Voltaire Design’s innovations supported by Outercraft

The Outercraft design office at Technocité has contributed to the development of an innovative smart saddle launched by Izarbel-based Voltaire Design.

Since its creation in 2010, Voltaire Design has expanded significantly by manufacturing high-end horse-riding saddles, some of which are equipped with disruptive technology innovations. 
Voltaire Design currently has 150 employees, the majority of whom work at premises inaugurated in 2017 at Izarbel Technology Park in Bidart, where most of the saddles are designed and manufactured. In early 2018, the Voltaire Design team started developing a saddle tree (the central frame of the saddle) made of composite materials which are much lighter than the traditional wooden and steel trees. The project is called “Blue Infinite” and also includes further innovation in terms of design, materials and technology.

To develop the “Blue Infinite” saddle, the Voltaire Design team called in the Outercraft agency, set up by Florian Auger in Mars 2017 and located at the Technocité in Bayonne. Outercraft is specialised in innovation and offers strategy, design, engineering and prototyping services which aim to simplify and speed up the design process. “We worked on the design, modelling and prototyping for a new-generation tree made from composite materials which make it 30% lighter than conventional trees”, said Florian Auger.

The “Blue Infinite” saddle and patented ActiveFlex tree were officially presented to more than one hundred professionals from the equestrian world at West Palm Beach (Florida, USA) on 14 January 2019. Voltaire Design exports three quarters of its production to the United States and the company stands out thanks to its technological innovations, such asthe“Blue Wing” smart saddle launched in 2016, equipped with a sensor for transmitting data to the rider’s smart phone.

 Websites:

voltairedesign.com

outercraft.fr