Designer desks Lay by Archiutti with light grey tops and red structure in an open-plan office

Designer desks that grow out of a forty-centimetre module: Lay by Archiutti

Archiutti
Desk with return and credenza
Lay The piece that makes the room Desk with return and credenza
£ 4,189

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Trade terms for professionals and design studios

Most storage ranges give you a catalogue of cabinets. Lay gives you one box and a rule. The box is 40 cm high and 40 cm deep (15.7 by 15.7 in), in four widths, open or with a door; the rule is that it can be turned round and flipped through 180 degrees, so the same unit serves as a shelf on one side of the room and as a closed compartment on the other. Stacked, it becomes a bookcase; laid along a bench, a low spine between desks; set on feet, a wall.

Around that module Archiutti has drawn the whole office, designer desk included. Desks run from 100 to 200 cm (39 to 79 in) on oval-section steel legs that meet in a U-shaped die-cast aluminium joint, painted white, red, blue, green or anthracite; tops come in 18 mm melamine, 12 mm CDF or, on the executive version, Canaletto walnut. The concept and creative direction are by Margherita Rui, the product design by e-ggs. The same structure carries the executive desk, the manager's desk resting on a side unit, the operative desk and bench, and the meeting tables, so a floor can be furnished from one drawing.

La Mercanti draws that module plan with you before the order, counts the units room by room, and delivers Lay to the UK and worldwide with the doors hung on the side you asked for.

Technical information based on data declared by the manufacturer.

Collection: Lay, Archiutti (Treviso, Italy) — concept, creative and design direction Margherita Rui (dogtrot), product design e-ggs.

Type: designer desk programme for operative, meeting, executive and breakout areas.

Versions: executive desk 180 / 200 / 220 cm (70.9 / 78.7 / 86.6 in) × 90 cm (35.4 in), also as executive table without side unit; manager’s desk 140–180 cm (55.1–70.9 in) × 80 cm (31.5 in) resting on a 160 × 40 cm (63 × 15.7 in) storage unit; operative desk 100–200 cm (39.4–78.7 in) × 80 cm (31.5 in), or 60 cm (23.6 in) deep; bench for 2, 4 or 6 seats, 140–540 cm (55.1–212.6 in) × 164 cm (64.6 in); meeting tables.

Height: 75 cm (29.5 in); height-adjustable legs from 67 to 85 cm (26.4–33.5 in) in 20 mm (0.8 in) steps on the 120–180 cm desks.

Structure: U-shaped joint in die-cast aluminium, epoxy powder coated in red, blue, anthracite, olive green or white; tubular steel legs with 50 × 25 mm (2 × 1 in) oval section, coated to match; ABS levelling foot with 5 mm (0.2 in) travel; joint cover and plastic end cap in the same finish.

Tops: melamine 18 mm (0.7 in) in white, light grey, dove grey, light oak, Canaletto walnut, blue, green or anthracite; CDF (Compact Density Fibreboard) 12 mm (0.5 in) in white, blue, green or anthracite; Canaletto walnut veneer 18 mm (0.7 in) on the executive desk. Tops longer than 280 cm (110.2 in) are made in two pieces.

Cable management: powder-coated steel duct with ABS end caps, repositionable under-top cable tray, optional sliding-top kit with five-position spring pin, optional top access in black or white, cable sleeve, desktop socket with 2 Schuko, socket tower with 3 Schuko and 2 USB.

Storage modules: 18 mm melamine, 40 cm (15.7 in) high and deep, 40 / 60 / 80 / 160 cm (15.7 / 23.6 / 31.5 / 63 in) wide, open or with door (lock on request), stackable and reversible; niches 20 or 40 cm (7.9 or 15.7 in) deep; finishing top in 12 mm lacquer or CDF, or 18 mm melamine; three bases (operative bench, support bench, feet); without wall fixing up to three 40 cm (15.7 in) modules or one 40 cm (15.7 in) plus one 80 cm (31.5 in).

Executive storage: side unit 210 × 60 × 65 cm (82.7 × 23.6 × 25.6 in) with doors, drawers and technical compartments, right or left; low credenza 200 × 50 × 75 cm (78.7 × 19.7 × 29.5 in) with niche or with two drawers; executive bookcases 160 / 200 / 240 cm (63 / 78.7 / 94.5 in) wide, 105 or 144 cm (41.3 or 56.7 in) high, push-pull doors.

Meeting tables: soft-shaped six-seater 244 or 297 × 128 cm (96.1 or 116.9 × 50.4 in) with double joint; rectangular 200–300 cm (78.7–118.1 in) × 107 / 128 / 140 cm (42.1 / 50.4 / 55.1 in); high table 160–200 cm (63–78.7 in) × 80 cm (31.5 in), 95 cm (37.4 in) high; round 140 or 160 cm (55.1 or 63 in).

Finishes: lacquer in white, blue, green, anthracite or red; metal in white, anthracite, red, blue, green (plus aluminium grey on executive pieces); screens in melange fabric; bench lamp in painted MDF in the structure colours.

Accessories: pedestal with tray, painted metal drawer, document rubber band, pencil holder, paper tray, oval and round trays; desk screens 120–200 cm (47.2–78.7 in), screen on legs 164 cm (64.6 in) high; break cabinet with compartment for an optional fridge.

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

Lay Catalogue

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FAQ

Can the Lay legs be adjusted in height?
Yes: the 120 to 180 cm desks come with legs that adjust from 67 to 85 cm in 20 mm steps, so the desk is set once for the person who will use it, and re-set when the desk changes hands.
What is CDF, the 12 mm top?
Compact Density Fibreboard: a dense wood-fibre panel that lets the Lay top drop from 18 to 12 mm. It comes in white, blue, green and anthracite and is used on operative desks, on the executive desk and on the meeting tables.
What does the executive side unit contain?
The 210 cm side unit is 60 cm deep and 65 cm high and holds doors, drawers and technical compartments; it is ordered right- or left-handed, so the desk top rests on the side that suits the room.
How many people sit at a Lay bench?
Two on the 140, 160 or 180 cm bench, four on the 280, 320 or 360, six on the 420, 480 or 540 cm version; every bench is 164 cm deep, and tops beyond 280 cm are made in two pieces.
Which colours does the top access come in?
Only black or white: Archiutti keeps the optional cable port neutral so it reads as a technical detail, while the joint, the legs and the duct take the structure colour you chose.

How to roll out Lay across a floor in stages

Five steps to introduce the Lay programme one department at a time without the later phases looking like a different range.

Fix the palette on day one
Choose the structure colour and the top finish for Lay before the first order, and write both into the project file: later phases will match them.
Start with the shared spaces
Meeting tables and the break area from Lay are the pieces everyone sees: furnishing them first gives the floor its identity while the desks follow.
Order desks by department
Group the Lay operative desks and benches by team and by delivery date, so each department receives its own complete set.
Keep the storage codes on file
Note the widths, doors and finishing tops used in phase one; the next Lay order repeats the same codes and the spine keeps one line.
Plan the executive area last
The Lay executive desk, the side unit and the credenza need the room measured with the doors hung: schedule them once the floor is in place.

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