NM13 by NM3: the designer stool with double-disc aluminium geometry
The NM13 is the stool in the NM3 collection that works differently from every other piece in it. That difference is not cosmetic. It starts with the material — 6 mm Raw aluminium, not stainless steel — and extends to the construction method, which is welded rather than dry-assembled. Both of those choices are deliberate, and both of them produce a designer stool with a character distinct from the rest of the collection: lighter, more sculptural, and built around a formal gesture — the double-disc offset — that has no equivalent in any other NM3 product.
At Ø 28 cm and H 40.5 cm, the NM13 is compact enough to disappear beside a sofa and substantial enough to carry a body's weight or a table setting. At 5 kg it is the lightest metal stool in the collection. At €475 it is among the most accessible pieces NM3 makes. This article is about how it is built, what the double-disc geometry actually does, and how the NM13 positions itself relative to the other stools in the NM3 catalogue.
The double-disc: what it is and why it works
The NM13's structure is defined by a double-layer circular configuration. A primary disc forms the top surface — the plane you sit on or place objects on. A secondary disc is positioned 5 cm below the first, offset and recessed, forming a visual base that is both distinct from the top and continuous with it. The two discs are permanently joined through welding, with the upper plane sitting above the recessed lower one in a relationship that generates what NM3 describes as a controlled spatial tension.
That phrase is precise. The offset between the two discs is not decorative. It gives the NM13 a visual weight distributed across two levels rather than concentrated at a single plane. Seen from above, the object reads as a circular surface. Seen from the side or from a standing position in the room, the two discs reveal themselves as distinct elements in a stack — a top, a gap, and a base — and the 5 cm separation between them introduces a shadow line that changes with the direction and quality of light in the space.
This is a different formal logic from the intersecting plate geometry of the NM06 and NM07 or the box-section vertical planes of the NM22. Those pieces are legible as structures: you can see how they work, identify the joint, trace the load path. The NM13 is legible as a volume: two discs, one above the other, material weight at the top and at the base, a visual rest between them. The structural resolution is internal.
Welded, not dry-assembled: a deliberate exception
The NM13 is one of the very few permanently assembled objects in the NM3 catalogue. Almost everything else NM3 produces — from the NM02 coffee table to the NM07 stool to the NM26 bookshelf — is dry-assembled through laser-cut geometry and can be fully demounted. The NM13 cannot. The weld between the two discs is structural and intended to be permanent.
This is not a lapse in the NM3 methodology. It is a formal choice specific to this object. The double-disc geometry derives its character from the precise, fixed relationship between the two planes. That relationship — the 5 cm offset, the shadow line, the spatial tension — only works because the two elements are held exactly in position. A mechanical joint at this scale and with this geometry would introduce visible hardware that would compete with the form. Welding makes the joint invisible and the relationship between the discs the only thing you read.
The result is that the NM13 reads as a found object rather than an assembled one. It does not show you how it was made. It shows you what it is.
Raw aluminium: the material logic
6 mm Raw aluminium is a significantly thicker gauge than the 1.5 mm or 3 mm Mirror stainless steel used in most of the NM3 collection. At 6 mm, aluminium has very different structural and visual properties from thinner sheet metal. It can be machined, cut, and finished to tight tolerances without risk of deformation. It has a natural surface quality — the satin finish is a mechanical treatment that produces a fine-grained matte texture — that is cooler and more diffuse in its reflectivity than Mirror stainless steel.
Aluminium is also significantly lighter than steel at equivalent volume. The NM13 weighs 5 kg. An equivalent object in 6 mm stainless steel would weigh substantially more. The 5 kg figure is what makes the NM13 genuinely portable — it moves with one hand, carries easily from room to room, shifts without effort in a space.
Like all untreated NM3 materials, the Raw aluminium of the NM13 develops wear marks over time. Aluminium does not rust, but it oxidises slowly, developing a fine grey patina that deepens the satin surface quality rather than degrading it. A powder-coated version in NM3's standard RAL selection is available for those who prefer a coloured or matte surface, though the untreated satin is the material's most direct form.
The NM13 in the NM3 stool family
The NM3 collection currently includes four distinct stool designs at different scales and with different construction approaches. Understanding where the NM13 sits helps clarify what it is for.
The NM06 and NM07 (€500 each, 3 mm Mirror stainless steel, dry-assembled cross-base geometry) are more architecturally present. Their intersecting plate structures read clearly as spatial objects — stools that make a formal statement in a room. The NM22 (€520, 1.5 mm + 3 mm Mirror stainless steel, box-section dry-assembled) is compact and functionally neutral, a stainless steel stool calibrated to be useful without being the protagonist of a space.
The NM13 (€475, 6 mm Raw aluminium, welded) is the sculptural one. It is the piece where the material and the geometry are the point, where the formal resolution is more concentrated than practical. That does not make it less functional — it is correctly proportioned for seating and for side table use, it is stable and durable, it works indoors and outdoors. But it works differently. It is the stool you choose when you want an object in a space that has a specific visual identity, not just a surface at the right height.
In domestic interiors, the NM13 appears beside armchairs and sofas as a side table with sculptural presence. In retail and exhibition contexts, it functions as a display base or a seating element at the scale of the object rather than the scale of the room. NM3 has deployed it in both roles across the commercial portfolio, in contexts ranging from fashion retail to gallery installations.
The NM13 and the step stool question
Among the secondary keywords associated with the stool design category, queries about step stools and aluminium step stools occasionally appear. The NM13 is not a step stool. It is a seating and display object at standard low-stool height — H 40.5 cm — calibrated for use beside low seating and as a side table. Its 6 mm Raw aluminium construction and welded assembly would in principle carry the load of a step, but the object is not designed or intended for that use, and the circular 28 cm top is not the format of a functional ladder step.
This is worth stating because aluminium and stool in the same product description can attract queries that do not correspond to what the NM13 actually is. It is a designer stool in the design-object sense: an aluminium piece designed with formal precision and material rigour for living and working environments where the quality of the object matters as much as its function.
NM13 at a glance
Material: 6 mm Raw aluminium, untreated; powder-coated RAL available
Dimensions: Ø 28 cm, H 40.5 cm
Weight: 5 kg
Construction: Welded, permanent assembly
Function: Stool and side table
Use: Indoor and outdoor
Price: €475
Lead time: 4 to 6 weeks
Availability: Add to cart
Shop the NM13 designer stool
The NM13 is available for direct purchase through the NM3 online store at €475. Lead time is between 4 and 6 weeks. The full NM3 stool collection, including the NM06, NM07, and NM22, is available in the NM3 catalogue.