Piana Outdoor Collection

As we come to understand more and more the delicate ecosystem of our planet, our attention re-aligns to working together with mother nature for sustainable pathways forward.

Spawned from a desire to foster environmentally responsible design more deeply, our designer Franco, has set about exploring high-performing materials that leave a softer environmental footprint. Considering not only sustainable furniture materials but also the impact these materials have on our craftspeople. Increasingly aware of the detrimental effects of toxins on makers, Franco strived to work with a material that harnessed a luxurious smooth silky touch, solid feel, and classic appeal without the nasty health implications. Layered with this was a conscious decision to ensure the material was environmentally credited globally to move towards sustainable furniture design.

Hence the Piana collection was born.

Franco’s newest collection delivers authentic Australian design and sustainable furniture. Harnessing a material not commonly used elsewhere in the Australian furniture design industry, his Piana collection is crafted from Corian®.

Corian® is completely Red List free, meaning it contains no nasty chemicals. Red list chemicals are commonly used chemicals found in materials that pollute the environment, bio-accumulate up the food chain until they reach toxic concentrations, and/or are harmful to construction and factory workers. Corian® provides complete transparency to its chemical composition via the third party Declare program, best described as an ingredients label for building products, making it one of the ideal eco-friendly furniture materials to work with.

Coupled with this is Corian’s GreenGuard certification which is a globally recognised third-party certification that independently verifies low VOC levels.  VOC (volatile organic compounds) are airborne chemicals commonly found in the air we breathe in homes, offices and other indoor spaces. These chemicals are found in building materials, furnishings, cleaning and personal care products. It’s widely proven that VOC levels are at least twice as high, if not far more, in indoor spaces versus outdoors. Whilst it seems obvious to create environmentally safe furniture, this is so often overlooked with mass-produced cost-driven furniture.

It isn’t the choice of material alone that Franco focused on for his latest furniture collection, but equally the manufacturing processes as well.

Deliberate consideration during the design process was granted to minimise the layering of energy and consumption of resources needed during fabrication. Understanding the strengths and limitations of working with 12mm thick Corian® has become inherent knowledge for Franco now with more than a decade of experience designing with the material.  Retaining the 12mm thick Corian® in its purest form resulted in reducing the energy footprint required and distilling the consumption of resources down to the barest possible. There is great flexibility in the attributes of Corian® to thermo mould and create forms of infinite thickness and mass, however, this does, in turn, add additional energy consumption in doing so.  Subsequently, the design process centered on creating a durable outdoor furniture collection within the confines of 12mm thick Corian® to leave a softer environmental imprint.

Aesthetically light and balanced, Franco’s design language is obvious in the Piana collection with the strong architectural lines of the legs and visually thin top hovering proportionally above. Minimalist, restrained and pure in form is often the hardest to design with no margin for error and nowhere to hide. The Piana outdoor collection sits softly in a space, designed to work back with the hero of nature surrounding it. Beautiful in their own right to be admired for their form and gracefulness without competing for attention.

We are very pleased to welcome our Piana outdoor collection to the world and your home. We encourage you to visit our Adelaide and Melbourne studio showrooms to experience your future heirlooms in person.

Flagship Melbourne studio showroom

259 Swan Street, Richmond, Victoria 3121

Flagship Adelaide studio showroom

442 Pulteney Street, Adelaide, South Australia 5000