Tjalko Chair

The Tjalko Chair is a seemingly simple wooden chair, but a closer look reveals the great care that has gone into its proportions, joints, and details. A distinctive feature of the chair is that the wooden Share are cut at a consistent angle. This creates subtle curves in the seat and backrest, making the chair surprisingly comfortable.

The chair is made of solid ash wood, with the natural grain pattern clearly visible. The finish, featuring colored linseed oil , gives the wood colour without losing its character. This gives the Tjalko Chair a calm and friendly appearance, with just enough individuality to stand out.

Looking for larger quantities or to use this product in a project? Ask for a free quotation here. On our download page, you can find 3d models, high-res images, and other product information.

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Transparency of the production chain comes naturally to us.

For us, that doesn't just mean giving information about where something has been produced. Our chain starts much earlier: with the designer of the product!

We'll tell you the whole story. Click on the buttons to discover the different steps:

“The Tjalko Chair” was designed b by , Tjalko Lokhorst. Tjalko is both a designer and a furniture maker and works out of his workshop in Amsterdam. In his work, Design and making are closely intertwined: an idea doesn’t just take shape on paper, but also continues to develop as he works with the material.

Tjalko prefers to work with solid wood and pays close attention to how a piece of furniture is constructed and finished. His Design often appear clean and simple, yet a great deal of attention has been paid to proportions, joints, and details.

The “Tjalko Chair” was created early in his career and is the design that, according to Tjalko, perhaps best represents his way of working. For the chair, he drew inspiration fr by , the simplicity of Jasper Morrison’s Plywood Chair, and Jean Prouvé’s Chaise Bois Démontable. Building on that inspiration, he set out to develop his own design language. Seating comfort was a key priority. That’s why Tjalko sought a simple way to create the curves in the seat. He found the solution in cutting the individual wooden Share at a fixed angle. In this way, the form emerges directly from the construction and the method by which the chair is made.

“Ido seek simplicity, but that’s actually quite difficult. The path to it can be very Wrapped .”

Tjalko Lokhorst

Tip:Takea look into Tjalko’s world and read more about his background, his approach to design, and his love for chairs in our Designer Interview on the blog page.

The Tjalko chair has been part of the Vij5 collection since 2026. We first came into contact with Tjalko and his chair through interior designer Rian Knop of studio RIANKNOP. We had been in touch with Rian before, as she regularly works with products from the Vij5 collection. Because she knows Tjalko and his work personally, she was familiar with this design. For the redesign of the Verkadefabriek in Den Bosch, she wanted to incorporate the chair, but that required more pieces than Tjalko could make on his own.

Rian saw a good fit with Vij5. Not only because of the chair’s design language, but also because our way of working aligns well with Tjalko’s: personal, in small batches, and with a strong focus on how a product is made.

When she introduced us to Tjalko, that feeling turned out to be spot on. We were thrilled by the chair and by the way Tjalko approaches Design and design. What we love about the chair is the combination of a slender, almost graphic silhouette with a friendly appearance. It looks light and serene, has a strong form from every angle, and is also surprisingly comfortable. It is precisely this combination that gives the chair a character all its own, without being overly assertive. A nice bonus is that the Tjalko Chair— by , who brought the design to Vij5 —can now be produced in small batches and is available for more interior design projects as well as for people’s homes.

“Whatwe love about the chair is the combination of a sleek, almost graphic silhouette with a friendly look.”

Arjan & Anieke

When Translate adapted the Tjalko Chair into a product for the Vij5 collection, one thing was paramount: the original design had to remain recognizable. At the same time, we wanted to make the chair suitable for production in small batches, without compromising the meticulous care with which Tjalko himself always crafted it.

Together, we therefore reviewed and refined a number of components. For example, we redesigned the connections between the front legs and the seat, added extra reinforcement to the underside of the seat, and explored which parts could be machine-made.

One major change involves the chair’s side frames. Tjalko originally made these himself out of solid wood; in the “ Vij5 ” version, the parts are CNC-milled from a single panel. The recesses for the half-lap joints are also cut out during this process. This allows the frames to be glued together with precision, efficiency, and great strength.

“Withthe Tjalko Chair, the adaptation mainly consisted of small technical adjustments that you can barely see, but that make a big difference in production.”

Arjan & Anieke

We didn’t want to make everything more efficient. When it came to the seat and backrest, we felt it was important to preserve a detail from Tjalko’s original method: the slats are cut from the wood in such a way that the grain of the seat and backrest flows seamlessly into one another. This requires more manual labor, but it has a significant impact on the chair’s final appearance.

The chair also received a fresh look in terms of materials and finish. For the “ Vij5 ” version, we chose flamed ash wood, which retains its natural grain. With colored linseed oil , the chair takes on a distinct colour, without the wood losing its own character.

It was during this process that the name “Stoel Tjalko” was coined. The chair’s calm, friendly appearance reminds us of Tjalko himself. We find it particularly fitting that this design, of all things, has been with him for so long and so clearly embodies what he stands for as a designer.

The Tjalko chair is made entirely in the “ Vij5 ” workshop in Den Bosch. In the process, we combine precision machine work with handcrafted details.

The components for the side frames are CNC-milled from a single glued panel. The cutouts for the half-lap joints are milled directly into the panel, ensuring that the various Share fit together precisely and can be glued into strong frames.

We take a different approach to the seat and backrest. The slats used for these are selected from a single piece of solid wood, planed to the correct thickness, and then cut at a consistent angle. This creates the subtle curves in the seat and backrest, while allowing the natural wood grain of one component to flow seamlessly into the next. This process requires careful selection and positioning of the wood and significantly determines the chair’s final appearance.

Once both the side frames and the seat and backrest components have been glued together, all Share are assembled into the complete chair. This is followed by further finishing: careful sanding and the hand-application of colored linseed oil. The oil soaks into the ash wood and reveals the natural grain pattern, giving each chair its own unique look.

The Tjalko chair is available in a number of standard colours or in natural ash treated with OSMO hard wax oil. For an additional charge and with a minimum order of 4 pieces, you can also choose your own colour . Please feel free to contact us for more information.

In the materials passport, you can find out where and by who manufactures the various components of this product.

In the material passport you can find where and by whom the different parts of this product are made.

Would you like to see this product in real life?

Come visit our showroom in Den Bosch or stop by one of our ambassadors or other retail locations. Be sure to check in advance to see if they actually have this item in stock—not all retail locations carry the entire collection.

In need of larger quantities or considering it for a project?

Please contact Arjan and request a quotation here.

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At our studio in Den Bosch, near the home furnishings district and just two minutes from the A2, everything comes together: showroom, workshop, warehouse, and office. Most of the products from the Vij5 collection are on display here.

You're, of course, more than welcome to visit, but our showroom is open by appointment only.

You can easily schedule an appointment via email, but you can also give us a call—that way, we can get things moving more quickly.