Mountain High, River Deep

Italian brand Pedrali has been producing furniture for high-end public spaces, offices, homes and the retail and hospitality sectors since 1963. It now operates in over 90 countries and the collection is composed of over 120 families of products that are available in countless different versions and finishes. In the past few years, joint CEO and sales and marketing director Monica Pedrali has noticed a significant shift in clients’ attitudes and desires. “Environments are now being designed to provide users with unique and memorable experiences that involve all the senses,” she says.

Two recent projects their products have featured in make this point beautifully. One is the new Mont Blanc cableway, an impressive feat of engineering that takes you up the Punta Helbronner mountain (located between France and Italy) to a height of 3,466 metres in 19 minutes. The angular and prismatic look of the buildings, bars, restaurants, shops and panoramic terraces of the cableway’s three futuristic stations all take inspiration from the surrounding landscape of ice crystals, mountains and snow.

“I think the architects Roberto Rosset and Danilo Montovert liked the variety of materials and products we could offer, from chairs and tables to lamps and other pieces of furniture in plastic, metal, wood and upholstery,” says Pedrali. For the Bellevue restaurant and bar in the Pavillon du Mont-Fréty station at the half-way point, Pedrali’s Malmö chairs in bleached ash were chosen to complement the curved bar clad in vertical light-oak slats. In the so-called Bistrot des Glaciers of the Punta Helbronner station at the top, the rather aptly titled Volt seating made out of polypropylene was selected. Stackable and lightweight, the chairs feature an embossed finish and anthracite grey hue that gave them a “mineral aspect” according to Pedrali and made them eminently suitable for this high-altitude locale. The rest of the decor references the surroundings with a pure white, prism-shaped counter made out of lacquered glass and a striking wall in white Corian.

“This is definitely the highest altitude any of our products have ever been used at,” laughs Pedrali. But it’s not the first time the northern Italian company has been called on to provide furniture for innovative projects. In past years it has been the supplier of seating and furniture to such diverse projects as the volcano-shaped, LEED-certified Autogrill café and restaurant on the motorway just north of Milan, the Le Jules Verne Restaurant by Alain Ducasse up the Eiffel Tower, and the Umimirai library in Kanazawa City, Japan, which features the company’s ultra durable and lightweight Young chair made out of curved plywood and a solid oak frame.

Another landmark recent project that showcases Pedrali furniture is Nestle’s Milan HQ. On the second floor restaurant, the VIP area is adorned with minimalist white Stylus tables and bi-chromatic steel-framed Laja armchairs (designed by Alessandro Busana), upholstered in grey fabric on the inside and white leather on the outside. Stools and chairs from the Kuadra collection are located in the bar, balcony and lounge area.

Pedrali prides itself on doing all its production and manufacturing in-house in its two plants just outside Bergamo (near its HQ) and close to Udine (to the east). “Our decision to be genuinely Made In Italy is a choice that was considered brave until some time ago but is now paying dividends,” says Pedrali. “Above all, it’s absolutely central to our idea of how we want to run the company.” In order to offer aesthetically beautiful and durable products, the company has created an industrial model that allows them to control and check every step of the manufacturing process from design to final lacquers and finishes.

Pedrali is famously still a family-run and family-owned company that was founded by Mario Pedrali and is now run by daughter Monica and her brother Giuseppe, who is also joint CEO. Does working with one’s family help or hinder things? “Being related definitely means we have forthright and direct conversations, but for the most part this is a good thing,” says Pedrali. “We also have very defined roles. My brother Giuseppe looks after new collaborations with designers, research and development and manufacturing whereas I am in charge of commercial development and strategic marketing.”

As to the designers the company works with, past collaborators have included Marc Sadler, Enrico Franzolini, Michele Cazzaniga, Jorge Pensi, Odoardo Fioravanti and Patrick Jouin. The latter started working with Pedrali as a result of the Italian brand’s ongoing relationship with French chef Alain Ducasse, explains Pedrali. In 2013, Jouin designed Ester, an elegant collection of leather armchairs with legs finished in satin aluminium, brushed bronze or black nickel that has pride of place in the 3-star Alain Ducasse restaurant in London’s Dorchester hotel and the historic Van Cleef & Arpels boutique in New York’s Fifth Avenue. In 2014, Jouin designed an office version of Ester (upholstered in leather or fabric) and in 2015 he created Social, a modular system of highly angular seats and poufs that can be endlessly replicated to fill any size of space.

What’s new for Pedrali in 2016? This spring, Pedrali is launching the lounger version of the Nolita outdoor steel seating, a collection that harks back to the firm’s origins as a manufacturer of outdoor furniture. It will also show the upholstered version of Nemea, a classic seating collection in ash whose structural elements are visible but streamlined. “Every year we show about ten new products or finishes that are born out of research and experimentation with new materials and technologies and our discussions with designers,” says Pedrali. “And every year it’s a challenge; a team effort that can last years.” Over 50 years after they first started out, Pedrali shows no signs of sitting on its laurels. Doing the same old same old is not an option.