From LaMercanti BlogSubscribe Now

Salone del Mobile 2023: creativity and design

Posted on May 12, 2023 // Leave a Comment

From 18 to 23 April, on the occasion of the Milan Design Week, at the Salone del Mobile new furnishings have been proposed to respond to the increasingly complex needs of users and to promote individual and collective well-being. Naturally La Mercanti was there to catch all the news in the sector of office furniture and contract furniture.

As always, the Salone del Mobile is a meeting place, where new opportunities arise in the world of design and projects; at the same time it is a laboratory of creativity, experimentation and contamination of styles and ideas that concern the whole world. It is a place available and open to discussion, to bring out innovation and propose contents of cultural and professional value. Like every year, visitors were able to see the new trends for the furniture and furnishing sector with the use of recent technologies. When technology changes lifestyles, furniture adapts to this change: the home space becomes an office and the work space becomes as warm and welcoming as the home.

The materials most used to produce the furnishings are certainly wood and metal.
Natural and sustainable, wood is now an undisputed protagonist and is confirmed as the most loved material by almost all brands. We tend to keep it as natural as possible by treating it with transparent or opaque finishes so as to leave its veins visible. Simple and minimal lines are often chosen by playing on not too accentuated curvatures that highlight the craftsmanship of the products.
Technology and design merge in the furnishings in which metal is used, forged into slender but very solid shapes to create useful, intelligent and particular solutions.

There were many brands at the Salone Del Mobile 2023. Among these there was Caimi Brevetti proposing furnishings in which the technology of its sound-absorbing fabrics, from this year in ECONYL, recycled nylon fiber, blends with everyday objects, creating hybrid furnishings. The novelties by Caimi Brevetti can be summed up in Lucrezio, a sound-absorbing table designed by Caimi Lab and Integral, a sound-absorbing panel that engages a LED light source to enrich the possibilities of use.
In the LaPalma collections, many novelties are full of imagination to create aesthetically and qualitatively satisfying environments, designed to encourage work, relaxation or conviviality. Here is the completely renovated space of Lapalma for Architects, once again proposing itself as a place of inspiration, creativity and dialogue for architects and interior designers. LaPalma has proposed 10 environments inspired by contemporary places where flexible and sustainable collections emerge that convey contents such as sustainability, well-being and inclusion.

Filed Under: Events //

The Essence collection by La Mercanti in New York City

Posted on April 28, 2023 // Leave a Comment

A very important investment service company in New York City chose the Essence Italian office furniture by Uffix for their executive offices. La Mercanti sales team worked with their manager in order to select the best furniture options for their office project, coordinate delivery and installation.

Designed by the Architect Franco Driusso, Essence is one of the most iconic collections by Uffix, both refined and proportioned. It joins the office environment with domestic contemporary contents and atmospheres. Space becomes more intimate, familiar and welcoming.
The straight design of the Essence executive office furniture brings out the linearity of its shapes and the simplicity of its lines. This collection, including desks, modular cabinets, conference tables, pieces for lounge areas such as matching sofas, armchairs and coffee tables represents the perfect solution for contemporary and modern office spaces.
Thanks to its dynamic and minimalist style, Essence ensure functionality and elegance.

The Essence desk they selected for the main office is a L-shape configuration with one panelled leg and a bearing side return with drawers, open shelves and one flap door to easily store documents and keep them close at hand. The other offices have been furnished with straight desks with rectangular tops on basic metal legs. They added some chest of drawers on wheels and a low credenza composed of doors with lock, inner shelves and metal frames for hanging folders.
The legs and the frames that make up the structure are made of aluminium in tan finish. The surfaces come in three wooden colours inspired by natural elements such as desert, earth and moka. All the desks are equipped with wooden modesty panels and functional accessories for the wire management such as grommets, cable-ways and trays.

Essence represents the meeting point between innovation and the simplicity of forms, creating a game of charming aesthetic balance.

The customer appreciated the quality of the products and the service provided by La Mercanti, as well as the efficiency of the installation.

Filed Under: Office Projects //

Coworking: a new way of conceiving the working space

Posted on March 31, 2023 // Leave a Comment

The sharing economy has led to the spread of coworking: shared workspaces where facilities and services are made available to various professionals, freelancers and companies. It’s an innovative way to bring together not only skills and talents, but also experiences and spaces.

In 2005, software engineer Brad Neuberg founded the first coworking space in San Francisco. He wanted to find a way to combine the feeling of independence and the need of working in a community-like environment with all the comforts offered by a traditional workplace.
Since then, the coworking phenomenon have been largely increasing in the United States and in Europe. In 2008 it began to spread in the main Italian big cities and in 2021 there were 779 coworking spaces throughout the national territory.

One of the main advantages of coworking is the reduction in expenses: renting a desk in a coworking space is much cheaper than renting an entire office. Furthermore, it allows to find new collaborators, to combine different ideas and projects, increasing productivity, creativity and avoiding the isolation of working from home.
Choosing to work together, even if dealing with an independent activity, means designing the office and furnishings in an organised way in order to share both the working environment and the ideas of people who are not part of the same company. Finding a comfortable workspace, with ergonomic furnishings and professional equipment that responds to the different work needs, will encourage the freelancers to come back again.

The required elements in a coworking office are open spaces, modular desks and multiple workstations, ergonomic chairs that adapt to different body shapes, Internet connection, equipment such as telephones, printers and computers, meeting rooms, lounge areas and air conditioning.

Arper, for example, contributed with enthusiasm and innovation to furnish Palazzo della Luce in Treviso, an elegant historic building that dates back to 1500. The restoration recovered the historical elements of the exteriors and enhanced the three floors that compose the interiors. Today, Palazzo della Luce is a contemporary design space that hosts offices, events and projects. A big coworking space that allows professionals and companies to meet and collaborate – without sacrificing their privacy.
The materials and pieces of furniture have been carefully chosen to best convey the message that the coworking wants to promote. Arper chairs, sofas and tables have furnished the individual spaces, meeting areas and relaxation spaces with sustainability and a totally made in Italy design.

Filed Under: Brand, Life at the office //

Metar desk and La Cividina seating for Prince International AE in Greece

Posted on February 27, 2023 // Leave a Comment

A few months ago La Mercanti was contacted by Prince International AE, a Greek retailer of luxury and unique products such as watches, jewelry and accessories for man and woman all over the world.

Their new CEO office has been furnished with the Italian modern executive desk Metar by Bralco, designed by Gianantonio Perin and Giorgio Topan. The finish is tobacco oak veneer wood with glossy chromed profiles and the desk rests on a side service unit equipped with doors, drawers and a filing unit.
The bridge desk and service unit form a refined and functional linearity thanks to the attention to the details, making Metar the expression of inimitable and timeless elegance enhanced by refined geometries and noble materials.

The pleasing aesthetic is also combined with a wide range of features, designed to achieve better ergonomics. As in the case of interior decor which characterizes the desk top, and leaves not only a mark of aesthetics but provides RJ, telephone and data transmission connections.
The waiting area of the main office is completed with a low coffee table and a round table for four people that has an impressive chromed base and a top with cable access and wire tray. The design is specifically thought to welcome those who gather together in a meeting and make moments of sharing feel natural.
The guest chairs are from My Belle collection, characterized by sinuous and attractive lines that represent the style of the family of executive armchairs proudly made in Bralco. The base is in aluminum on feet and the upholstery is in high-quality leather, giving the meeting area a touch of elegance and grace.

In Metar and all Bralco lines, the Made in Italy label stands out for both the design and the final realization. All the products are marked by stylistic elements and distinctive features that make them unique and inimitable.

Regarding the executive chair for the CEO, La Mercanti guided the client through various possibilities and the final choice was for one of the most comfortable and ergonomic chair that we distribute: Spirit, designed by Baldanzi & Novelli and manufactured by Sitland. This is a product devised to ensure absolute postural excellence during work hours and long-term use. The back is fitted with a particular mechanism named “Freedom”, which allows perfect adherence of the back to the user’s movements. It is also equipped with lumbar support and the seat is depth-adjusted to the desired position or left in its free position, for maximum ergonomics.

Finally, an exclusive touch of modernity is reached with Suiseki Italian sofa by La Cividina for the common area.
Suiseki is a collection of padded seats inspired by the Japanese art of arranging naturally occurring stones. Spontaneous, harmonious lack of alignment takes the place of geometric shapes in the simple modular units with organic volumes. Everything starts with three core building blocks: a low, broad seat, a backrest and an armrest. They can be combined with each other in an offset display of heights, widths and depths. The resulting sofas are sculpturesque and suitable for all types of use, in everything from the contract market to private homes.
The client opted for a linear composition and an armchair, both in a vivid red finish, and in the central position two coffee tables with different heights from Turi Turi collection.
The traditional flat caps worn by Sicilian men inspired the elegant top of this coffee table, which is combined with a base with soft, light lines and thus brings together Sicilian Baroque art and minimal style.

Unadulterated aesthetics, high-quality materials, perfect workmanship and exceptional organization are the main traits of La Cividina brand, that fuses comfort and appealing designs, while keeping Italian manual culture alive.

Filed Under: Office Projects //

Italian office furniture, colors and materials: the trends of 2023

Posted on January 31, 2023 // Leave a Comment

For the Italian office furniture, 2023 is marked by a few key words: essentiality, order, elegance, innovation and comfort. Design calls for clean spaces, harmony and balance.
Environments are designed to give a sense of freedom, comfort and creativity, with more airy and multifunctional spaces, and furniture, such as sofas, desks and bookcases, have soft and curvy shapes.

In the working areas, the Scandinavian style, which perfectly meets the need for comfort and functionality required, is a strong trend. This style is looking for furniture with clean lines in geometries, essential and allowing collaboration between working areas.
Fundamental is the division of the open office spaces. Entering an office, in fact, it is necessary to immediately understand which areas are dedicated to socializing and relaxation versus those suitable for individual work.
This inclusive design also places great importance on light, which should be as natural or equated with it as possible.

So the “minimal” style is the quintessential furniture trend of 2023. It is a rigorous style without superfluous decoration, which prefers practical, sober and transversal furniture of refined design, arranged in a clear order, to leave freedom of movement and give ample scope to the context. The motto “less is more” triumphs in office spaces as well as home spaces.

Colors, too, make room for freshness and dynamism to create positive environments full of vitality. Popular colors include blues and greens, which are inspired by nature, or earth-toned shades to create a more sophisticated and unusual style. Warm colors and cool colors thus create plays of tone that never tire. Sharp and contrasting neutral shades, in gradations that allow to increase the brightness of the rooms, highlighting the furnishings.

As for materials, those most in vogue this year are marble, metal and glass, which provide brightness and, above all, timeless elegance.

Of course, the quality and sustainability of materials continues to be of utmost importance in the furniture of 2023. Recycled and vintage materials are widely used, and the principle of the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is followed, especially in the production methods of furniture, which should be sustainable, ethical and certified.

Filed Under: Design, Life at the office //

La Mercanti supplies glass and wooden partitions for a nursery school in Malakoff, Paris

Posted on December 22, 2022 // Leave a Comment

About two years ago we have been contacted by Giada Marossi from the architecture firm Valero Gadan & Associés Architectes in Paris. They were interested in the glass partitions by Nodoo to divide interior spaces in the nursery school they were designing.

The main requirement of this project was to divide all the spaces with large glass partitions composed of solid wood bearing structures, instead of the traditional aluminium or steel profiles. In addition to the glass partitions, the project also included the intermediate plasterboard sections to be covered with veneer wood panels in the same finish as the glass partitions’ structures and installed so that the external edge of the covering panel line up with the external edge of the rails and struts of the glass partitions.

However, construction works in the building slowed down due to the pandemic and this project had been delayed. Furthermore, the call for tenders announced by the Municipality of Malakoff (Paris) was scheduled for the end of summer 2021.

Meanwhile, we have been contacted by Briand Menuiserie, a carpenter’s shop in Paris who wanted to take part in the tender as a supplier of the carpentry works and partitions as well.
The owner Riccardo Scaglia is an Italian man who has been living in Paris for many years. We established an excellent working relationship with him and La Mercanti assisted him by providing all the specifications on Nodoo partitions and the quotation that allowed him to win the tender.

After having defined the contractual aspects, the works at the Malakoff nursery school began in November 2021. The completion date was expected to be September 2022. Various revisions were made to the initial project, therefore in May 2022 we arranged a site visit in accordance with our client Briand and the architect Marossi to review all the aesthetic issues.
After taking the measurements, Nodoo started the production process and on 25th July 2022 we delivered the goods. The installation was carried out both by some Italian installers and a French team.

During the work there were some small inconveniences that delayed the completion date by a few days. In fact, some glass panels were damaged when they were delivered at the site, therefore we needed to order some new ones. Some wooden parts have been readjusted too.
La Mercanti went back to Malakoff to solve these problems, complete the work and check that everything was compliant with the project. Testing was carried out only at the beginning of October as the opening of the nursery had been postponed to mid-October due to some delays from other suppliers.

This project was very exciting and interesting from a technical and aesthetic point of view. This experience was a great opportunity for development and growth. The most challenging thing in the whole project was the attention to the smallest details and the aspects linked to child safety.

Filed Under: Office Projects //

Luxury office furniture in France

Posted on November 28, 2022 // Leave a Comment

A few months ago, we have been contacted by the President of an important company in Southern France needing to furnish his office with a polished and modern style.
After reviewing various options, Mr Fenart chose I4Mariani: a prestigious Italian brand that produces high-end furniture with a strong representative value conveyed by the expert mix of precious materials and the fine balance between industrial processes and the inimitable craftsmanship.

De Symetria is an executive office collection with a strong contemporary design and a refined style. Designed by Luca Scacchetti in 2010, this collection was inspired by serene rest in a hammock looking up at the crowns of maritime pines where slender branches hold up thin tables of compact green or imaginary waiters who hold crystal trays in perfect balance with a firm and wide-open hand.
All this is reflected in the structures where two steel brackets rest symmetrically with spokes of different lengths that represent tree branches or the fingers of a hand. The brackets support transparent or leather-covered tops. De Symetria is a system mainly built as a bridge or trestle, very architectural and entirely based on the static and compositional balance determined by symmetry.
The bases, covered in wood and leather or lacquered, contrast with the lightness of the brackets and tops. The relationship between the trunk and the crown of the tree, between the body and the hand is reproduced here with a few essential lines that characterise the unmistakable design of De Symetria.

Mr Fenart selected a leather desktop with a bearing chest of drawers upholsltered in the same leather finish and a wooden leg in ebony. He added a matching free-standing low cabinet with 1 door and 4 drawers and some Silhouette office chairs. This seating collection, designed by the same designer, is characterised by the profile of its form, with an almost uncertain equilibrium due to the apparent lack of physical contact between the seating and back. Winding lines, crossing between the shapes of a boomerang and the shapes of the wing of a bird, are brought back to paper in their essential geometry, with nearly Leonardesque traces.
Both the executive and the guest chairs are upholstered in the same leather colour as the De Symetria furniture pieces. The outside frame in natural wood.

The modern office style by La Mercanti satisfied the customer.

Filed Under: Brand, Office Projects //

Comfort and sustainability in the modern enterprise

Posted on October 28, 2022 // Leave a Comment

In recent years, companies have changed the way the physical office is used, giving rise to new trends.

In 2022, safety, functionality and sustainability are emerging in the Italian office design. Environments are being designed to be more flexible so as to adapt to new work standards.
According to the NBER Institute, the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research, about 70 percent of companies will permanently maintain a hybrid work environment spread during the pandemic, supporting staff working both inside and outside the office environment.

Many workers have become accustomed to working from home therefore the need has arisen to bring some of the comfort, tranquility and freedom of home to the office as well. This is when larger spaces dedicated to meeting areas, breaks and staff recreation are created in companies; the physical office remains an important reference and meeting center for employees and clients. The “lounge area” becomes the hub of the modern office: a space separated from the working area and equipped with amenities and services where employees and outside visitors can relax, but also conduct business meetings freely. In the past, this area was dedicated to waiting; now it is a welcome area with comfortable and original furniture such as lounge chairs, armchairs, and sofas.

In addition to creating alternative spaces, the modern company embarks on a path to minimize environmental impact in every respect. Consumers, too, are more vigilant in looking for companies that pay attention to their environmental and social commitment.

Sustainable design is not a futuristic concept but a reality already present in many workplaces. Reducing printer, air conditioner, and electricity use through the use of light sensors, installing automatic doors, and using automatic toilets are good remedies for reducing costs and saving energy, plus they can be important points of momentum for making changes and creating more sustainable companies. According to a study by M. Moser, careful office design can save between 20 percent and 40 percent, taking into account only heating and air conditioning aspects.
Make room therefore for furniture that uses natural materials that ensure the healthiness and mental and physical well-being of people.

Filed Under: Comfort, Life at the office //