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Trade terms for professionals and design studios
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Trade terms for professionals and design studios
Cut a section through a good sofa and you find webbing: elastic straps tensioned across the frame, carrying the body before any foam does. Cut a section through a Valea and you find the same thing. ICF stretches elastic webbing straps across the steel tube skeleton to support and distribute body weight, then moulds cold-foamed polyurethane over them in varying thicknesses. It is the construction grammar of residential upholstery applied to a boss chair — which is why the declared comfort feels built-in rather than added on.
On that base the collection builds two families for Indian offices: Valea Chair with its ribbed fabric or leather cover in meeting, visitor and low conversation versions, and Valea Soft with a full-surface padded cushion for the cabin. Backs low, high or with headrest, widths of 52 to 71 cm, six metal finishes from polished to bronze, and a stacking visitor chair for training days. La Mercanti delivers the collection to India with samples first — the webbing you cannot see, judged through the comfort you can.
Collection: Valea Chair (Elle, Esse, Lounge, Cantilever designs) and Valea Soft — by ICF, Vignate (Milan)
Codes: Valea Elle VAL.405–819, Valea Esse VAS.408–817, Valea Lounge VAK.405–808 (fixed height, four-star base on glides, with or without aluminium armrests); Valea Soft VLS, VSS and VKS; cantilever VLC.408/608 and, in the Soft version, VLCS.408/608
Structure: rigid frame of steel tubes; elastic webbing straps tensioned across the frame to support and distribute body weight; cold-foamed polyurethane padding of variable thickness; exposed load-bearing elements in die-cast aluminium, polished, chromed or powder-coated
Valea Chair upholstery: fabric or leather moulded onto a layer of flexible polyurethane, creating the characteristic horizontal ribbing; double-profile stitching on sides and back
Valea Soft upholstery: smooth cover enriched by an overlaid padded polyurethane cushion with visible perimeter stitching
Backs: low, high, or with headrest (.8 series); low conversation design with fixed seat at 41 cm (Soft 44 cm), total heights 76/92/110 cm
Sizes: width 61 cm with armrests, 52 cm without (conversation design 62/71 cm); depth 51 cm (Elle), 47 cm (Esse and Elle Soft), 44 cm (Esse Soft); seat heights 41–53 cm fixed, 45–61 cm adjustable; total heights up to 133 cm
Visitor version: round-section steel tube base whose flexibility absorbs the dynamic force of sitting down; plastic armrests with rounded edges; stackable — up to 6 units growing just 30 mm per chair, the stacked weight carried by purpose-designed armrest covers (black plastic, 115) — or non-stackable
Mechanisms: gas lift 12 cm, EN 16955:2017; tilt up to 13° with forward pivot point, tension knob, lock in 4 positions plus safety lock; auto-return standard on four-star bases; the conversation design swivels multidirectionally without a gas column
Bases: four- or five-star, die-cast aluminium; castors Ø 50 mm with soft tread and EN 12529:2001 safety brake, top cover in chromed zama or black plastic; nylon glides Ø 37 mm
Finishes: polished (47), chromed (55), powder-coated white (100), black (115), bronze (120), silk grey (R22)
Upholstery card: fabrics cat. B Atlantic (17 colours), Mini (7), Tonal (15); cat. C Cura (15), Mini Melange (9), Sealife (10), Step (8), Step Melange (8), Sotega (5); cat. F Breeze Fusion (5), Grain (10); E leather (15 colours); Valea Soft and Cantilever Soft add H Premium Leather (10). Product page: OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 on Mini, Mini Melange, Sealife and Step; Sealife fabric with Seaqual yarn, Global Recycled Standard
Leather: category E full-grain cowhide, 1.2–1.4 mm thick; category H Premium Leather, full-grain cowhide 1.2–1.3 mm thick, leather of Italian origin to UNI EN 16484 and Der Blaue Engel RAL UZ 148; flame-retardant leather on request
ICF fabrics: in the categories available for the model. Mini and Mini Melange in Trevira CS: UNI 9175 class 1 IM, DIN 4102 B1, IMO Part 8; Step and Step Melange in Trevira CS with IMO MSC 307(88) and MED certificate; Bravo, Cura, Sealife, Tale and Tonal in post-consumer recycled polyester with Global Recycled Standard and OEKO-TEX Standard 100, Sealife with Seaqual yarn; Atlantic in polyester with EU Ecolabel; Breeze Fusion 88% wool and 12% polyamide; Sotega 73% PVC on cotton; Martindale abrasion from 50,000–110,000 cycles
Customer's own material: provided for in the price list, subject to ICF checking the material is suitable; indicative quantity from 1.5 m of fabric to 6 m² of leather depending on the model
Care and maintenance: fabric with a vacuum cleaner and upholstery nozzle, stains with a dry cleaning agent, never rotating brushes or water; mesh with a soft brush or sponge and water with detergent; leather and hide kept away from direct sunlight and heat sources, cleaned two or three times a year with Leather Soft Cleaner and protected with Leather Protection Cream; aluminium with a soft cloth, water and neutral soap, never solvents or abrasives; plastic parts with soap and water
Spare parts and accessories: set of five castors, glides, pairs of polished or chromed aluminium armrests, partial armrest covering in leather or, for Valea Soft, in Premium Leather
Weight and recyclability: Valea Chair approx. 15.4 kg, Valea Soft approx. 15.8 kg; both approx. 93% recyclable when components are fully and correctly separated (VAL.609 / VLS.609 data)
Certifications: Valea Chair EN 16139:2013 level 1, ANSI-BIFMA X5.1; VOC emission report (DE-UZ 117, RAL GZ 430, EU Ecolabel, FEMB), CAM and LEED v4/v4.1 and Ansi Bifma 7.6.1-3 with Mini and Mini Melange fabrics only; fire class 1 IM with Atlantic, Mini, Mini Melange, Sotega and leather. Valea Soft EN 16139:2013 level 1, ANSI-BIFMA X5.1, 1 IM with leather
Eco-design: no formaldehyde, no hexavalent chrome; every component can be dismantled for repair, reuse and recycling
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Five steps carry a floor plan to a complete Valea order — rooms, sizes, finishes and samples in sequence.
