NM19 by NM3: a modern coffee table where steel structure meets glass
There is a specific formal problem in designing a modern coffee table around a glass top: how do you make the structure visible and legible without competing with the transparency of the surface above it. The NM19 solves this problem through the same logic NM3 applies across the entire collection — by making the construction itself the answer rather than concealing it beneath something decorative.
The result is a table where the steel base is not a support you look past to see the top. It is the object. The glass sits above it, keeps the structure readable, and adds a second material layer that changes how light moves through the piece throughout the day.
Two systems, one object
The NM19 is built on a dry-assembled metal system developed around box-section components, a structural approach that increases rigidity without adding visual bulk. Box-section profiles carry load differently from flat plate — the hollow rectangular cross-section resists bending in multiple directions simultaneously, which is why the same geometry used in architectural steelwork appears here in a coffee table.
The base follows an essential circular configuration. The components are assembled dry, without welding, stabilised through interlocking geometry and precise mechanical joints. The table is fully demountable and can be reduced to modular flat elements at any point — the same construction logic that runs through the NM02, the NM21, the NM26, and every other structural piece in the collection.
Above the base sits a 10 mm glass plate, Ø 100 cm, placed directly on the steel structure. The glass top maintains visual lightness while keeping the underlying geometry fully legible. You see the steel through the glass. The structure does not disappear.
At H 24 cm and a total weight of 30 kg, the NM19 sits lower and is considerably lighter than the NM02, which at 46 kg and H 25.5 cm uses the same circular format in all-steel. The difference is not just material: the box-section construction of the NM19 achieves comparable structural performance with less material mass, and the glass top takes that efficiency further by maintaining the visual footprint of a solid surface without the weight of one.
What the glass does that steel cannot
The choice to place a glass top stainless steel coffee table combination at the centre of the NM19's identity is not a concession to a conventional material language. It is a formal decision about what transparency does to an object.
A solid steel top closes the table. It establishes a plane and reads as a surface. A glass top opens the table downward. The structure beneath remains in view from above, which means the geometry of the base is part of the visual experience of using the piece — not just something you register when you first see it and then forget. The box-section components, their proportions, their spacing, the shadow they cast on the floor, all of this stays in the picture.
This is why the NM19 works differently in a room from the NM02, despite sharing the same circular format and the same construction principles. The NM02 has the material weight and opacity of full Mirror stainless steel across its entire surface area. The NM19 is lighter in every sense: lighter to move, lighter to look at, lighter in its relationship to the space around it. These are not better or worse qualities. They are different, and the choice between them is a formal one.
Material options and surface behaviour
The NM19 is available with the base in Mirror stainless steel — the bright-annealed finish used across the main NM3 collection — or in Satin stainless steel, which has a slightly more satin, diffuse quality. Zinc-plated iron and powder-coated steel in NM3's standard RAL selection are also available, extending the range toward more matte and chromatic options.
The Mirror and Satin stainless steel versions behave as NM3's untreated surfaces always do: no applied coating, natural industrial finish, wear that accumulates through use in ways specific to the object's location and history. The glass top adds a second surface with different wear characteristics — it accumulates fingerprints and cleaning marks rather than micro-scratches, and its interaction with light shifts depending on how it is maintained and what is reflected in it.
The combination of steel and glass in the NM19 means the object has two surfaces that age and read differently from each other, which keeps the piece visually active in a way that a single-material object does not.
The NM19 as a modern coffee table design
Among the modern coffee table designs in the NM3 collection, the NM19 occupies a specific position. The NM02 is the more monolithic option: heavier, fully steel, formal and solid in its presence. The NM08 is the purest structural object: all aluminium, no connectors beyond interlocking geometry, a table that is essentially a demonstration of how a dry-assembled system can produce structural integrity. The NM19 sits between those two registers, combining the box-section structural language of the newer NM3 products with the classical material contrast of steel and glass.
At Ø 100 cm the NM19 is correctly proportioned for a seating group of two to four people. The H 24 cm height is standard for use with sofas and low armchairs. The circular format avoids corners, which makes movement around it easier in compact interiors, and the transparency of the glass top keeps the visual weight of the piece lower than its Ø 100 cm footprint might otherwise suggest.
The NM19 in context
The NM19 has appeared in several NM3 project contexts where the steel-and-glass combination was used deliberately to create material contrast within a space. At the Seaside House in Bonassola, scotchbrite stainless steel meets stone surfaces throughout the interior, and low table surfaces are designed to carry that contrast without breaking the material framework. At Reference Studios in Milan, low tables and modular surfaces were developed as part of a flexible showroom and office system where visual lightness was as important as structural clarity.
In each of these uses, the glass top is not a stylistic gesture. It is a considered decision about what a surface in that specific context should do — how much it should reflect, how much it should reveal, how much visual weight it should carry. The NM19 makes that decision available as a product.
NM19 at a glance
Material: 1.5 mm Mirror stainless steel base + 10 mm glass plate
Dimensions: Ø 100 cm, H 24 cm
Weight: 30 kg
Construction: Dry-assembled, box-section components, no welding
Base finish options: Mirror stainless steel, Satin stainless steel, zinc-plated iron, powder-coated RAL
Use: Indoor and outdoor
Price: €1,850
Lead time: 4 to 6 weeks
Availability: On request
Shop the NM19 modern coffee table
The NM19 is available on request through the NM3 online store at €1,850. Lead time is between 4 and 6 weeks. For questions about base finish options, glass specifications, or configurations, contact NM3 directly through the website.