Promotion: during a NeoCon panel in Chicago, furniture brand Keilhauer and design studio Yabu Pushelberg discussed their collaboration for the Etta Collection, which translates luxurious forms for healthcare and office environments.

The talk, hosted in Keilhauer's new showroom at Chicago's Merchandise Mart, featured Keilhauer CEO Mike Keilhauer and creative director Maggie Keilhauer, Yabu Pushelberg founding partner George Yabu and Dezeen US editor Ben Dreith.

Mike Keilhauer and Yabu detailed the synchronicity of the collaboration, which features a wide variety of pieces, from sofas to lounge chairs, benches and tables.

Both firms began in Toronto in the early 1980s before operating internationally.

"It's been a long time coming," said Keilhauer, detailing the extensive collaborative work that went into the 26-piece Etta Collection.

It represents the largest collection of furniture designed by Yabu Pushelberg, which has made a name for itself in the residential and hospitality sectors, from luxury residential to some of the world's most stylish restaurants.

Mike Keilhauer said the collaboration with Yabu Pushelberg allowed for the blurring of lines between contract furniture and the more luxurious hospitality forms that are Yabu Pushelburg's forte.

"It's a blur between hospitality, corporate, and health care," said Keilhauer, who continued to say that this blurring is representative of the workplace in general.

"Everything needs to be more flexible, and that's what we're doing, building adaptability into these projects."

Yabu agreed with this description.

"The collection was conceived as a softer approach to contract seating, something refined enough for executive and hospitality settings, yet adaptable to the functional demands of workplace, healthcare, and public environments," he added.

"In hospitality, comfort is emotional as much as physical," Yabu continued. "Those same considerations are equally important in workplaces, healthcare settings, and institutional environments, even if they have not traditionally been approached through that lens."

The sleek forms of the furniture feature sloping elements, sophisticated backrest articulations and healthy materials, such as FSC-certified wood.

These elements are combined with functional aspects, such as wide clean-out gaps in the sofas, as well as removable seats, essential elements in high-contact health care environments. All of the furniture sits high above the flooring surfaces for ease of cleaning.

With the Working Lounge Chair, especially, Mike Keilhauer said that the team had broken into a new typology, drawing in the functional aspects of contract with the elegant folded form of the seat.

Two elements tie together the diverse elements of the collection. First, the nesting and adaptable tables, which come in four different sizes.

Second was the earthy and biophilic materials, which are derived from Keilhauer's recently revamped material library.

"We wanted the colours to make you feel as if you were outside, and to be really grounded, naturally comfortable feeling, which I think actually just ties in perfectly with this collection," said Maggie Keilhauer.

"I think it really just works perfectly together, and for us, we want to make sure that our palette is creating a package in which designers can comfortably play."

Finally, Mike Keilhauer noted the sustainability of the collection, which is Certified Carbon Neutral and Greenhealth Approved.

"Sustainability is just in our DNA, we just automatically do it," he said.

To learn more about Keilhauer, visit its website.

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This article was written for Keilhauer as part of a partnership. Find out more about our partnership content here.