LEM stool by Lapalma at an office tea point counter

Kitchen island, hotel lobby, terrace: one LEM changes register, not shape

Lapalma

Shin & Tomoko Azumi

Lem
Lem An icon of Italian design
£ 725

You've found the piece. Now the project.

Trade terms for professionals and design studios

Lapalma describes LEM as an atlas of every landscape and every encounter, which sounds like poetry until you try to move an ordinary bar stool from a private kitchen to a hotel lobby. Most furniture belongs to one room and announces it. This one does not.

The reason is subtractive. The design carries no element that reads as domestic and none that reads as contract: a single continuous line rises from the base, takes in the column and closes into a seat, and everything the stool must do is folded inside that one gesture. Put it at an island and it reads as a kitchen chair. Put five in a row at a reception counter and the same object reads as architecture. Nothing was added or removed between the two.

What changes is the dress, not the shape: curved plywood in bleached oak, open-pore black or dark walnut, eight lacquers, Fenix laminate, leather, or fabrics from the Kvadrat families. Outside, the same profile returns in stainless steel with an iroko or polyurethane seat. La Mercanti specifies LEM across the UK with samples in hand and the finish schedule agreed before anything is ordered.

Technical information based on data declared by the manufacturer.

Collection: LEM
Manufacturer: Lapalma (Italy)
Design: Shin & Tomoko Azumi, 2000
S79: swivel, adjustable 55-67 cm (21.7-26.4 in), chromed or painted gas pump; felt inserts under the base
S80: as S79, adjustable 66-79 cm (26-31.1 in)
S81: swivel, fixed height 80 cm (31.5 in); return mechanism available
S83: swivel, adjustable 66-79 cm (26-31.1 in), self-aligning in rotation and height; floor-fixing base of 20 cm (7.9 in) diameter available
ES81 outdoor: swivel, fixed 80 cm (31.5 in); frame, base and column in shot-peened Aisi 316L stainless or polyester powder-coated; seat in curved plywood with iroko finish or integral polyurethane; rubber inserts under the base
Frame and base: satin chrome or powder-coated steel; base in Aisi 304 with linen-cloth finish or powder-coated
Seat finishes: curved plywood in bleached oak, open-pore black, dark walnut oak; 8 lacquers; Fenix laminate; 7 leathers; 17 soft-leathers; Valencia eco-leather; wide fabric range
New finishes: capsule collection in three galvanic finishes, brushed black, blue and green
Tests: S81 and ES81, EN 1728:2000 6.2.1-6.2.2 and EN 15373:2007 level L3 severe; all versions DIN 68 877/81 5.6; adjustable versions also test 1 IM Valencia
Care: damp cloth or diluted neutral detergent, never alcohol, bleach, solvents or abrasives; lift the stool by the structure, not the seat; do not stand on the footrest; no chlorides on the metal; iroko darkens with light and takes an annual oiling; stainless near sea or pool needs more frequent cleaning
Not declared by the manufacturer: dimensions beyond seat heights, weights, load ratings

La Mercanti Srl — trusted supplier for design and contract projects since 1997.
San Benedetto del Tronto (AP), Italy · +39 0735 753833 · info@lamercanti.com
Supply, quotations, specifications and project support across the UK and worldwide.

Documents and Catalogues

Lem Catalogue Lapalma Catalogue Lapalma Outdoor Catalogue Lapalma Finishes & Materials

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FAQ

Can the same stool honestly work in a home and in a bar?
It is one of the few that can, because there is nothing on it that belongs to one setting only — no upholstery detail that reads domestic, no bulk that reads contract. Lapalma offers it for kitchen life and for reception, bar and restaurant areas alike, and the difference between the two is the covering you choose, not the piece.
What actually changes in the outdoor version?
The materials, never the silhouette. The frame, base and column move to shot-peened Aisi 316L stainless steel or polyester powder coating, the seat becomes curved plywood in an iroko finish or integral polyurethane, and the felt pads under the base become rubber. A terrace and an indoor counter can therefore read as one project.
Which covering suits which room?
Fenix laminate or lacquer where glasses land, leather where clients are received, wood where the room is quiet and you want the material to be the only decoration. Fabric if the stool should recede into the walls rather than sit against them.
Will it look dated in five years?
It has been in production since 2000 without a restyling, which is the only honest evidence anyone can give you. Lapalma still names it as the symbol of its style, and the current capsule collection updates the finish, not the drawing.
One instruction to pass to whoever looks after it?
Lift it by the structure, never by the seat. It is the line most often skipped in a manual and the one that decides how the stool holds together after a few thousand moves. Clean with a damp cloth or diluted neutral detergent, nothing alcohol-based.

Choosing one stool for a building with five different rooms

Five steps to make a single family cover the whole project.

List the rooms before the quantities
Kitchen, reception, cafe, restaurant, terrace. LEM covers all five, so the schedule becomes one line with variants rather than five separate purchases from five suppliers.
Split indoor from outdoor first
The outdoor version is a different code with different materials. Getting that split right at the start prevents the most common and most visible placement error.
Assign the covering room by room
Wet zones take Fenix or lacquer, client-facing zones take leather, quiet rooms take wood. The silhouette stays identical, so the building still reads as one hand.
Decide the frame colour last, and once
Satin chrome, a powder colour, or one of the three galvanic finishes. Keeping the frame constant across rooms is what makes the variations look intentional.
Order samples of the two you cannot picture
Wood and Fenix photograph almost identically and behave nothing alike in a room. Ten minutes with both settles an argument that otherwise runs for weeks.

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