It is in the basement of Morning Gallieni, a brutalist building from the 1960s, that you will find the workshop of Morning's cabinetmakers. In this 140 m² space, which still bears the traces of the street artists who once took it over, machines and materials rub shoulders with prototypes and the expertise of our cabinetmakers and designers.
The team dedicated to Morning fit-outs is nearly 80 strong, including a large number of architects and construction managers. Within that group, a smaller unit is devoted to producing our furniture pieces. No fewer than six cabinetmakers work hand in hand with five designers. Their collaboration, from design to delivery, brings to life pieces that form part of large-scale fit-out projects and answer very specific uses and configurations.
Their craftsmanship comes through in both bespoke creations and catalogue pieces, giving each space its own character.
Bespoke pieces to accommodate particular uses and volumes
From design to delivery
Every day, we create bespoke pieces such as coffee bars, bookcases and reception desks. The furniture team makes it a point of honour to meet our clients' specific needs by designing and building pieces that fit seamlessly into their workspaces.
When a new fit-out project gets under way, the architects turn to their colleagues on the furniture team to "order" bespoke pieces that meet specific integration constraints. While the request comes mainly from Morning's architects, some internal departments such as IT may have particular needs of their own.
What follows is a process of co-creation between designers and cabinetmakers. The aim: to answer the stated need as closely as possible, while taking technical and budgetary constraints into account. The designers start by producing a 3D sketch showing the intended volumes, footprints and joins.
The cabinetmakers then take over, refining every detail to the nearest millimetre and making sure the designers' ideas are technically feasible. Using the 3D modelling software Rhino, they produce ultra-precise technical drawings that take account of every manufacturing constraint.
Constant dialogue and adjustments during the design phase make it possible to confirm that the pieces can be made while still meeting the expectations of the architects or end clients. This flexibility is made possible by close collaboration between everyone involved. The sketches drawn up by the designers are debated and reworked with the cabinetmakers. Even the 3D modelling is a chance to fine-tune the details together before starting production.
This close working relationship allows the team to meet often-tight deadlines on an accessible budget. As a rule, you should allow around a month and a half between design and installation, without having to compromise on the quality of the pieces delivered.
A closer look at the bespoke work
Plenty of projects showcase this "bespoke" expertise. For the Cambacérès project, the designers and cabinetmakers created a reception desk, intimate alcoves, a bookcase and a welcoming tea point, producing a variety of spaces tailored to users' different needs.
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Morning has also put its expertise at the service of external clients, as with 35 Louvre, where it created a bespoke reception desk.
On the Poissonnière reception desk project, for example, the initial proposal, which featured a great deal of solid-wood detailing, had to be revised for reasons of feasibility, cost and weight. The cabinetmakers opted for reconstituted wood and solid oak with an oiled finish. To keep to budget, the glass originally planned was replaced by a honeycomb polycarbonate to create a privacy screen.
Once the pieces have been finished by the cabinetmakers to millimetre precision, they are pre-assembled in the workshop before being installed on site. For the four-metre reception desk at Morning Poissonnière, installation took just three days thanks to careful anticipation of the constraints.
To keep improving, the team recently invested in new machines that improve both working conditions and precision. This will help optimise the schedule and run several projects at once.
Producing a furniture catalogue in-house
References to suit every use
Over the past four years, our designers have developed a catalogue of furniture pieces that is constantly evolving. With more than 20 references, ranging from desks to meeting tables and storage units, the catalogue meets every workspace need.
The development of this range was prompted by an internal need. For its own spaces, the Morning team could not find desks suited to the way they worked. The designers decided to create them themselves, before broadening their thinking to other products such as lockers and meeting tables, which are now among the most requested.
Environmental impact is at the heart of the design process. Each new project is a chance to explore ways of optimising, as with the lockers reworked to use less material without compromising their quality or sturdiness.
Another distinctive feature of the Morning approach: every product undergoes real-life testing before joining the catalogue. For a few weeks, the prototypes are placed within the Morning team's own space. The idea is to make the most of the team's daily use to gather feedback and criticism, and to refine whatever needs refining.
Another hallmark of the catalogue offering is the care taken over the origin of the materials and of our makers. Behind every reference are French companies, often family-run, chosen for their unique expertise. Their geographical proximity makes genuine collaboration possible, allowing us to adjust certain designs and material choices to match our partners' industrial capabilities.
For instance, the "stool" reference in our catalogue was developed with Regnier, who specialise in bending moulded plywood. After visiting their factories, our designers created a beech plywood (stable and strong) that took account of their production constraints, particularly their moulding structures.
Day to day, the furniture team works with a dozen or so companies and enters into one-off partnerships to meet very specific needs. This closeness to our makers gives us greater responsiveness and flexibility, something that would be impossible with suppliers on the other side of the world.
A closer look at our latest references
Two new references produced in 2024 reveal our ability to meet specific needs, tied to a particular place in the first case and to a specific use in the second.
A Wi-Fi stele to leave the walls in peace:
The Wi-Fi stele developed for the Morning Trévise space is a perfect illustration. Faced with the impossibility of installing conventional Wi-Fi access points in a listed building, our team of designers came up with a dedicated piece of furniture, capable of broadcasting the signal without spoiling the look of the place.
The IT team came back to the designers when Morning Panoramas opened, having run into the same constraints as at Morning Trévise. The designers therefore redesigned the Wi-Fi stele V2, taking the IT team's feedback on board.
It was while visiting the cabinetmakers' workshop that the designers came across an offcut of a material they found really interesting, both for its looks and for the way it lets waves pass through easily: corrugated cardboard. That is how the Wi-Fi stele V2 came into being.
A TV screen stand for easy installation:
The team also developed a stand for meeting-room screens. The designers found that the existing models – often made on the other side of the world – were impractical, expensive and unattractive. The challenge, then, was to come up with a product that could improve on all three points, notably with a universal mounting system able to take any screen format.
To achieve this, the team opted for a minimal structure in solid wood, with metal bars allowing height and width adjustment. The wood brings a touch of warmth, while the finishes are worked to blend into any environment.
This ingenious, low-cost system has the advantage that it can be installed by a single person, with no need to hold the screen during assembly. A real benefit for an object with a very simple design that could well win a fair few people over!
Our team is available to assist you.
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