Ray Booth for Hickory Chair: The Tectonic Collection
The Tectonic Collection is Ray Booth's contribution to Hickory Chair's designer program, available through Sutter & Vale. It draws from architectural thinking, favoring clean structure and relaxed proportion over ornament. The result is seating that holds its shape across years of use, made to order in Hickory, North Carolina, where Hickory Chair has been working since 1911.
What Design Philosophy Drives the Tectonic Collection?
Booth approaches furniture the way an architect approaches a building: structure first, surface second. The collection takes its name from that conviction. Frames are resolved before fabric enters the conversation. Lines are crisp where crispness serves the form, and softened only where comfort asks for it. This is not a collection built around a trend. It is built around proportion, and proportion holds.
Hickory Chair's own making philosophy supports that approach. Every piece moves through frame construction, finishing, upholstery, and final inspection under one roof in North Carolina. The frame and the fabric answer to the same craftspeople, which shows in how the finished pieces sit and wear.
What Pieces Make Up the Tectonic Collection?
The 9th Street family is the clearest expression of Booth's vocabulary in this line. Each piece traces back to a vintage Hickory Chair sofa form from the 1960s, redrawn with a crisp, architectural silhouette that reads well from every angle in a room.
Key forms in the group:
- 9th Street Sofa: 88 inches wide, 39 inches deep, 35 inches tall. A fixed-scale option for rooms where the footprint is settled.
- 9th Street M2M Sofa: width runs from 32 to 120 inches under Hickory Chair's Made to Measure program, so the silhouette scales to the wall.
- 9th Street Chair: 32 inches wide, 39 inches deep, 35 inches tall. The same architectural vocabulary at single-seat scale.
- 9th Street Chaise M2M: depth of 63 inches; width adjustable from 32 to 46 inches.
- 9th Street Ottoman: 28 inches wide, 24 inches deep, 18.5 inches tall. Pairs with the chair or stands alone.
Sectional configurations extend the line for larger living rooms. The RAF and LAF corner units, chaise units, and standard runs can be combined to fill the room without overloading it.
How Does Hickory Chair's Made to Measure Program Work With This Collection?
Made to Measure gives you genuine control over width without altering the design intent. On the 9th Street M2M Sofa, the frame scales from just over 32 inches to a full 120 inches. Depth stays at 39 inches and height at 35 inches, so the silhouette remains consistent regardless of the width you choose.
| Piece | Width Range | Depth | Height |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9th Street M2M Sofa | 32 to 120 in | 39 in | 35 in |
| 9th Street Chaise M2M | 32 to 46 in | 63 in | 35 in |
| 9th Street Ottoman M2M | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Fabric and finish choices layer on top of dimension. Hickory Chair runs its own fabric library, including the Liberty Fabrics program, alongside performance and leather options, so the same frame can read quite differently from one specification to the next.
How Is the Tectonic Collection Made?
Each piece is made to order, one at a time, in Hickory Chair's North Carolina workroom. The frame is milled, hand-stained, upholstered, and shipped from the same building. Nailhead trim, where specified, is set one nail at a time. Fabric is cut from paper patterns. The factory has worked this way for over a century, and the discipline of that process is visible in how joints align and how covers fit at the corners.
Hickory Chair states the lead time as three to four weeks from order. Confirm current lead times with Sutter & Vale at the time you specify.
Explore the full Hickory Chair collection at Sutter & Vale to see available configurations and fabric options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the 9th Street family available in sectional configurations?
Yes. The 9th Street line includes RAF and LAF corner units, chaise units, and standard sectional runs that can be combined into L-shapes and larger arrangements. Each unit is also available under the Made to Measure program, so the overall footprint can be adjusted to your room.
Can I specify my own fabric on a Tectonic piece?
Hickory Chair's Made for You program accepts customer's own material, known in the trade as COM. Yardage requirements vary by piece and configuration. Contact Sutter & Vale with the piece name and your chosen fabric for a yardage estimate before ordering.
How does the Tectonic Collection fit with other Hickory Chair designer lines?
The collection sits within Hickory Chair's broader designer program, which includes work by Suzanne Kasler, David Phoenix, Mariette Himes Gomez, Susan Hable, and Kim Scodro. The 9th Street pieces share construction standards with the rest of the house, so they can be specified alongside casegoods and accent pieces from other Hickory Chair lines without a break in quality or finish compatibility.
The Sutter & Vale Team
