Blueprint Chair: Drawn Like a Plan, Built Like One Too

The Form & Refine Blueprint Chair is a stackable dining chair in solid European oak, designed by Jonas Herman of Herman Studio, identified by a backrest bent from a single piece of steam-bent wood rather than built up from jointed rails. It comes in dining height (45 cm seat) or as the Blueprint Bar Chair 65 (65 cm seat), in natural-oiled, white-oiled or black-stained oak.

One bend, no seams

The chair's defining feature is its backrest: a single piece of solid oak, steam-bent into its curve rather than assembled from separate rails and joints. Form & Refine's own account of the design credits Jonas Herman with wanting to "balance something refined and robust at the same time" — a chair with enough character to read as distinct, while staying stackable and comfortable enough for daily use. The elongated back legs run straight up into that bent backrest without a visible seam, which is what gives the chair its line: from the side it reads as one continuous stroke rather than a seat bolted to a frame.

A seat drawn from the body

Underneath the backrest sits a moulded veneer seat, shaped with the kind of ergonomic curve that's easier to feel than to describe — it supports the sitter without the visual bulk of a padded or heavily contoured seat pan. Paired with the slim, strong oak legs, the combination is meant to look lighter than it structurally is: solid timber legs doing the load-bearing work, a thin seat doing the sitting work. The dining chair stands 76.5 cm overall, 49 cm wide and 48.5 cm deep, and weighs 5.1 kg — light enough to carry with one hand, which matters for a chair built to stack.

Built in Bosnia, to a Danish brief

Form & Refine was founded in Denmark in 2018 by Helle Herman Mortensen, Jonas Herman Pedersen and Lasse Lund Lauridsen, on a stated preference for pure, natural materials sourced and worked close to their origin. The Blueprint Chair is manufactured in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in FSC-certified European oak, and finished with natural oil rather than a sprayed lacquer — consistent with the house's broader material discipline of visible grain and traceable timber over uniform, factory-flat surfaces. Every chair meets the EN 16139 furniture-safety standard and carries a five-year warranty.

Two heights, one logic

Form & Refine builds the same chair to two seat heights rather than designing a separate bar stool from scratch. The Blueprint Bar Chair 65 shares the oak, the steam-bent backrest and the moulded seat of the dining version; only the leg length and overall proportions change, rising to 97 cm overall on a 65 cm seat and a net weight of 7 kg. It's the same argument the house makes with its Shoemaker Chair stools carried under the Werner name — one well-resolved form, scaled rather than reinvented, so a kitchen island and a dining table can share the same chair language without matching furniture sets.

Objena carries the Blueprint Chair at AUD 810 and the Blueprint Bar Chair 65 at AUD 1,060, both indicative import-parity pricing pending confirmed AU freight. For the wider case on how Form & Refine chooses its materials and makers, read our house chapter on Form & Refine.

Three questions

What is the Form & Refine Blueprint Chair made from? Solid FSC-certified European oak with a moulded veneer seat, finished in natural oil (white-oiled and black-stained versions also exist). The chair weighs 5.1 kg and is built to the EN 16139 furniture standard, backed by a five-year warranty.

Who designed the Blueprint Chair and what was the brief? Jonas Herman of Herman Studio, Form & Refine's in-house design partner. Herman has described the aim as balancing something "refined and robust at the same time" — a chair with a distinct silhouette that still stacks, seats comfortably and suits most rooms.

What is the difference between the Blueprint Chair and the Blueprint Bar Chair 65? Construction and material are identical — same oak, same steam-bent backrest, same veneer seat. The Bar Chair 65 is simply built to a 65 cm seat height (97 cm overall) for counters and islands, against the dining chair's 45 cm seat height (76.5 cm overall).