Cohda RD4 Chair Full Review
Posted: 09 January 2008 by Adam Vaughan
You've heard of the tea cosy-wearing Mancunian Badly Drawn Boy. Now meet his furniture-shaped northern rival from Gateshead, the Roughly Drawn Chair. As well as producing a unique design for each individual chair, manufacturer and designer Cohda has crafted a gorgeous-looking and extremely eco piece of furniture.
The chair, also known as the RD4, is available in seven colours. We tried out the dark green, although we'd probably pick the bright red one next time -- the dark green hue is a little too similar to garden furniture for our liking.
On the other green front -- eco impact -- we rate the chair positively. It's made entirely from recycled plastic -- high density polyethylene, or milk bottles to the rest of us -- which is good news for lowering landfill and saving energy. Recycling a tonne of plastic saves between one and 1.15 tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to the European Commission. As this chair weighs 8kg, that means you're saving 8kg of CO2, or about 0.072 per cent of the average Brit's carbon footprint. So, as you might've guessed, it's not in the same league of carbon-cutting as stopping flying, but it is reducing landfill, creating a market for recycled products and reducing oil use.
Cohda's creation is also very ethical, as it's made in the UK by an independent designer working solely on recycled products (there are also similarly-styled lampshades in the wings). The UK creation doesn't just mean a decent wage for the producer but, provided you're a Brit shopper, also cuts down on 'furniture miles' -- the carbon emitted to transport it.
We enjoyed our time sitting, perching and mucking around with the RD4. We love the haphazard design and it's quite comfortable -- but not for long periods. After an hour of sitting at a computer on it, we were craving our bog-standard padded office chair. As an occasional chair for a living room, however, it's fine, and the flex of the plastic makes it comfier than it looks and sturdy and hardy too. One thing we weren't so keen on -- though it did make us laugh -- was the way the plastic builds up static. Sitting on the RD4 for five minutes can be a literally hair-raising experience if you put your skin next to it.
There's also the price to stomach, though considering many indie designer chairs sell for three times the amount, it's not as outrageous as an initial IKEA comparison might suggest. The price is also partly explained by the high market price for this type of plastic. Other plastics, such as PET -- plastic water bottles -- cost almost half the price.
We like the RD4, and we reckon you will too. It's stylish, green, solidly built and comfy -- provided you have a sofa nearby for serious lounging.
Quality
Value
Ethics
Green
