Creativity and savoir faire, turnkey projects, sustainability, the environment and the values that have emerged in the last two years will be the basis for a fairer, cleaner future. The contract furnishings sector has embraced these elements and believe there is no going back. As Costa Group explained.

“The materials we use to create food and hospitality are innovative and low impact, and were obtained by pursuing policies based on making ongoing improvements to environmental and energy performance that were ultimately aimed at reducing wastage of non-renewable resources.”

Examples include floor and wall coverings made using a marble-effect photo-catalytic ceramic that has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties, and is odour-free, self-cleaning and non-polluting. And then there are water-based paints with a lower volatile organic compound content than that in solvent-based polyurethane paints. Finally, natural, high-quality bio-materials that are naturally sourced, easily retrievable and renewable. “Iron, wood, glass and cotton also give a sense of authenticity and elegance.”

At the Aurum and Vitrum Luxury Suites in Como, many of the furnishings are salvaged items, found abandoned on Italy’s streets, restored by the craft workers at Costa Group, and now the stars of the show. Meanwhile, in a collaboration with Autogrill, coffee grounds have undergone a transformation process inspired by the principles of the circular economy: they are mixed with natural resins to give rise to an innovative material for the production of panels, counters and tables on which other cups of coffee are served.

“Among the main trends we have noticed in the hospitality sector, there is continued interest in furnishings for the outdoor spaces of cafés, restaurants, and hotels,” say Pedrali. “These are spaces that are increasingly being designed to ensure the wellbeing of their users, offering an opportunity to escape from reality.”

The idea is to take the typical comfort of indoor furnishings outside.

Demand is tending towards versatile products that respond to spatial reconfiguration requirements to suit the needs of the moment. But also towards finding materials that are high quality and durable.

On the environmental front, in 2021 Pedrali completed the study of its Corporate Carbon Footprint, certified as conforming to UNI EN ISO 14064-1:2019 standards. It has installed over 3,000 photovoltaic panels in its factories. In 2020 it presented the first collections made of recycled polypropylene, half of it from post-consumer waste material (sourced from separate waste collections) and half from industrial plastic waste material.

Its timber-made products are certified, and for the wooden collections water-based paints are used that are mostly made from resins of plant origin. “40% of the raw material for these paints comes from waste plant material, and they offer durability, resistance to chemicals and to light, and an industrial workability comparable to traditional petroleum-based products, but with a sharp reduction in the fossil component,” the company says in conclusion.