Charles Pfister Executive Office

In 1981, Charles Pfister resigned his position at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in San Francisco after more than fifteen years with the firm. He opened his own interior design practice, Pfister Partnership.¹He had garnered a well-earned reputation for his tasteful interiors and had little trouble recruiting design partners and attracting new clients.

The design of the Pfister tables and cabinets introduced by Knoll in the late 1970s served as the basis for the Pfister Executive Office Collection introduced in the mid-1980s. The centerpiece of the collection was a new No. 3055D Table Desk that could be ordered with specific pedestals having drawers or hinged doors, or with integral shallow drawers pulled out from the tabletop. Pfister also designed a range of tables, with the larger ones for use as conference tables.²

The Charles Pfister No. 3055D Table Desk finished in Tobacco Vitello leather and polished chrome legs and trim, with matching No. 3076M Credenza Extension. Courtesy Knoll, Inc.

To complement the table desk, Pfister designed a series of credenzas, listed in the catalog as credenza extensions, having the same leg design, available in two widths to provide a combination of storage pedestals with a central shelf or all storage pedestals. Like the table desk, the credenzas were available in one of eighteen Spinneybeck Velluto Pelle leather colors, and the legs in one of six polyester finishes or polished chrome. There was also a telephone or computer console available.³

The Pfister No. 3055D Table Desk and No. 3076 Credenza Extension with black polyester legs and trim. Two Pfister No. 1050A1 Pull-up Chairs in green leather and black polyester leg finish and Charles Pollock No. 1258 Executive Chair in matching green leather. Courtesy Knoll, Inc.

To round out the collection, Pfister designed a pull-up armchair, available in a variety of leathers or fabrics, and polyester finish for the legs. These side chairs merited their own Knoll brochure and were marketed to be used in other contract or residential applications.⁴The elegant Pfister Executive Office Collection embodied the designer’s credo, “Opulence without waste,” and remained in production for a decade. Pfister’s Lounge Seating and Sofa System has remained in production for over half a century.⁶

Pfister No. 3055D Table Desk with No. 3081PD File Drawer on the right and No. 3082PD Double Drawer on the left. Courtesy Knoll, Inc.

1. “Charles Pfister, Interior Designer, 50.” The New York Times, October 4, 1990.
2. “The Pfister Collection Table Desks,” KnollStudio Price List 1988. 108-111, 152-153.
3. “The Pfister Collection Credenzas,” KnollStudio Price List 1988. 112-115.
4 “The Pfister Collection Side Chairs.” KnollStudio brochure.1988.
5. KnollStudio Price List 1992-93. 130-137. The Pfister Executive Collection was not in the KnollStudio Price List of March 1996.
6. KnollSpace Price List November 2023. 270-279.