Catifa 53 design chair by Arper with polypropylene shell and four-leg steel base

One Catifa 53 shell, five ways to dress it

Arper

Lievore Altherr Molina

Meeting room chair
Catifa 53 Meeting room chair
£ 1,103

What did you have in mind?

Bespoke: size, colour, finish

Specifying a chair for a whole building usually means choosing between comfort and budget, room by room. Catifa 53, the design chair Arper built its identity on, avoids that by keeping one shell and offering five ways to finish it: bare polypropylene, upholstery on the front face only, padded with a fixed cover, padded with a removable cover in four stitchings, or covered in hard leather.

Our advice is to use the range rather than average it out. The bare shell belongs in the canteen where chairs get wiped down daily; front-only upholstery is the honest compromise for meeting rooms, since it pads exactly the surface people touch; the removable cover suits reception areas that will be refreshed in five years; leather is for the boardroom. Same silhouette throughout, so the building still reads as one project. Designed by Lievore Altherr Molina, 2001. La Mercanti maps the five levels onto the room schedule before quoting.

Technical information based on data declared by the manufacturer.

Collection: Catifa 53, design chair for office, contract and public spaces
Manufacturer: Arper (Monastier di Treviso, Italy)
Design: Lievore Altherr Molina, 2001
Shell finishes: monocolour polypropylene · polypropylene with frontal upholstery · upholstered with non-removable cover and line stitching · upholstered with removable cover, four stitching types · covered in hard leather
Shell: polypropylene; in the 2025 update Arper states a shell made with 100% recycled plastic from post-consumer and post-industrial materials, with covers fully separable and glue-free
Bases: four legs in chromed or powdercoated steel · four legs in solid oak (natural, bleached, wengé) · swivel trestle in polished or powdercoated aluminium · steel sled · fixed trestle on self-braking castors · five-star swivel base on castors with gas-lift
Bench: Catifa 53 Bench in two, three or four seats, white powdercoated metal frame
Armrests: optional, in steel and polypropylene, also upholstered, according to the base
Castors: self-braking, colour matched to the base, usable on hard and soft floors
Palette: in 2016 the range was enriched with warm finishes and leather versions
Assembly: no screws and no tools, as indicated in the manufacturer's diagram
Intended use: Arper refers non-domestic seating to EN 16139, distinguishing a general level and an extreme level
Awards: FX International Interior Design Award 2002 · Delta de Plata ADI-FAD 2003 · iF Product Design Gold Award 2006 · ICFF Editors Awards USA 2010

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

Arper Catalogue Arper News Catalogue Arper Outdoor Catalogue Catifa Finishes & Materials Arper Arper for Hospitality Arper Arper for Education Arper Arper for Healthcare Catifa GREENGUARD Gold Certificate Arper Case Studies Catifa CAD & 3D Files

FAQ

Which Catifa 53 bases come with castors?
The fixed trestle runs on self-braking castors, and the five-star swivel base pairs castors with a gas lift. The other bases are static by design.
Do the castors work on carpet as well as hard floors?
Arper states them as usable on both hard and soft floors, and colour matched to the base. What changes is the effort to move, not the compatibility.
What does self-braking actually mean here?
The castor holds still when the chair is empty and rolls when it is loaded. In a meeting room it stops the row drifting apart between sessions.
Are castors a maintenance item?
They collect what the floor carries, so a periodic check is sensible. The gas cylinder underneath them is a different matter and stays with authorised personnel.
When are castors the wrong choice?
Where chairs are meant to stay in line: a canteen, a lecture room, a waiting area. There the sled base does the job with less floor contact.

How to reorder Catifa 53 years after the first delivery

Five checks before a top-up order joins an existing set.

Start from the base code, not the photograph
The shell looks the same across configurations; the base is what identifies the item.
Note the shell finish level
Bare, front upholstered, fixed cover, removable cover or leather: the level has to be written down.
Record the stitching
On the removable cover four stitching types exist, and they are visible side by side.
Check the palette date
The 2016 range added warm finishes, so a tone name alone can be ambiguous.
Ask us to match against the original order
La Mercanti reads the previous configuration before quoting a top-up.

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