Hong Kong industrial designer Oscar Lahiff has won first prize in Buildner’s The Architect’s Chair #5 competition with Helical, an adjustable stool developed from cork and wood with no glue or mechanical fixings.
A single twist is all it takes to alter the height of Helical, a compact stool by Hong Kong-based industrial designer Oscar Lahiff. The award-winning project rethinks the familiar adjustable seat through a pared-back construction of cork and wood. Rather than relying on gas cylinders, hydraulics or synthetic hardware, its movement is embedded in the stool’s form: turn the upper section and the seat shifts to a new height.
Lahiff developed Helical independently through his own practice, Oscar Lahiff Design. Having grown up in London, he studied Product Design at Ravensbourne University before relocating to Hong Kong. He now works as an independent senior designer in collaboration with Michael Young Studio, with a practice that spans furniture, lighting, consumer electronics and colour, material and finish design.
Material and process were the starting points for Helical. Its height adjustment is driven by an internal helical interlock, carved directly into the outer cork shell. Hidden inside the monolithic cylinder, the stair-like profile allows the seat to rest securely at different levels without screws or bolts. Wooden dowels work as alignment keys, while the cork’s natural elasticity creates a compressed friction fit that keeps the construction stable and entirely glueless.
The result is a piece whose mechanics are revealed through use. As the seat is rotated, its internal logic becomes perceptible—transforming a typically hidden technical function into a tactile, satisfying gesture. Its simple system also gives the stool a sense of functional honesty: every line and component has a role to play, while the material palette remains renewable and fully biodegradable.
With its quiet, sculptural silhouette, Helical is conceived as a versatile object for a home or studio. Cork brings warmth and softness to the stool’s monolithic form, while the manually operated mechanism lends it a tactile quality that invites interaction. It is a compact proposition for flexible living—one designed to last, yet made from materials intended eventually to return to the earth.
Photo courtesy of Buildner
