'It's both visually and physically comfortable': John Pawson's new sofa for Herman Miller is a minimalist dweller's dream

Sofas have the tendency to be the most visually obtrusive piece of furniture in the house. So what happens when you tap a known minimalist to create one? Just ask John Pawson.

The renowned British architectural designer has revealed the Pawson Drift Sofa group, a new seating collection for Herman Miller. With cocooning solid-wood frames and pillowy cushions, the graceful perches are ideal for aesthetes and loafers like.

‘The sofa’s become the gathering place for the home,’ the British architectural designer tells Wallpaper* from his country home – perched atop his own Drift sofa – in the Cotswolds. ‘It’s a place where everyone in the family gathers. People eat on it, sleep on it. I wanted to do something that did all that, but also remained elegant, if possible.’

Drift marks Pawson’s first partnership with Herman Miller, though he’s known Ben Watson, MillerKnoll’s chief creative and product officer, for some three decades. But the timing felt right to finally partner. The collection – now available to shop online and in-store – feels distinctly architectural, thanks to its solid, wrap-around timber frame, available in both white oak and walnut.

‘The contrast of a solid wood frame, which is visible when you walk around it from any angle, and then the incredibly comfortable and soft cushions, [...] is visually comfortable as well as physically comfortable,’ Pawson says.

There’s a sustainability angle to Drift too. The inviting cushions are filled with a natural latex foam that’s derived from plants. In fact, 80 percent of the Pawson Drift Sofa Group features plant-derived components, according to Herman Miller.

‘It’s very much a 50-50 collaboration. What I do is provide ideas about how people might live and do things, and we try to fit a design to that. I rely on experts for the technical side,’ the designer explains. ‘I am very pleased.’

So pleased, in fact, that Pawson tells us he plans on specifying the couch in his residential projects. His personal Drift sofa has also become a magnet for his cockapoo, Lochie.

‘I’ve always resisted designing a sofa, because they’re big things,’ Pawson reflects. ‘But now that I’ve got one, I am never off it—and neither are my family!’