Polish chairs are becoming more and more popular across Europe – after the very successful implementation at the Hungarian Groupama Aréna, further projects were only a matter of time. Nowy Styl Group has already supplied the Abacus chairs to the Grand Stade stadium in Lyon and to the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice where European Championship 2016 will be held.

The Abacus chairs have been designed, especially for the Forum Seating brand, by Rebecca Stewart from the internationally recognised architectural studio Arup. They have been awarded a very prestigious prize: the FX Award that is given for international design excellence. However, their value is not only determined by their design.

"The Abacus chairs are made of through-dyed polypropylene to guarantee uniformity of colour throughout the entire product. The lack of metal elements makes them perfect products that can be successfully used in all weather conditions. The biggest advantage of the Abacus chairs is also their compactness – the seats are fixed to a beam, thanks to which a folded chair occupies little space and allows users to move freely between rows", says Adam Horodecki, the Regional Manager of Forum Seating.

The Abacus line comprises the basic Bronze model, the Silver model with upholstered backrest and seat cushions filled with foam and the Gold model which is filled with foam and leatherette-upholstered. The whole line is resistant to different mechanical damages, as confirmed by many durability tests.

See how Forum Seating tested its products:

Hungarian success

The chairs were chosen for the Hungarian Ferencvárosi TC club's stadium with a capacity of over 23,000. Comfort in the VIP sector was ensured by the Oscar armchairs designed by Stanisław Charaziak. For the Groupama Aréna stadium Forum Seating also manufactured and supplied desktops for press. The whole project was accomplished within only 16 months.

© Forum Seating

The sports facility has been appreciated not only by football fans, but also by experts. It has been given a very prestigious prize: the Stadium Business Awards in the "New Venue of the Year 2014" category. "The green, modern chairs look impressive and we could say that they brought the Hungarian good luck – at the new stadium they beat the Norwegian and fought their way through to the European Championship 2016 – it has been the biggest success of the Hungarian football team since 1986", claims Adam Horodecki.

The French have a good taste

The chairs were positively acclaimed also in France. In December 2014 the Forum Seating brand won the contract for equipping the newly built stadium in Lyon with a capacity of over 59,000. "We carried out huge projects before – we supplied chairs to two stadiums in South Africa where the World Cup 2010 was held and to all of the Polish sports facilities where the European Championship 2012 in football took place, so we were treated as a reliable partner. Besides that, we always provide our services in a comprehensive way. We equip not only tribunes, VIP sectors and players' benches, but also press stands and halls where press conferences take place. But that's not all. To the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Nigeria we supplied not only seats, but also about 20 km of railings made of stainless steel", says Joanna Machaj, the Sales Director of Forum Seating in Poland.

© OLweb.fr

The person responsible for the project implementation in France was Andrzej Żurawski. What, according to him, was the biggest challenge? "We spent a lot of time designing the proper arrangement of the tribunes. In cooperation with architects and the main contractor, we prepared 15 draft versions of the chair arrangement. We did our best to keep the right line of chairs next to the stairs and to exhibit the words made up by the colourful seats in the proper way" he says. The VIP sector and the players' bench were equipped with Oscar chairs with a two-stage heating system.

In record time

The arrangement of the stadium in Lyon is not the only huge project carried out by the Forum Seating brand in France. "At the time when the arrangement works at the new sports arena were still in progress, its general contractor, Vinci Construction, invited us to submit an offer to supply stadium seats to the facility in Nice. He did so because he looked for a reliable company after experiencing a lot of problems with the quality of the previous seats, and just because he really liked our Abacus chairs", says Andrzej Żurawski, the Regional Manager of Forum Seating.

© Forum Seating

"Our win in Nice wasn't determined by financial aspects – our chair was more expensive than the chair offered by our competitor, but it was determined by aesthetic factors. Another important aspect that helped us win the contract was our obligation to replace the chairs within two months, between the League seasons. To carry out this project within such a short period of time, we adjusted the arrangement of our chairs and the way of their mounting to the existing clamps, according to the FIFA and UEFA norms", explains Żurawski.

The effect of the Forum Seating's works is spectacular. Polish football fans will be able to test the Abacus seats soon. It will be the stadium in Nice where our Polish football team will play its first match during the European Championship 2016. The city, with a Mediterranean climate, is located on the French Riviera, between Cannes and Monaco. All we need to be completely happy is the victory of our team, in which we strongly believe. We hope that the Polish element at the stadium will bring our footballers good luck!