Galatea was one of those projects that tested everything; patience, material understanding, and the limits of what could realistically be achieved. It was a process heavy on R&D, marked by a handful of breakthroughs and a long trail of failures. Challenging from the outset, the collection set out to do something ambitious: integrate marble into a knock-down furniture system across dining and storage. The intent was clear; to create statement pieces that felt elegant and premium, but in the most restrained, minimal way. No excess, no ornamentation, just material, proportion, and presence. But marble doesn’t cooperate easily.

Designing the marble elements, especially for the dining table, became the core challenge. The pieces needed to be shipped flat-packed and assembled at the client’s end, something fundamentally at odds with the fragility and weight of stone. The task was to reduce thickness, break the surface into manageable sections, and reinforce it enough to survive transit without compromising the visual lightness. The first trial said it all. The tabletop, split into two leaves, arrived back at the office in a sealed box, with the marble already in pieces inside. A complete failure, but also a necessary one. What followed was months of iteration, reworking joinery, rethinking support systems, refining proportions, and constantly negotiating between strength and elegance. Slowly, the collection began to find its footing. The final range carries subtle cues from mid-century design, seen in its structure, assembly logic, and tonal warmth, but is reinterpreted for a more contemporary user.