International design house, JAB Anstoetz, is well known for its widespread presence in the residential textile and upholstery market, yet its furniture brand, BW Bielefelder Werkstätten, should not be overlooked. Furniture News’ Gemma Ralph visited the company’s headquarters in Bielefeld, Germany, to find out more about the brand, a diverse product portfolio coming soon to the UK …
Established in 1956 by textile entrepreneur Heinz Anstoetz, BW shares in the rich, family-oriented backdrop of the JAB Anstoetz group, which started life as a wholesale company for decoration and fabrics a decade earlier.
The tenets of the brand – which will be presented in the UK under the JAB Furniture title – have remained decidedly unchanged since its inception, in so far as the craftsmanship and individual attention applied to each and every piece are considered paramount.
Indeed, while visiting JAB’s headquarters, factories and Bielefeld showroom, the message the team was most keen to impart was one of absolute dedication to perfecting its manufacturing processes, regardless of the time-consuming nature of the work involved.
From harmonising fabrics, to hand-stitching custom-sewn materials, each of JAB Furniture’s products reflects the skill and passion of its craftsmen and women, and it is this human element – a strong undercurrent throughout JAB Anstoetz as a whole – that really sets the brand and its products apart.
JAB Furniture’s products are finely tuned to the needs and lifestyles of its customers; its made-to-order production service opening up a great deal of potential for those wishing to create even the most specific aesthetic. Within this product portfolio, three core collections are geared towards varying spatial zones and functions, yet each encompasses a broad scope of styles.
Developed in collaboration with several renowned designers, the Residence collection offers a distinctly contemporary take on traditional shapes and dimensions. From the Inspiration range – featuring striking cubist elements refashioned to provide a graceful aesthetic – to the elegant curved lines of the Leona/ Leon range, the Residence collection caters for homes and interior decors of any design era.
The Loft collection, in turn, centres around our idiosyncratic sitting habits – negating standardised templates to create highly versatile furniture that can be moulded to suit personal preference. The Spirit range, for example, features vertical armrests with distinctive 45° partitions that can be converted into a footrest. Alternatively, the Rotula design provides a clever sleep/relaxation function, whereby the armrests can simply be folded down to create a reclining couch.
Finally, the tailor-made collection goes one step further to embracing individual living habits and preferences. With an array of shapes, sizes, covers, feet and special features available, customers can customise their own model to the very last detail.
Just as the scope for personalisation within JAB Furniture’s product offering is intended to create furniture of enduring value – designed to be passed down from generation to generation – JAB Furniture invests a great deal in training and nurturing its staff. Of the company’s 120 employees, a significant proportion have trained and qualified with JAB – a scheme that has not only created a highly proficent workforce, but that has significantly boosted employment in the areas surrounding Bielefeld.
With these firm foundations in Bielefeld, combined with the inspirational ethos and global outreach of the JAB Anstoetz group, JAB Furniture’s imminent expansion into the UK is set to be an important development.
