Albed is a brand of Delmonte, an Italian company founded in 1964, based on the production of accessories in aluminium, wood and glass.
These ones are the reference materials even now, but the company’s catalogue (that in the meantime has moved its headquarter to the province of Monza e Brianza, one of the Italian design’s districts par excellence) doesn’t offer only furnishings anymore, but also doors, partition walls and accessories, regularly crafted both through an industrialized process and in an artisanal way, in order to satisfy every customization requirement and to solve the various design issues.
Interview with Andrea Delmonte, CEO Albed.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Andrea Delmonte: We work without distinctions in the fields of architecture, construction and interior design, referring to more targets.
Our stakeholders are indeed architects, but also furniture retailers, construction companies and final consumers, that have the strong desire to personalize their home, their office or an hotel, with customized solutions, produced with top quality materials.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
A.D: With Alfonso Femia’s studio / AF*Design we have recently introduced Entre-Deux door to the market, which has a thin metal frame that projects both sides, creating a precious portal.
The original idea behind this highly decorative element is deep and conceptual: the door must be seen as a connecting factor, a bridge between two spaces in direct connection, rather than as a separating element between two environments.
The novelty of this year has actually a more technical appeal, and offers new versions as concerns profiles and hinges, that allow a greater load capacity of the door panel: it is therefore possible to work on its coating with more freedom, by opting for materials up to 6 mm thick.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
A.D: Albed’s core business is nowadays the door system: classic hinged doors or coplanar to the walls, pocket doors, sliding doors, pivot doors, covered or in particular finishes.
We talk about “system” because the concept of opening cannot be solved by choosing a product for its design, but needs to start from a previous step, such as a specific construction site problem or a need, that can be easily fixed by installing the correct opening.
The attention to details, as well as the studying of particular hinges or high-quality products designed by big names such as Karim Rashid, Alfonso Femia / AF*Design and Daniele Lo Scalzo Moscheri, but more importantly the artisanal approach to work, with great possibility of customization, have allowed Albed to carve out a concrete space in the international market and to enlarge the proposal with other products, such as partition walls, walk-in closets and some accessories.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
A.D: Far too often the door is seen as a technical element, part of the envelop, and not as a project capable of expressing the identity of those who choose it, despite being undoubtedly one of the objects with which we interact the most during a day.
The work that we and other companies in the sector are carrying out consists in informing the public (design studios, companies, professionals and individuals) about the design and expression possibilities offered by openings and about how much they can affect the overall character of a project, both from the point of view of usability and aesthetics.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
A.D: The tendency to create customized projects in everything, from the dimensions to the finishes, is predominant and still growing. The solutions in the catalogue are increasingly seen as a starting point to give life life to an ideal product: in this situation we find a good familiarity, given by our background – as well as our present – deeply artisanal, able to satisfy almost every requirement. Artisanship is a typical characteristic of Italian companies, which does not exclude the presence and use of the latest technologies, but which definitely allows to maintain a strong flexibility of the offer, in order to always meet the needs of customers.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
A.D: Flush-to-the-wall doors are always an interesting design challenge. We have designed a system that is coplanar to the wall on both sides and we are planning to introduce to the market, in 2022, a new solution that, thanks to innovative profiles and hinges, can hold greater weights on the door panel and allow covering with ceramics or other materials of considerable thickness.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2022?
A.D: Strengthening some non-European reference markets is certainly one of our main goals for 2022, as well as a closer relationship with customers and design studios, through communication activities, events and marketing projects.
On the horizon there is also the opening of a new showroom in the heart of Rome, a very significant step for us, which follows the latest opening of our main showroom in the heart of Milan, that took place in September 2021.
Currently we are represented in Romania, a commercially profitable country, by a connection that we will definitely boost in the upcoming period and with which we are considering various communication and business activities.