This design takes inspiration from the concept that a sofa can go beyond being a piece of furniture and become a room within a room. With comfortable seat and backrest upholstery and the high, flexible side and back panels, the design creates a sheltered niche of privacy, a place of retreat.
The thick, plush look of the seat cushions is matched by their superlative comfort. Though softly padded, they provide adequate support so as to not sit too deeply. Combined with the quilted side and back panels – a hallmark feature of the entire Alcove family – and the pointed loose cushions, a cosy and relaxing nest is created.
Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, the Breton-born brothers, are the stars of European design and the most promising industrial designers to have emerged from France since Philippe Starck in the 1980s.
A combination of romanticism and functionality runs throughout both brothers’ work. Like all truly talented designers, the Bouroullecs have defined a distinctive visual style, which Jasper Morrison (one of the designers they most admire) described as “thoughtful and disciplined, with a real spirit and poetry”.