The concept to the winged chair is that it allows the sitter to rotate in the chair with arm rests on either side of them.

 

The initial idea was that the sitter can rotate leaning against the back of the arm rest as the sitter rotates to the right and left. This idea was expanded upon by looking at how the arm rest could be used to create a work surface, so the user can change direction within the chair and have a work surface on either side for the use of laptops etc.