Bernhardt Design
Bernhardt Design is the contract division of Bernhardt Furniture Company, the largest family-owned furniture company in the United States, headquartered in Lenoir, North Carolina. Bernhardt Furniture Company was founded in 1889 by John Mathias Bernhardt — an orphan who began as a logger at age 13, worked his way up to sawmill owner, built his own railroad for timber transport and constructed a 20-mile log flume acknowledged as the longest ever built in America. Bernhardt recognised the opportunity to use his own timber for furniture production, acquired a veneer mill, lumber yard and numerous kilns, and thereby established in Lenoir the craft foundation on which the company still stands. Today Bernhardt Furniture Company is led in its fourth generation by Alex Bernhardt Jr. as President and CEO; the company operates 12 production facilities with 1,500 employees in western North Carolina and offices in four Asian countries with 50 additional staff. An upholstery division introduced in 1958 extended the range beyond wood furniture. In 1981 (in some sources 1983) Bernhardt Design was established as an independent division for the contract market — oriented towards architects, interior designers and project planners in the office, hotel and public spaces segments.
The decisive turning point for Bernhardt Design came in 1985 when Anne Bernhardt, the division's first President, commissioned renowned brand specialist Michael Vanderbyl to reinvent the company's entire image. Vanderbyl created a showroom concept and graphic vocabulary that propelled Bernhardt Design into a leadership position within the American contract furniture industry. In 1989 Anne Bernhardt founded sister brand Bernhardt Textiles, specialising in upholstery fabrics. Under President and Creative Director Jerry Helling — who led the company for over 30 years — Bernhardt Design positioned itself as an international design company with an extraordinary network of designers. The first international key design of this era: Ross Lovegrove's Go chair (1998) — magnesium cast, organically formed, instantly iconic. The resulting designer portfolio includes: Ross Lovegrove (London), Arik Levy (Paris), Jaime Hayon (Valencia), Luca Nichetto (Venice), Ini Archibong (Neuchâtel), Patrick Jouin (Paris), Fabien Baron (New York), Monica Förster (Stockholm), CuldeSac (Valencia), Claudio Bellini (Milan), Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance (Paris), Yves Béhar (San Francisco), Charles Pollock (New York), Farg & Blanche (Stockholm) and others. In 2009 Bernhardt Hospitality was added as a third division for furniture in the travel and leisure sector.
Sustainability: Bernhardt Design is one of the first furniture companies to have achieved level® certification from BIFMA (Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association) — a multi-attribute standard assessing the environmental aspects of products, processes and production facilities. Most products additionally hold SCS Indoor Advantage™ certification. Emerging talent promotion: Bernhardt Design founded and annually sponsors an interdisciplinary course at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena; sponsors ICFF Studio (an emerging designer programme at ICFF New York); initiated Tools at Schools with Aruliden and The School at Columbia University (a design curriculum for 8th-grade students); established the American Design Honor Award in 2010; supports the Contempo programme in El Salvador and America Made Me for young American design talent. Bernhardt Design is a founding member of Be Original Americas, an industry initiative to protect original design.
For architects and contract planners, Bernhardt Design is the most unusual American address in the contemporary contract furniture segment — a North Carolina family business from the 19th century that has transformed itself into an international design publisher: with a designer portfolio that unites London, Paris, Valencia, Venice and Stockholm under one roof, and an institutional commitment to emerging design talent that has no parallel in the American furniture industry.
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Bernhardt Design
Bernhardt Design is the contract division of Bernhardt Furniture Company, the largest family-owned furniture company in the United States, headquartered in Lenoir, North Carolina. Bernhardt Furniture Company was founded in 1889 by John Mathias Bernhardt — an orphan who began as a logger at age 13, worked his way up to sawmill owner, built his own railroad for timber transport and constructed a 20-mile log flume acknowledged as the longest ever built in America. Bernhardt recognised the opportunity to use his own timber for furniture production, acquired a veneer mill, lumber yard and numerous kilns, and thereby established in Lenoir the craft foundation on which the company still stands. Today Bernhardt Furniture Company is led in its fourth generation by Alex Bernhardt Jr. as President and CEO; the company operates 12 production facilities with 1,500 employees in western North Carolina and offices in four Asian countries with 50 additional staff. An upholstery division introduced in 1958 extended the range beyond wood furniture. In 1981 (in some sources 1983) Bernhardt Design was established as an independent division for the contract market — oriented towards architects, interior designers and project planners in the office, hotel and public spaces segments.
The decisive turning point for Bernhardt Design came in 1985 when Anne Bernhardt, the division's first President, commissioned renowned brand specialist Michael Vanderbyl to reinvent the company's entire image. Vanderbyl created a showroom concept and graphic vocabulary that propelled Bernhardt Design into a leadership position within the American contract furniture industry. In 1989 Anne Bernhardt founded sister brand Bernhardt Textiles, specialising in upholstery fabrics. Under President and Creative Director Jerry Helling — who led the company for over 30 years — Bernhardt Design positioned itself as an international design company with an extraordinary network of designers. The first international key design of this era: Ross Lovegrove's Go chair (1998) — magnesium cast, organically formed, instantly iconic. The resulting designer portfolio includes: Ross Lovegrove (London), Arik Levy (Paris), Jaime Hayon (Valencia), Luca Nichetto (Venice), Ini Archibong (Neuchâtel), Patrick Jouin (Paris), Fabien Baron (New York), Monica Förster (Stockholm), CuldeSac (Valencia), Claudio Bellini (Milan), Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance (Paris), Yves Béhar (San Francisco), Charles Pollock (New York), Farg & Blanche (Stockholm) and others. In 2009 Bernhardt Hospitality was added as a third division for furniture in the travel and leisure sector.
Sustainability: Bernhardt Design is one of the first furniture companies to have achieved level® certification from BIFMA (Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association) — a multi-attribute standard assessing the environmental aspects of products, processes and production facilities. Most products additionally hold SCS Indoor Advantage™ certification. Emerging talent promotion: Bernhardt Design founded and annually sponsors an interdisciplinary course at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena; sponsors ICFF Studio (an emerging designer programme at ICFF New York); initiated Tools at Schools with Aruliden and The School at Columbia University (a design curriculum for 8th-grade students); established the American Design Honor Award in 2010; supports the Contempo programme in El Salvador and America Made Me for young American design talent. Bernhardt Design is a founding member of Be Original Americas, an industry initiative to protect original design.
For architects and contract planners, Bernhardt Design is the most unusual American address in the contemporary contract furniture segment — a North Carolina family business from the 19th century that has transformed itself into an international design publisher: with a designer portfolio that unites London, Paris, Valencia, Venice and Stockholm under one roof, and an institutional commitment to emerging design talent that has no parallel in the American furniture industry.