From precision engineering to sculptural seating: Peter Harvey

Few designers start where Peter Harvey did. His background, as he describes it, runs through precision engineering, visual merchandising and interior architecture before arriving at design, and he calls his work a cross-pollination of all of them: the tolerances of an engineer, the eye of someone who once dressed shop windows, the spatial sense of an interior architect. His London studio works across furniture, light fittings and glassware for homes and commercial interiors, and his current research looks at new processes in ceramics, glass and acrylic.

That mix shows in the two pieces he designed for LaCividina. Mon Coeur is a sofa drawn as one continuous curve, with padding in fire-retardant foam of different densities; Nautile is a rounded armchair the company compares to an ammonite. For Indian offices, hotels and residences, La Mercanti pairs them in waiting areas where a single striking piece sets the tone of the room.