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Trade terms for professionals and design studios
Low seat, side table, footrest. Emeco gives all three jobs to Za Mini, the low stool that joined the Za family, and calls it a multifunctional companion. It stands 35 cm high on a 45 × 45 cm footprint, carries the same 28 × 28 cm top as its taller siblings and weighs 1.81 kg. That last figure matters most, because a piece this light does get carried from one job to the next.
In the photographs Emeco publishes, a coral one stands next to a bookcase with a pile of books and a cup on it. Naoto Fukasawa designed the family in 2021, and each piece is handmade in Hanover, Pennsylvania, from recycled aluminium, to live inside or outside. Add a felt or leather pad when it is mostly sat on; leave the metal bare when it mostly holds things. The Mini is the first rung of a ladder of designer stools in aluminium.
The other three go up by height. Za Small Stool is 48 cm, Za Counter Stool 64 cm and Za Barstool 76 cm, the one that lines up along the counter of an office pantry. All four are metal from top to floor and come brushed by hand, polished by hand, which is the indoor finish, or with a powder coat chosen from six colours. La Mercanti asks which of the three uses comes first in your room before it suggests how many, because a side table and a seat are counted differently.
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Emeco answers in the paper it publishes on its aluminium: the metal is non-corrosive, and the company calls it perfect for outdoor use in any weather, even by the sea. That is a statement about Emeco aluminium in general. For Za specifically, the finishes approved for outdoors are the hand brushed, anodised one and the powder coats. A seafront café or a resort deck can therefore specify the stool on the maker's own words, with the polished version kept for the interiors.
Two greys, Dark Grey and White Grey; then Coral Orange, Green, Light Blue and Sweater Brown. They are powder coats, each identified by an NCS code, and the brochure says the six reflect the joyful spirit of the collection. The felt pads are made in six matching colours, so stool and pad can agree or deliberately differ. If the room already has a strong colour, pick the stool second: it is easier to fit six options to a wall than a wall to a stool.
Naoto Fukasawa, in 2021. The brochure describes Za as a modest and humble stool and says his attention is on purposeful simplicity, which it calls a perfect match with the company's own heritage in aluminium craftsmanship. In Emeco's images that reads as a round, domed seat on four legs and little else. For a buyer it means a piece that will not argue with the furniture already in the room.
Emeco declares 7.82 kg CO2e for the Za Mini in hand brushed aluminium, cradle-to-gate, verified with the 2030 Calculator. The split is: material acquisition 1.59 kg (20%), material processing 2.26 kg (29%), assembly 1.51 kg (19%), packaging 2.45 kg (31%) and distribution 0 kg. Assembly here means the whole build in the factory, and distribution is zero because everything is stored at the factory. The figure belongs to that model in that finish, so quote it with both named.
No. Each one is delivered fully assembled, and Emeco packs them one or two to a box. The outer box is recycled cardboard; the inner packing is recycled cardboard, recycled plastic and PE foam, and all of it is 100% recyclable. Each box also names where the stool was made, the USA. For a site team this means no fitter is needed for the stools: they are unpacked, checked and placed.
Aluminium asks little of the people who look after it, and Emeco says what it tolerates. These five habits cover the finish, the cleaning products, the floor beneath and the one part that wears.
Look at which Za you have. The hand brushed one is matt, with a clear anodised surface; the hand polished one shines and is the indoor finish; the third is a powder coat in colour. What Emeco says about bleach and pressure washing refers to the anodised finish, so the care routine starts with this distinction.
Emeco states that its anodised finish can be cleaned with bleach and can be pressure washed. It adds that the metal has non-bacterial properties and suits sensitive settings such as healthcare. In a pantry or a cafeteria that means the brushed stool can be cleaned as thoroughly as the hygiene routine demands.
The four stools weigh between 1.81 and 2.77 kg. Emeco points out that its light aluminium furniture is easier to handle, to lift for cleaning underneath and to move when a room is rearranged. Ask the housekeeping team to lift the stools clear of the floor when they mop, and to set them back where they stood.
Emeco describes its aluminium as non-corrosive and perfect for outdoor use in any weather. Stools with the brushed or the powder coat finish are the ones approved for outdoors, so after a shower they are wiped and put back to use. Keep the polished stool for the rooms inside, where its shine belongs.
The glides are the part in contact with the floor, and Emeco treats them as wearing parts that can be replaced easily. Those fitted as standard are hard polycarbonate; felt ones are offered for hard floors indoors. Look at them whenever the floor is cleaned and change a worn set in good time.
