Index
Side profile of the Waffle Chair in a room, showcasing its ergonomic curve and plywood construction.
Design

Waffle Chair

Creating complex ergonomic curves from flat plywood using digital fabrication.

Daniel Voshart ·

…most comfortable chair in my 10 years as a visiting critic.

Tom Deacon, a designer for Keilhauer

Designed for a furniture course at the University of Toronto.

Nesting diagram for the Waffle Chair CNC parts, sheet 1Nesting diagram for the Waffle Chair CNC parts, sheet 2
The CNC nesting diagrams for milling the chair components from standard plywood sheets.

For the seat and back, nearly 100 thin 1/8” ribs were laser-cut. For the structural 5/8” frame, a CNC router was used to carve the stronger, thicker components. This combination of techniques creates a surface that is both flexible and supportive.

The numbered ribs were precisely slotted together by hand.
Thin plywood ribs slotted together by hand, forming the chair.