Marialaura Rossiello Irvine signs S 5000 Retreat, a modular system both in the home to create a smart working station and in hotels, offices, co-working spaces

S 5000 Retreat, designed by Marialaura Rossiello Irvine for Thonet, is a modular system made up of sofas and seats separated by dividers, which can be integrated with tables, cushions and power sockets for versatile use both in the residential sphere and in "new" contexts work ". A "room-in-room" solution that allows you to work in maximum privacy but also in compliance with the rules of distancing. The basic module is an upholstered sofa with one, two or three seats, with a tubular steel base without backrest and side components; depending on the needs, armrests and backrests or dividers that protect from sight and noise can be fixed to the frame. The sofa can be enriched with cushions of different sizes and with tables mounted on the tubular steel frame. The S 5000 Retreat model can be placed both in the home, to create a smart working station (in the armchair version), and in the larger variant in hotel lobbies, office lounges, co-working spaces or meeting rooms. waiting. The formal and minimalist language typical of Thonet products, with S 5000 Retreat is softened thanks to the historic material and chromatic research of the Irvine studio, with the possibility of playing with the countless materials, colors and sizes available. S 500 Retreat was born from the reflection on conscious investments and production choices by the company and the designer.

At a glance

What is it?
It is a modular system made up of sofas and seats separated by dividers, which can be integrated with tables, cushions and power sockets: it allows you to work in maximum privacy but also in compliance with the rules of spacing. It is designed for a home, office and contract environment.
What is the design concept?
S 5000 was born 15 years ago by the genius of James Irvine, who created a piece of furniture for the present but already anticipated the future: a daybed with a tubular steel frame that has been an integral part of Thonet's portfolio since the 1930s. Today Thonet presents the new S 5000 Retreat: the original project was reworked by Marialaura Rossiello Irvine, based on the concept of Ethical Design, because sometimes it is not necessary to conceive new products but to develop existing projects, inserting them into new contexts of life.
How is it made and from what materials?
The frame is in tubular steel, the padded part has one, two or three seats, and in the basic version it has no backrest and side components; depending on the needs, armrests and backrests or dividers that protect from sight and noise can be fixed to the frame. The sofa can be enriched with cushions of different sizes and with tables mounted on the tubular steel frame. It is totally customizable and allows you to play with countless materials, colors and sizes available.
What makes it special?
It offers solutions to meet current social distancing needs. At the same time, when these needs are no longer needed, it can be converted by removing the dividing panels and adding, for example, more decorative pillows. S 5000 Retreat in fact, thanks to its modular nature, its timeless soul and its essential aspect (which allows it to adapt to any context), is a system that allows numerous configuration options depending on the user's needs, generation after generation.
Hoe is it?
Current, customizable, useful.
In the designer’s own words
In the case of the S 5000 Retreat, it was a question of updating the system that was already part of the company catalog. Sometimes it is not necessary to design new products but to update existing ones. I integrated the system with accessories such as dividing panels of different heights, shelves, shelves, plugs, to enrich the possible configurations both for contract and for the home. All accessories clip onto the base of the bent tube. The goal is to allow free choice of configuration to create a more intimate modularity or more of a working group according to the new needs of the contemporary.