Grado Contract

Grado partners independent designers and teams on furnishings around the globe. Grado have been working on producing furniture and decor products delivering humanistic care for workspace, educational space, clinical space, hospitality, art exhibition and other settings. From a designing studio for office furniture to a current design brand of commercial furnishings, Grado Contract has been taking more adventures, composing new chapters, adding more flexibility, more sensitivity, more versatility, and more creativity to build up inspiring spaces.

Our Stories

Working as an interiors and furniture designer for years, Alex CHAI finally decided to found his own brand, “Grado”, in 2014 as a manifesto of his understandings of people, product and space. “Grado” the Italian word means “degree” of temperature, angle and extent, which points the way for our ergonomic furnishing design. Alex hopes that Grado the furniture brand conveys his spatial philosophy of “Make Furniture Invisible in the Space.” It’s not difficult to make a dramatically catchy design solely for such an experienced designer as Alex. However, what he has been pursuing and seeking is voluntary simplicity, timeless silhouette, durable use and high comfort. Inspired by our trend study, we make our conversational furniture design naturally empower the space. Grado Contract is honest to make furniture design with timeless aesthetics, durable use, physical comfort, as well as psychological comfort.

About Design

We care about how people feel about what they see, what they touch, and what they hear in the space -- like looking at a fresh yet not loud color palette eases one’s mind; a smooth fabric cover with nap gives one warmth to the touch and to one’s heart; sound-absorbing screen system reduces the noise. We care about how people feel when they are using the furniture in the space. We know deeply why rich upholstery of an armchair offers an embracing, sink-into seating comfort, as well as a sense of security.

“Make Furniture Invisible in the Space”

We care about how furnishing products seat into the space, even become ‘invisible’ in the space. Visually speaking, our designs are never made to be loud or distracting. We adore minimalist silhouette and fresh color palette that offer a natural and tranquil look. Functionally, all the purposeful details allow our pieces to seat into one’s daily routines no matter in the workspace or in any hospitality. “Invisible” Grado products work to add easiness, minus bustle and hustle.

Trend Study

We are sensitive observers.

From co-working to hybrid work, from managers' expectations on enhancing collaboration and teamwork, to employees' personalized privacy needs in the workplace, we have been observing every single change happening in people’s workspace needs. From the product dominant logic to the service dominant logic, from the demand for extreme comforts to the pursuit of a new style, we are agile enough to catch any fashions and trends. We are always sensitive to take inspiration from cutting-edge trends and continuous changes in space needs accordingly. Grado Contract believes that sensitivity is both a prerequisite for insight and a virtue of design.

Mission

Grado Contract makes built-to-last modern design considering the connection among people, product and space. Meanwhile, trend study helps us follow people’s continuously changing needs and expectations. We gain experience from Contract projects as an exploration of how products optimize the space. We communicate with our clients to investigate people’s practical needs in the space. We pay attention to people’s feelings when they’re using a piece in the space. Having been trying our best, we make accessible good design that enhances product, its user and space as a whole.

Vision

Our further steps will be offering products and space solutions that settle problems for people and extend more humanistic care to people.
Through empowering the workspace, our products would make both employers and employees in the co-working office feel freer, more inspired and more productive. Through empowering the educational space, purposeful details of our design would boost more sorts of interaction and satisfy various spatial expectations for studying. Through empowering the healthcare space, we could offer an environment where clinical staff, patients and their families are all taken good care both physically and psychologically. Through empowering the hospitality space, we will be capable of offering customized solutions to support any branding or marketing strategies of the business.
Grado Contract aims to be a brand that understands social responsibility and put it into practice. When we select timber for a sofa, when we offer help to a young lady’s career, when we develop a product made from recycled materials... Every detail of the furniture industry is relevant to the health of this planet. It's rather easy to promote the brand with slogans like "environmental protection" and "gender equality", but Grado Contract wants to really start with every detail in our business. Maybe there will be a day when Grado’s space solutions are not only for a specific area, but for the globe.

Creative Collaboration

We believe in “Design” as a connection between “Us”, men who love, and “Them”, objects of unknown desires. Grado has been cooperating with independent designers and designer teams globally and built our own R&D team. Only after multi-dimensional pondering and examination can we eventually create time-honored quality designs. Our international designer team spares no efforts to make their extraordinary ideas come true, meeting various spatial needs.

Artisanship

Furniture design is a marvelous ballroom where so many loving pairs are dancing -- pencil and paper, metal and upholstery, artisan and machine, product and package. While Grado is the host who invites them to come and makes sure that all of them fully realize their potentials and enjoy the romantic time. Our handpicked artisans are always ready to deliver their works to those who have enthusiasm towards life. We define a “timeless design” as eternal beauty and built-to-last durability, as well as consideration on human and nature. Grado insists on using environmentally friendly materials, clean manufacturing, and sustainability. We make expressive design to show our attitudes. We produce each piece with the assumption that it will get plenty of use. Artisanship makes quality. Artisanship makes long-termism.

Sustainability and Long-Termism

We have witnessed the climate crisis remains one of the greatest challenges globally and is playing an increasingly crucial role in new developments in the furniture industry. As a socially responsible brand, Grado has been adopting cradle-to-cradle principle as the decisive step towards embedding sustainability into our Contract collection.
Our collection is committed to sustainability and has been certified accordingly -- our use of responsibly sourced FSC® certified wood, dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world’s forests; and OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certified materials, made from 100% post-consumer recycled polyester.

Grado upholds our philosophy of long-termism. Furniture deserves to be one’s life-long companion since furniture industry is such a slow fashion. Whether an idea or a sketch, whether a piece of fabric or foam, whether an office chair or a sofa group: Grado insists on the cradle-to-cradle principle through applying sustainable materials and keeps on polishing all the details for time-tested durability. We define Grado’s long-termism as sustainability as well as quality.

Awards

Grado values every single one of our original designs. Our design works have been recognized by 30+ major design awards including German Red Dot Awards, German Iconic Awards, and Italy A’Design Awards. Grado supports furniture designers to transform their intangible inspiration into real pieces, and triggers enthusiasm for life on other minds through which.

Partnership

Forward-looking brands from around the world partner with us to architect space solutions with humanistic care for empowering their business.