Show your metal: AGMA

Stainless steel neatly combines two factors that are important in private kitchens – hygiene and ecological compatibility. For implementation, meet Italian metalheads AGMA.

By AGMA and James Wormald for

AGMA

April 22, 2021 | 10:00 pm CUT

Mandatory in strict, hygiene-regulated commercial kitchens, steel creates a sleek minimalism suited to domestic environments

There are few kitchen trends bigger right now than stainless steel. It’s raw, it’s industrial, it’s sustainable and it has a professional simplicity impossible to fake. Modern advancements in manufacturing mean the robust material can be finished in any RAL colour, so the kitchen doesn’t need to feel like a hall of mirrors.

Add to that a suitability for high-humidity – even poolside – environments, and it’s no wonder steel worktops provide the foreground to some of the most instagrammable images. All this surface popularity, however, doesn’t stop it from being misunderstood. Often viewed as a cold material, both to touch and in personality, people think steel is boring, difficult to clean, unforgiving to install or even, oxymoronically, that it has an unsanitary, medical feel.

Well… as a company that’s been manufacturing stainless steel furniture for over 30 years, AGMA knows its nuts from its bolts.

Adding a streak of eye-popping colour brings out any project’s character. Doing so in steel means the material’s durability ensures the colour’s long-term vibrancy

Founded in 1990 by Martino Agostini, the family firm combined the skills of talented Italian craftspeople with cutting-edge cutting machinery and materials, producing stainless steel furniture for heavily hygiene-regulated professional kitchens.

Early adopters, AGMA constantly welcomed innovative technologies to help the company dive into emerging markets, like putting its entire catalogue online as early as 1997, when websites had only been available for a few years. And again in 2006 when, despite a lack of experience in the domestic and medical sectors, Agostini adapted his current range of hygiene-focused professional kitchen furniture for a minimalist fitted domestic kitchen in Vienna, and a sterilised dentist’s office in Milan.

The next decade saw AGMA delve further into both industries with gusto – providing furniture for hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies and education settings, while the brand also continued to attract a growing list of private clients. It’s clear to see why stainless steel became so popular in home kitchens. It’s an almost indestructible material that’s also completely recyclable.

The meticulous detail of a steel finish brings a shine to contemporary private kitchens

There’s a simple, uncluttered comfort in the minimalist aesthetic of a sleek steel counter. It’s this stylishly smooth Hollywood finish, however, that means it’s not necessarily easier to clean than other more traditional kitchen surfaces. But it’s definitely easier to clean well. It all seems so simple in adverts for cleaning products, one quick wipe and it’s glistening. But even the cleanest ‘looking’ worktop can hide everything you missed. The twinkling diamond surface of steel provides confidence that seeing is believing.

It’s clear to see why stainless steel became so popular in home kitchens. It’s an almost indestructible material that’s also completely recyclable

Alternatively, coating the metal with an epoxy powder finish can retain its natural endurance while complementing those other, more traditionally metallic kitchen elements, like taps, handles, appliances and even chair legs, creating a synergy of colourful highlights. So, while steel is sustainable, its indestructible build quality will outlast the home around it, and it can be finished in whatever colour fits the client’s palette, sometimes, the look and feel of steel is just not right. There’s no judgement from AGMA, however, who’s equally happy to create components with a steel frame, but with cabinet doors and shelves in wood, glass or aluminium – and no hard feelings.

With superior hygiene making it suitable for use in medical environments (bottom), these industrial style handles (top) complement the material in home settings as well

Although it’s a stress-free feature for clients after installation, it’s this indestructible aspect of steel that can give the biggest headache to the fitters and dealers, who are unable to make adjustments to the metal during the installation process. With precise measuring and an experienced crew, however, it doesn’t need to become an issue. Once complete, this very aspect means the product will remain free from chipping, breaking, shattering, bending, bowing, water damage and humidity. A natural lifetime guarantee.

Whatever the future holds post-2021, as the world continues to become more hygiene and environmentally focused, and whichever market is next in line for a steel revolution, be it education, sports facilities or public environments, AGMA will be first in the queue

In the past 30 years, AGMA has continually leapt headfirst into emerging technologies, developed stainless steel furniture for new domestic and medical markets, given food preparation spaces a clean makeover, and proven itself time and again to be a real innovator of steel.

Cutting-edge, precision machinery at AGMA HQ allows talented craftspeople to combine technology, creativity and skill, performing difficult installations without issue

Whatever the future holds post-2021, as the world continues to become more hygiene and environmentally focused, and whichever market is next in line for a steel revolution, be it education, sports facilities or public environments, AGMA will be first in the queue.

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Borgo Valbelluna , Italy