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Design story

13Eighty: what the holes bring to a plastic chair

A hole can be a detail of a chair, or it can become the chair’s main idea. In 13Eighty, Scholten & Baijings use many small perforations to change the plastic shell’s appearance, touch and relationship with rain. Absence becomes a material decision.

Written and reviewed by PatinaHall2 minutes readPublished 26 October 2026

Pale-blue perforated shell on a slender four-leg frame, with light visible through small openings.
PatinaHall editorial reconstruction. It is not a documentary photograph. Small openings make a shell’s texture and transparency part of the chair’s appearance.
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Key facts & takeaways

At a glance

Subject
13Eighty chair
Entry
Design story
Last reviewed
26 October 2026

Three things to remember

  1. The perforations vary in size and change the shell’s visual texture.
  2. HAY describes hole adjustment as part of developing flexibility and comfort.
  3. The studio’s development period and HAY’s later article date are different facts.

Begin with what is missing

A plastic chair can present a large, continuous surface to the room. 13Eighty breaks that surface into a pattern of material and openings. The shell is still recognisable, but it no longer asks the eye to read plastic as one uninterrupted plane.

Scholten & Baijings’s work record dates the project to 2014–2017 and names HAY as client. It describes more than 1300 perforations and versions with and without arms on powder-coated steel frames.1

The holes are therefore an organising feature across the shell. Their repetition belongs to the chair’s character, rather than being a small accessory added after its overall form was decided.

A shell lets the room show through

The studio describes transparency and a play of light and shadow. Openings let the background participate in the surface, so a shell can keep its outline while appearing visually less continuous.1

The size differences matter as well. A repeated hole is a simple element, but varying it can make the pattern seem to move across the plastic. What looks uniform from a distance gains another rhythm when seen closely.

There are two surfaces to follow: the moulded shell itself and the changing field made by its perforations. Light can make the second one especially apparent, turning the gaps into a pattern of bright points or shadows.

A shell and enlarged variable perforations explain texture, light and drainage conceptually.
A shell and enlarged variable perforations explain texture, light and drainage conceptually. Original PatinaHall schematic, not to scale.

The holes enter the development process

HAY’s account names both Stefan Scholten and Carole Baijings and describes two years of adjusting the holes. The aim, in the manufacturer’s telling, was to develop flexibility and comfort while keeping a durable chair.2

That account makes the perforation more than a graphic choice. Removing material also changes the question being asked of the shell. The development story links appearance with how the chair might meet a body.

A pattern has an everyday task

The studio gives the holes another role: allowing rainwater to drain when the chair is used outside. The same openings that make a visual texture also address what happens when water meets a seat.1

No single reading has to cancel the others. Look through the shell, follow its pattern, or imagine rain finding a route away. 13Eighty makes a lot of little absences add up to a clear design idea.

Research notesEvidence, connections and limits

The studio and HAY supply the development account. Their claims about comfort and drainage are attributed rather than presented as independent performance tests, and no exact hole count is inferred from an illustration.

Evidence map

Connected subjects and evidence

Reviewed connections

  • 13Eighty chairdesigned byStefan Scholtendocumented

    The joint studio credits Stefan Scholten and Carole Baijings with 13Eighty and dates development to 2014–2017. It describes more than 1300 perforations. HAY’s 2018 article is a later account, not an exact design date.

    Reviewed 26 October 2026 by PatinaHall editorial.
    • Source 1Work or object record and accompanying maker account: 13Eighty chair. 13Eighty Chair
    • Source 2Work or object record and accompanying maker account: 13Eighty chair. 13Eighty Chair by Scholten and Baijings
  • 13Eighty chairdesigned byCarole Baijingsdocumented

    HAY and the joint studio credit Carole Baijings alongside Stefan Scholten. HAY describes two years of adjusting the holes to develop flexibility and comfort; the studio also explains drainage and changing transparency. These are attributed development accounts, not an independently measured comfort or load test.

    Reviewed 26 October 2026 by PatinaHall editorial.
    • Source 1Work or object record and accompanying maker account: 13Eighty chair. 13Eighty Chair
    • Source 2Work or object record and accompanying maker account: 13Eighty chair. 13Eighty Chair by Scholten and Baijings

Research trail

Sources and further reading

  1. 13Eighty ChairScholten & BaijingsAccessed 26 October 2026
  2. 13Eighty Chair by Scholten and BaijingsHAYAccessed 26 October 2026

Last reviewed 26 October 2026. Found an error or a stronger primary source? Contact PatinaHall.