This article is a reference for designers and architects specifying seating for restaurants, hotels, and hospitality spaces. It covers material performance, floor and table pairings, lighting, arrangement, and five hospitality contexts in which the design works to strong effect. These are offered as starting points for a brief, not as prescriptions. Every project has its own logic, and there are many other configurations that work well.
Why this design works in commercial settings
Three properties explain the chair's appeal in hospitality interiors.
Material durability. Teak is one of the hardest and most dimensionally stable hardwoods available. In a high-use restaurant environment, it does not rack under repeated stress, does not swell with humidity, and does not discolour. Natural rattan is more resilient under sustained daily use than it appears. Both materials age honestly, developing character rather than degrading. In commercial contexts where furniture is in continuous use, this is a meaningful practical advantage.
For designers specifying the upholstered range: the Upholstered Easy Armchair and Side Chair are produced in Europe from responsibly sourced oak, with fabrics selected for durability and refined character. The Modular fabric carries an anti-stain treatment and is fire retardant, making it well-suited to commercial environments.
All Object Embassy chairs are handmade by master craftspeople using responsibly sourced materials, with teak harvested from sustainable plantations and tracked through the full supply chain from source to workshop.
Visual timelessness. The design does not carry the signals of any particular decade in the way that trend-led chairs do. The geometry is precise, the materials are natural, the surface treatment is minimal. It reads as contemporary in a space designed today and will continue to do so in fifteen years. This is a significant consideration for any hospitality operator making a long-term investment in their interior.
Acoustic contribution. Natural rattan absorbs rather than reflects sound. In high-ceilinged or hard-surfaced dining rooms, where the acoustic load can be significant, the open weave of the seat and backrest makes a genuine contribution to the room's comfort. The upholstered models contribute further acoustic softness in lounge and bar environments.
Floor pairings
The chair's natural material palette is warm, textured, and grounded. It reads particularly well against mineral and stone surfaces where the warmth of the wood and rattan provides contrast. The upholstered models in neutral fabric tones are equally versatile across these floor types.
Laid stone or polished concrete. The warm chair frame balances the coolness of mineral surfaces effectively. The contrast between natural warmth and the floor's hardness creates a material tension that feels deliberate and resolved.
Aged oak parquet. A sympathetic natural material pairing. The tonal resonance between the chair frame and aged oak creates a cohesive palette; the difference in grain direction and weave texture keeps it from reading as monotonous.
Terrazzo. The graphic aggregate surface plays well against the regularity of the rattan weave. A terrazzo floor with a warm aggregate, stone, or clay tone works particularly well.
Dark polished stone or very dark stained wood. These surfaces can compete with the chair's silhouette. In a well-lit room with a strong light source, the contrast can be dramatic and effective. In a darker, more atmospheric setting, lighter floors tend to let the chair read more cleanly.
Table pairings in hospitality
The teak and rattan chairs pair best with table surfaces that have material weight and visual substance. The upholstered models are somewhat more flexible and read well alongside a wider range of table types.
Marble (white, grey, or veined) is among the most successful pairings in restaurant contexts. The cool, smooth surface reads against the warm, textured chair with a contrast that works across a wide range of interior palettes from minimalist to Mediterranean.
Bleached or cerused oak creates a tonal harmony where the material relationship is clear without being identical. This pairing tends toward a warmer, more domestic register, well-suited to intimate restaurant environments and boutique hotel dining.
Concrete in either poured or precast form brings a raw material honesty that complements the chair's functional origins. Works particularly well in industrial conversions and spaces where exposed structure is part of the design vocabulary.
Dark steel bases with solid stone or wood tops create a strong graphic contrast with the V-leg silhouette of the teak and rattan models. The structural honesty of exposed steel resonates with the chair's own design logic.
Lighting
The chair collection performs particularly well in warm-toned lighting environments. Incandescent and warm-LED sources animate the wood grain and cast shadow into the rattan weave, enriching the material reading of both. Upholstered chairs in natural fabric tones respond equally well to warm light, with the textile texture becoming more visible.
Pendant lighting positioned above dining tables, low enough to graze the surface, creates a vertical light gradient that picks up the texture of the rattan backrest and seat from above. This is a detail worth specifying for atmospheric dining environments.
Cool-white or neutral task lighting tends to flatten the natural material palette. In spaces where functional lighting cannot be avoided, warm-toned accent lighting at table level can compensate.
Arrangement and density
The open visual profile of the teak and rattan models means they do not crowd a space even at standard restaurant density. The rattan weave creates visual lightness in a way that a solid back or upholstered panel does not.
For the Office Chair (with arms): allow a minimum of 70 cm between chair backs to accommodate arm width. For the Armless Dining Chair: 60 cm is sufficient for standard restaurant density. Both models work well at long rectangular tables.
For hotel lobby and lounge settings: the Lounge Chair works particularly well in clustered arrangements of two to four, grouped around a low table. The Upholstered Easy Armchair and Upholstered Easy Side Chair offer a softer, more structured option for premium lounge and bar environments where comfort over extended periods is a priority.
Five hospitality contexts
The following contexts are meant as design inspiration. In each case, variations in model, fabric, and material pairing are possible and often desirable based on the specifics of your brief.
A neo-bistro in a converted industrial space. The building retains exposed concrete columns, polished concrete floors, and original factory windows. The Office Chair is specified throughout the dining room, paired with thick-topped marble tables on brushed steel legs. The chair's warm frame reads against the cool concrete without softening the industrial character of the space. Pendant lights hang low over the tables; the rattan weave is visible in silhouette from across the room. The effect is warm but undecorated.
A boutique hotel dining room in a coastal property. The palette is bleached oak, white limewash walls, and terracotta floor tiles. The Armless Dining Chair is used at the dining tables, the Lounge Chair at a small reading area near the windows. Cushions are added to the Lounge Chairs in a natural linen fabric. The overall register is relaxed, material, and considered without effort.
A rooftop restaurant with a Mediterranean material palette. The floor is pale limestone. Tables are in white Carrara marble. The Office Chair is specified throughout; the warmth of the chair frames anchors the all-white surface palette and prevents it from reading as cold. String lights overhead cast warm incandescent light across the rattan weave in the evenings. The chairs are kept under cover when not in use.
A Scandinavian-influenced private dining room. The walls are a deep, warm green. The floor is aged oak. The table is solid oak with a natural finish. The Armless Dining Chair is used throughout; the restrained material palette of the chair sits easily within the Scandinavian design vocabulary without adopting its characteristic cool tone. The rattan introduces texture that the wood-and-plaster palette would otherwise lack. The room reads as precise but not spare.
A tropical resort with a Balinese-inspired aesthetic. The space is open to the outdoors, with alang-alang thatched roofing, natural stone floors, and bamboo screens. The Office Chair and Armless Dining Chair are used throughout the dining pavilion, paired with solid teak tables with a natural oil finish. The teak frame of the chair reads as entirely at home in a tropical material palette; the rattan weave echoes the natural fibre textures used throughout the space. The Lounge Chair is placed on the terrace, grouped around low stone tables. The overall effect is grounded and natural, with the design vocabulary of the chairs reinforcing rather than contrasting the setting.
A members club with a library-adjacent aesthetic. The ground floor bar opens onto a reading room. The Upholstered Easy Armchair, specified in the Modular fabric in Graphite, is used in clustered arrangements throughout the reading room and bar area. The fabric upholstery introduces softness and acoustic absorption; the oak leg detail maintains the Chandigarh design language across the space. The Lounge Chair in teak and rattan appears in the entry area, providing a visual bridge between the club's exterior identity and the interior palette. The effect is layered and considered.
Working with Object Embassy on a hospitality project
Object Embassy operates a professional programme for interior designers and architects. Fabric samples for the upholstered collection are available on request. For smaller orders, delivery is often possible within a week; for larger projects, reach out to the trade team early to align with your programme.
Contact professionals@objectembassy.com for trade pricing, samples, and project enquiries.
