Discover Baelo by Archirivolto Design

Archirivolto Design is an Italian design studio founded in 1983 by Marco Pocci and Claudio Dondoli. Today, it has six partners, including Cristian Gori, the creative director of Baelo, who joined the firm in 1996.

Archirivolto’s core business is furniture design, particularly chairs and tables. Its designs stand out for being simple and lightweight, as well as for their emotional impact. The products also aim to be aesthetically pleasing and “democratic”, i.e. available to any audience.

In an interesting conversation, this prestigious Italian studio will explain all the details, secrets and questions behind Baelo, the meeting table that is its first design for the soft seating brand inspired by the South. 

Interested in what they told us? Join us for a short read and become a Baelo expert!

Archirivolto Design: “Customers are looking for furniture that is immediately understandable, easy to manage and transformable”

According to Archirivolto Design, Baelo is “a range of meeting tables designed for corporate offices, which stands out for its base made using the rotomoulding technique”. Despite its corporate design, Archirivolto Design emphasises that “it is also perfect for use in the food service industry, such as hotels, cafés and restaurants. It’s so flexible that it could even be used in the home!”.

And its adaptability is one of the great strengths of this range of meeting tables. Baelo can be adapted to almost anyone’s needs. It is available as a round, rectangular or square table, with one, two or three bases, elliptical or barrel-shaped, and even as a high table.“Customers are looking for furniture that is immediately understandable, easy to manage and transformable, furniture that can seamlessly blend into spaces and architecture” explained Archirivolto Design when we asked them about Baelo’s ability to adapt to all types of spaces.

Baelo also stands out for “the simplicity of its structure, assembly and modularity” as well as the possibility of being electrified, a feature made possible by the hollow shape of its base, and the multiple lacquers for its base and tabletop finishes.

Despite its many qualities, for Archirivolto Design, Baelo’s most important role is its ability to relate to people’s needs to create the perfect room. “We would like Baelo to generate the feeling that each person is relating to the right object, finding it comfortable and satisfying their needs”, explained the design studio directors.

Archirivolto Design: “Baelo adds the touch of home needed to give warmth to an office setting”

The entire design process required extensive research. Baelo needed “the repeated creation of prototypes” which eventually allowed Archirivolto Design “to optimise the project” to achieve the Baelo we know today.

Archirivolto Design expects Baelo to be a range of tables that adds unique value to the sector, with its own identity that will make it one of esPattio’s star products. For Archirivolto Design, Baelo “has added the touch of home needed to give warmth to an office setting, which is often cold and impersonal”.

As well as innovating in the world of meeting tables, Baelo has excellent sustainability credentials. It is designed to be fully recyclable. 100% of its cardboard, wood, steel and polyethylene are recyclable, making it a product whose life cycle can be repeated at least six times. In addition, the rotomoulding technique used to produce its base eliminates almost all of the waste derived from manufacturing, avoiding the environmental impact of a material as long-lasting as plastic.

Archirivolto Design’s preferred finishes for Baelo

As you might expect, Baelo brings out the best of esPattio and its parent company, Forma 5. Baelo offers a huge number of colours and finishes that make it a completely customisable meeting table for any person or space.

Within its range of possibilities, Baelo’s base, created in white, black or grey after rotomoulding, can then be lacquered in all the colours offered by esPattio for this range. Also, its tabletops can be made from wood, lacquered wood, Fénix board, Dekton board or marble.

For some of the Archirivolto Design team, dark colours are best for the Baelo base, such as Black, Sombre or Alcázar, due to their resemblance to anthracite. “They are colours that clarify the shape and really enhance the piece’s surface”, the Italian designers explained to us. On the other hand, another part of the team prefers “wood finishes, adding warmth to the product and combining it with equally warm colours at the base“. Two radically different preferences that Baelo can deliver due to its wide range of colours and its many finishes.

esPattio and Archirivolto Design, a promising future

Baelo is the first design by Cristian Gori, Marco Pocci, Claudio Dondoli and the rest of the team of designers at Archirivolto Design for esPattio, a partnership that we hope to continue in many future designs. For Archirivolto Design, the best thing about working with esPattio is “interacting with competent people and with a new point of view thanks to the extensive track record of the entire Forma 5 Group”.

Asked about future designs for esPattio, Baelo’s creators were excited to be able to add “a chair, why not, or even better, a collection of seats to place around the Baelo table”, definitely an idea we will consider for the future of our catalogue.

Interested in finding out more about the minds behind Baelo? Visit their profile to learn more about the history of this Italian design studio.