The IOC project partners’ philosophy is to improve the environment where people work, discuss and make what they believe in. Our mission is to create more welcoming, attractive and happy rooms that are functional. By shaping comfortable spaces, we believe that people can make the best of themselves and their potential. We design, engineer and produce high level, quality products for contemporary spaces thanks to the cooperation with international designers.
About the company
The typically Italian history of our company says a lot about us and our products. The group was founded in the 1930s in Brianza, one of the leading industrial areas of Europe and center of the quality Italian furniture and furnishings sector. In the beginning, it was a workshop specializing in the production of handcrafted furnishings but then, in the 1950s, a shop was opened in Milan. However, it was in the 1970s that the transition from a craftsman to an industrial dimension took place.
IOC project partners is a family company set up by Marcello Pepori, the current CEO, and Angelo Meroni in 1992 as an independent division of LEMA group to specialize its skills in work spaces. It is a leading company in the international design furniture industry and is committed with professionalism to ‘turnkey’ projects as a partner able to manage and co-ordinate the most varied and complex types of work, from design to logistic organisation, from procurement to installation with furniture suiting to collective and work environments.
Today, the group has three factories, specializing in the production of furniture and partition walls which work synergically to cover the whole production cycle - from the raw materials to the finished product. To highlight the great interest of the company in the spaces and in the architecture some offices were designed by architect Angelo Mangiarotti in 1970s.
Designers
Gensler
Gensler is a global architecture, design, and planning firm with 50 locations networked across Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and the Americas. Founded in 1965, the firm serves more than 3,500 active clients in virtually every industry. Gensler designers strive to make the places people live, work, and play more inspiring, more resilient, and more impactful. As product designers, the firm draws on its vast knowledge of new materials, the latest technologies, and evolving workplace trends to enhance visual appeal, performance, and end user experience.
Raffaella Mangiarotti
Raffaella Mangiarotti is an architect and designer. She lives and works in Milan. She both graduated in Architecture and then obtained a PhD in design from the Politecnico di Milano. After working with Marco Zanuso and Francesco Trabucco, she started her career designing innovative products for brands like Whirlpool, Smeg, NEC, Panasonic, Nestlé and Mercedes Benz. In recent years, she has also specialised in furniture and creative direction working with Woodnotes, Manerba, IOC project partners, Serralunga, Skitsch and San Lorenzo. Some of her products are displayed in museums, are part of permanent collections and have received international prizes. Her projects have been exhibited in both personal and collective shows.
Carlo Colombo
Carlo Colombo is considered one of the most important Italian architect and designer. Since the beginning of his career he has designed for important "made in Italy" brands. In addition to the design of products and furniture, Carlo Colombo works as a consultant and art director. His work, initially focused on design and interiors, also extends to architectural design, in 2013 he founded the A ++ architecture Studio with Paolo Colombo, which now has offices in Lugano, Zurich, Miami and Dubai. The studio deals with large-scale sustainable architectural design and high-level interior design across the world. He has received numerous international awards and acclaims.
Castiglia Associati
Sergio Castiglia, Marinella Santarelli and Maria Tiziana Tazza founded the Castiglia Associati Studio in 1982, specialized in design, art direction, installations and architecture. The Studio collaborates with many important companies on the theme of present aesthetics, among creative scenarios and productive realities, and has obtained numerous awards and recognitions at international level.
Bartoli Design
Bartoli Design, a team founded by Carlo, Paolo and Anna Bartoli, continues the experience in design developed through many partnerships with leading companies in the furniture sector along many years. The studio’s research explores elegance based on simplicity and balance: from concepts to product design, art direction and brand strategies, the studio’s activities embrace the full spectrum of design services. Several products have been awarded design prizes and are part of design collections worldwide. Bartoli Design also works on architecture, exhibition, interior and urban design.
Krzysztof Miksza
After graduating in Engineering from the Akademia Rolnicza, Poznan (Poland), Krzysztof Miksza decided to complete his training abroad and moved to Milan, where he spent the first few years working in leading companies in the furniture sector. He worked for the LEMA group from 1994, under the artistic direction of Piero Lissoni, and then arrived in IOC project partners. Here, he developed a great passion and interest in office furnishings and divider walls, gaining international experience. He is an important professional who has managed the work of the technical office for years, solving very complex problems, co-ordinating various teams of designers and architects, and designing new products and elaborating new propositions and solutions.
A history of craftsmanship
Operating in the furniture industry for almost a century, the company is a testimony of great tradition, expertise and specialization. An extensive, significant traditional knowledge is constantly updated with passion and natural commitment to perfection, typical of the made in Italy. IOC project partners’ strength are human resources - highly trained professionals and skilled workers who make each project special and unique. Fine materials, personalized finishes, complete production processes and avant-garde technologies characterize the whole collection. Each project is definitely like a tailor-made suit for customers – their satisfaction is a priority for IOC project partners.
The experience of materials
The quality of the products is guaranteed by a very careful selection of the materials and their specific function and features. The knowledge of wood species and the skills in varnishing and lacquering techniques are among the best and distinctive in the sector as well as knowledge of metals and their processing, especially for aluminum, is one of IOC project partners’ strength. Carefully selected first-class materials are the basis for the manufacturing of a quality product that will remain unchanged over time - glass, marble, fabrics and leather complete the range of materials making up the different accessories, elegantly finished with lacquering, varnishing and top-quality anodizing.
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