Most furniture is designed for a single mode, like a desk for focus or a sofa for rest. Fewer pieces know what to do with the moment in between when the laptop is closed but you’re not quite done, or you’re 10 minutes early for a meeting and end up leaning against a wall talking instead of sitting down. Yabu Pushelberg and Keilhauer decided to design for that moment with their new collection named Etta.
“The idea emerged from observing how people actually use spaces today,” says George Yabu, co-founder of Yabu Pushelberg. “Work is no longer a series of rigid activities confined to a desk. People move fluidly between focused work, collaboration, conversation, and moments of pause throughout the day.”
The Etta collaboration pairs Yabu Pushelberg’s hospitality design background with Keilhauer’s contract manufacturing expertise. Above: Three seater sofa, Nested Occasional Tables, and Swivel Lounge Chair
The collection’s Swivel Lounge in particular has become the center of gravity in a lot of these spaces, according to the team. Yabu Pushelberg wanted Etta to hold that role with some ease, while still keeping the structure a professional environment needs.
“These ‘in-between’ spaces are increasingly where some of the most meaningful interactions happen,” George says.
CEO Mike Keilhauer saw the same shift from the manufacturing side.
“We’ve seen a growing demand from designers for spaces that support multiple modes of work and wellbeing,” he says. The in-between framing clicked for him because it mirrors how workplaces, healthcare settings, and hospitality spaces are all evolving in parallel. He says Etta was designed to make those environments “feel more human, more welcoming, and ultimately more useful throughout the day.”
An offset seam runs through the collection, a small detail meant to unify the line’s organic forms across chairs, sofas and modular configurations. Above: The Privacy chair
Yabu Pushelberg’s name is built on luxury hospitality, hotels, and restaurants where comfort is as much a feeling as a function. Translating that into contract furniture meant rethinking what comfort has to survive.
“Seat height, durability, maintenance, accessibility, and performance become critical considerations,” George says. He’s clear that the goal was never to make workplace furniture look like hospitality furniture. “We wanted to bring the sensibility of hospitality, comfort, ease, and emotional connection, into a collection that can perform flawlessly in contract settings.” Mike frames it as a combination play, pairing that hospitality instinct with his company’s depth in contract manufacturing. “Every decision had to balance beauty with long-term performance,” he says.
The collection itself is large, 26 pieces spanning seating, modular lounge elements, and tables.
“These ‘in-between’ spaces are increasingly where some of the most meaningful interactions happen,” George Yabu says. Above: Nested Occasional Tables
“We started with a clear design language and allowed it to evolve across different typologies,” George says. One detail threads through nearly everything in the line. “The offset seam is subtle, but it introduces a sense of tension and tailoring within the simplicity of the form,” he says, a signature that shows up whether you’re looking at a lounge chair, a sofa, a privacy chair or a modular configuration.
Mike says that flexibility isn’t a bonus feature.
“Today’s interiors need to work harder. Designers are creating environments that shift between individual work, collaboration, waiting, socializing, and restoration.”
Both designers keep circling back to how far this idea travels beyond the office. A hotel lounge and a healthcare waiting room don’t look alike, but George says they’re solving for the same feeling.
Etta’s integrated 18-inch seat height was built with that range in mind from the start. Keilhauer puts accessibility, comfort and sustainability in the same category.
“A successful in-between space is one that supports people without demanding attention,” he says. “The goal is similar: create an environment where people can pause, connect, reflect, or work comfortably.” Etta’s integrated 18-inch seat height was built with that range in mind from the start. Keilhauer puts accessibility, comfort and sustainability in the same category.
“We often talk about accessibility, comfort, and sustainability as universal needs,” Mike says. “That’s why features like the integrated 18-inch seat height were foundational to Etta rather than optional additions.”
Sustainability runs through the same logic.
“At Keilhauer, sustainability isn’t a layer that’s applied at the end of the process, it informs how we design, engineer, and manufacture from the very beginning,” Mike says. Longevity and material efficiency were on the table before certifications were, and the Carbon Neutral status and FSC-certified materials that came later read, in his words, as validation rather than motivation.
“We often talk about accessibility, comfort, and sustainability as universal needs,” says Mike Keilhauer. “That’s why features like the integrated 18-inch seat height were foundational to Etta rather than optional additions.”
“The most sustainable product is one that people continue to use for years,” he says. George approaches the same idea from the design side.
“We approached Etta with a focus on enduring forms rather than trends. We wanted to aim for a collection that feels relevant today, but will still feel relevant many years from now.”
