Family values: Quinti Sedute

Today we eat where we work, work where we sleep, sleep where we eat. We rest, play, toil and sustain ourselves often in the same space, whether it’s a co-working office, a studio flat, a boutique hotel or high-end bar. More than ever, with an unwelcome virus currently in our midst, our houses have had to meet all these needs at once, while the designs of the latest hospitality establishments to open, such as the Birch Community outside London, are also patently mindful of this shift in our life/work habits.

It means that we are demanding, from our furniture, all the ergonomic qualities required for sitting at a desk for long periods, alongside those we want when reclining while taking a breather between phone calls or while perching for pre-prandial drinks. Which in turn means that design companies such Italy’s Quinti Sedute are coming into their own. Quinti Sedute has long taken pride in producing high-performing furniture that is functionally handy in hospitality and working spaces but equally at home, well, at home, making it well-suited to this era of malleable interiors. ‘While recently we have deviated into making partition panels and introducing anti-bacterial fabrics, our focus remains on the production of high-quality products with customisable detail,’ says General Manager, Mirko Quinti.

Take their new modular sofa system Loft X by Archirivolto. Its hardworking design makes it adaptable to restaurant settings, where the integrated acoustic panelling can be used to isolate sound, but it can also be configured in open-plan offices to create enclosed meeting areas where conversations are shielded. The option to have it without the panelling, meanwhile, makes it suitable for a snug spot too.

Quinti Sedute has recognised that, more and more, what is useful, is formal adaptability as much as functional multi-tasking, meaning that all the needs of a space are met not necessarily in one item of furniture but in a family of furniture. Deep, for example, is a line of chairs and sofas, also designed by Archirivolto, that first appeared in 2016 and is joined in 2020 by Deep Cover, versions in which the chair’s monoshell structure is upholstered in fabric or leather. The basic Deep form is a softly scooped back and curved contours, but its many iterations offer variously armrests, wipability, lumbar support, wheels, cushioning and rocking action.

The required functionality can be cherry-picked from across the family of products, meaning there is sculptural synchronicity in the chairs across an interior, while different needs are met throughout the space. ‘With the Deep family, we wanted a collection able to furnish all the kinds of spaces with the same style. From the executive to managerial office, waiting area, canteen and whatever else you have in mind,’ says Mirko Quinti.

Customisation of colour and finishes can further align the furnishings or be used to zone the pieces while maintaining some cohesion with the consistency of shape. The library of materials up for selection include hundreds of fabrics, leathers, metals and woods so that from one order to the next, the Deep pieces can look entirely unique. Even elements of the shape can be tweaked and personalised: ‘We can customise the product as the client wants.’

This level of personalisation is a crucial device for a furniture brand to have up its sleeve if it is also to keep up with the hospitality industry’s drive to individualise distinct addresses. Conforming to instagrammable norms and well-documented design codes has produced a sort of homogeny in hospitality that businesses are now shunning – good design and functionality still counts, but an ability to stamp personality on interiors is key.

Stories, history, culture, community can all be communicated through smart furniture choices and the layering of texture, pattern, colour, materials and weight. Another of Quinti’s seating families, New York, demonstrates how with timeless design and functionality at its core, a sofa can ease into different interior stories. Dressed in an elegant alabaster wool textile, a New York sofa fits perfectly into a penthouse spot in Manhattan, as its name suggests. But finished in tan leather it can settle into a ranch hotel in New Mexico and take the inevitable battering.

With this level of adaptability, imagination really is the only limit.

© Architonic