It happened at an event at the world’s largest interior fair, Salone del Mobile. Milano, held in Milan, Italy. The study team visiting the site was fascinated by one product there. It was a “wall-mounted TV” which stood out beautifully like a painting. At that time, the concept of integrating the TV with the interior design was not there yet. For the team, the shock was immeasurable.

“How nice would it be if you could freely put the TV in various places, and at the height you want”. The shock the team experienced overseas made them set a new goal.

“More convenient and beautiful than a wall-hanging type. A stand type that is aesthetically compatible with interior design, and is easy to install anywhere. I want such an interior design TV stand”. With these passionate ideas from the study team, the planning and development team’s journey into the unknown began.

The idea that overturned the conventional wisdom

To pursue harmonized beauty as an interior object, we focused on eliminating screws and holes in the areas visible from the front. In addition, we wanted to implement a novel function, i.e. position-adjustable shelves that can be attached to any height you want.
We wanted to eliminate frustrations such as: “I want to attach it a little further up, but there is no screw hole at that height”, or “After delivery, I found I can’t use it to my preference because a hole was missing at the locations I want it to be”. To meet these requests, we have to invent a novel method other than the conventional “screw and hole” fastening. This became the largest challenge for us.

The efforts to overcome this challenge paid off abundantly in the end: they gave us the keys to solve subsequent problems. After spending days trying to invent out of the box approach replacing the “screw” and “hole” fastening, we finally reached a new “press-fix” method. This technique eliminates the need of the screw holes and use a dedicated bar to press-fix the shelf from inside. It enables the customer to attach the shelf at any desired height, and the screws are not visible from outside. It also gives a simple and beautiful external appearance.

All the members were rejoiced when, after days of trial and error, the prototype model was completed. This out-of-the-box idea was subsequently registered as an “utility model”, which also spurred us to step forward for the realization of our dream.

Focusing on thinning the base down to 2mm (0.08 inch)

We then focused on the shape of the “base” supporting the stand. Even a small step on the floor can cause stumbling. Wherever the stand is placed in the room, it should provide free and safe movement of the people, without interfering with their passages. We wanted to develop a product we can deliver with utmost confidence.
Consultation with an architect (a first-class registered architect) revealed that “senior members and children can stumble to a step as low as 5mm (0.2 inch) on the hallway floor they are used to move around in their daily life”. How thin it should be? After repeated trials to find out an adequate thickness of the base, we reached the conclusion that it should be 2mm (0.08 inch) or less. However, an iron plate with 2mm (0.08 inch) thickness cannot provide the strength to support the TV.
After a lot of thought, we came to a design in which an iron plate is bended in low-profile pyramidal form and the TV supporting pole is situated in the highest position in the center. To secure rigidity, radially spreading reinforcement elements (like the shape of a hand) was arranged on the bottom side of the base. The interior TV stand thus completed proved the ability to withstand an earthquake up to level 7, let alone its flat and smart appearance.

The dream we envisioned in Milano thus came to reality. However, our challenge to create “products not to be found anywhere” does not stop here. WALL series will keep on evolving, with our persisting passion, to create products you have never seen before.