PLATON SOFA

On Platon the arm is the design. It is cut with a bevel, rounded at the top and narrowed toward the front, so the sofa looks different from every angle you approach it. The seat runs into the base in one volume and sits low to the floor, with no leg showing anywhere.

The arm

A bevelled, narrowing arm is the hardest shape to upholster on a plain sofa: the leather has to be eased over a compound curve with no tufting and no piping to hide a pull mark, and the bevel has to stay crisp after the foam settles. It is done by hand over a kiln-dried beech frame, and it is the reason this model takes longer in production than a square-armed sofa of the same size.

A seat that meets the floor

With the base closed and no visible legs, Platon reads as a single mass rather than a frame with cushions on it. That makes it settle into a room without a rug under it to anchor it — and it means the floor behind it is not visible, so it works against a wall rather than floating in the middle of a space.

Colourways

Shown in tan, cognac, olive, stone, burgundy, light grey, black and dark brown. Beyond those, any of seventy-six leather shades across twelve families, or fabric. High-resilience foam with a sprung seat; the firmness is specified at the time of order, and on a low sofa a firmer seat makes standing up easier.

Sizes

Three standard widths, listed above — 240, 210 and 110 cm, all 100 cm deep and 76 cm high. Adjustable per project; the arm bevel is re-cut to the new width so the proportion holds.

Where it belongs

A contemporary living room, an apartment, a showroom. Low and closed at the base, it keeps sightlines open across a room, which suits open-plan spaces with a view to protect.