Catifa 53 design chair by Arper with polypropylene shell and steel legs

The bench version turns a corridor into a waiting area

Arper

Lievore Altherr Molina

Meeting room chair
Catifa 53 Meeting room chair
₹ 119.640

What did you have in mind?

Bespoke: size, colour, finish

Loose chairs in a corridor last about a week before they are all facing different directions. Catifa 53 Bench answers that with the same shells mounted on a white powdercoated metal frame, in two, three or four seats, and with the same finish options as the chairs.

We recommend it wherever seating has to stay put, and that covers more situations than people expect: entrance halls, clinic corridors, examination waiting areas, campus reception. The shells can be bare polypropylene where cleaning matters, or upholstered where the space is client facing, so the bench never looks like institutional furniture. Because the chairs share the shell, a lobby and the meeting rooms behind it belong visibly to the same project. Designed by Lievore Altherr Molina, 2001. La Mercanti sizes the bench against the wall before quoting.

Technical information based on data declared by the manufacturer.

Collection: Catifa 53, design chair for office, contract and public spaces
Manufacturer: Arper (Monastier di Treviso, Italy)
Design: Lievore Altherr Molina, 2001
Bench: Catifa 53 Bench in two, three or four seats, white powdercoated metal frame; fitted with polypropylene shells, upholstered shells, or shells with a removable cover in leather, coated fabric, fabric or customer's own material
Shell finishes: monocolour polypropylene · frontal upholstery · padded with non-removable cover and line stitching · padded with removable cover, four stitchings · hard leather
Shell: polypropylene; 2025 update declared by Arper: 100% recycled plastic from post-consumer and post-industrial materials, covers fully separable and glue-free
Chair bases: four legs in steel · four legs in solid oak (natural, bleached, wengé) · swivel trestle · sled · fixed trestle on self-braking castors · five-star swivel with gas-lift
Armrests: optional, steel and polypropylene, also upholstered
Assembly: no screws and no tools
Palette: enriched in 2016 with warm finishes and leather versions
Intended use: EN 16139 for non-domestic seating, general and extreme levels, as framed by Arper
Care: polypropylene and wood with a soft cloth and circular movements; never commercial stain removers or abrasives
Awards: FX International 2002 · Delta de Plata ADI-FAD 2003 · iF Product Design Gold 2006 · ICFF Editors Awards USA 2010

La Mercanti Srl — trusted supplier for design and contract projects since 1997.
San Benedetto del Tronto (AP), Italy · +39 0735 753833 · info@lamercanti.com
Supply, quotations, specifications and project support across India and worldwide.

Documents and Catalogues

Arper Catalogue Arper News Catalogue Arper Outdoor Catalogue Catifa Finishes & Materials Arper Arper for Hospitality Arper Arper for Education Arper Arper for Healthcare Catifa GREENGUARD Gold Certificate Arper Case Studies Catifa CAD & 3D Files

FAQ

How is a Catifa 53 shell cleaned day to day?
With a soft cloth and circular movements, as Arper indicates for polypropylene and wood. Commercial stain removers and abrasive products are excluded.
What happens if a strong cleaner is used once?
The risk is not dirt, it is the surface. A single aggressive product can dull a shell that would otherwise have lasted years, and the mark stays visible.
Are removable covers washed separately?
The removable cover exists precisely so the textile can be handled on its own. Fixed covers and leather follow the manufacturer's own instructions for the material.
Who should receive the cleaning instructions?
Whoever holds the cloth. In most buildings the chair is cleaned by a contractor who never saw the order, so the instruction has to reach them in writing.
Does the bench need different care from the chairs?
The shells are the same, so the routine is the same. Only the frame changes, and it is metal, powdercoated white.

How to spread five upholstery levels across one building

A room by room method that keeps one chair family.

List the rooms by how often they are wiped
Daily cleaning and textile rarely belong together.
Give the canteen the bare shell
Monocolour polypropylene takes a wipe without complaint.
Give meeting rooms the frontal upholstery
It pads the surface people actually touch and nothing else.
Give reception the removable cover
A space that will be refreshed benefits from a textile that comes off.
Keep leather for the boardroom
One room, one level, and the budget goes where it is seen.