KKL Luzern – seating in the famous concert hall given a complete overhaul by Girsberger

Girsberger Remanufacturing is a relatively new division of the company group. It has set itself the task of refurbishing and restoring existing high-quality furniture that is showing signs of wear – and adding new features where necessary.
In the case of the KKL, for example, Girsberger's engineers constructed a new folding mechanism with a counterweight, as well as seat-board and backrest fittings for the auditorium seating. Additional plastic pivots serve to minimize the unwanted folding noise. In the company's own test laboratory, the new folding mechanism was tested to check its long-term performance and then optimized. To refurbish the seating without disrupting the concert schedule, the seat and backrest upholstery was prefabricated. Instead of stripping the moulded foam to expose the steel frames and then adding new foam, Girsberger mounted the new upholstery modules on a 15 mm-thick plywood supporting plate, in compliance with all fire safety regulations. This achieved a similar level of stability while being more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
Thanks to the use of a mobile workshop, all tasks that generated dust were completed in a container outside the KKL. The upholstery was replaced without any special cleaning operations being needed, which could have had a negative impact on the acoustic wall cladding in particular.
This all goes to show that restoring established furniture is a sustainable concept that offers value retention and, in the case of listed buildings, is actually a requirement.