meeting the basic functions.

Sharing Joy is a testament to the evolving relationship between pets and their owners. The lounge chair, which was awarded Silver in A' Furniture Design Award in 2022, is a remarkable example of how design can cater to the needs of both pets and their owners, creating a shared space that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.