NM20 by NM3: a table design in stainless steel with glass top
The NM20 is a table design built on the same box-section structural system as the NM19 coffee table and the NM21 dining table, but occupying a specific formal position that neither of those pieces covers. It is rectangular, standard dining height, 200 cm long — and it has a glass top. That last detail is not an aesthetic preference. It is a structural and spatial decision with consequences for how the table performs in a room, how the steel base reads from above, and how the object ages across years of use.
At W 200 cm, D 80 cm, H 71.5 cm and 76 kg, the NM20 is one of the larger pieces in the collection. At €865 it would be remarkable value — but the NM20 is on request, not add-to-cart. This is a table for spaces and projects where the brief has been thought through. This article is about what that brief might look like.
The rectangular format and what it does
The NM20 follows the same construction logic as the NM19: a dry-assembled metal base built from box-section components in 1.5 mm Mirror stainless steel, topped with a 10 mm glass plate. The base is fully demountable, reduces to flat modular elements, and can be shipped, stored, and reassembled without any change to its structural integrity.
But where the NM19 is circular and low — a coffee table at H 24 cm — the NM20 is rectangular and at standard dining height: H 71.5 cm. This shift in format changes what the piece does in a room entirely. A circular coffee table organises a seating group. A rectangular dining table at this height defines a zone for shared activity: eating, working, meeting, presenting. It requires chairs or stools at a specific height, it creates a social axis in a space, and it is likely the largest single horizontal surface in the room it occupies.
At W 200 cm and D 80 cm, the NM20 seats six to eight people comfortably. The 80 cm depth is generous without being so deep that conversation across the table becomes effortful. The 200 cm length puts it in the range of stainless steel dining tables sized for households of four to six or for professional meeting or working contexts where a long shared surface is the organising element of the space.
Glass above steel: the same logic at dining scale
The relationship between the glass top and the steel base in the NM20 follows the same formal argument as in the NM19. The glass maintains visual lightness while keeping the underlying structure fully legible — you see the box-section geometry of the base through the surface above it.
At dining table height this matters differently than it does for a coffee table. With the NM19, you look down at the glass from above and see the steel base through it. With the NM20, seated at the table, the glass is at approximately chest height and the base is visible at eye level through the perimeter of the top. The structure is not hidden under the surface or concealed behind a panel. It is present as a visual element throughout the experience of using the table.
This is what distinguishes the NM20 from a glass top stainless steel dining table produced in a conventional furniture logic, where the glass is a transparent surface chosen to show off legs that are already designed to be seen. In the NM20 the base is not decorative legs. It is a structural system that would stand on its own as a resolved object. The glass acknowledges that and lets it remain visible.
The 10 mm glass plate is substantial enough to carry the load of a full table setting and occasional point loads — objects, forearms, the stresses of normal use — without flex. At 76 kg total the table is heavy enough to feel stable and settled in a room, not a piece that shifts when someone leans on it.
The NM20 against the NM21
Understanding the NM20 clearly requires understanding its relationship to the NM21, the all-steel rectangular dining table in the NM3 collection. The two tables share a construction system and a format — both are rectangular, both use box-section components, both are on request. The differences are material and they produce different objects for different contexts.
The NM21 (W 200 D 90 H 75 cm, 84 kg) has a stainless steel top. The surface is closed, opaque, reflective — depending on finish, it reflects the room above it like a horizontal mirror. It is heavier, slightly larger in depth and height, and more monolithic in its presence. The NM20 (W 200 D 80 H 71.5 cm, 76 kg) is lighter in every dimension that can be measured and in some that cannot. The glass top opens the table upward, reflects differently, and reveals the steel beneath rather than completing a continuous steel surface.
The choice between them is not a question of which is better. It is a question of what the table is for. In a space with dark or heavy floor materials, the NM21's steel surface adds horizontal luminosity. In a space that is already material-dense, the NM20's glass top reduces the visual weight of the table and lets the structure read without the surface competing for attention. The NM20 is also the more restrained option for a room where a single large steel surface at eye height might feel too dominant.
Modern steel dining table design: the NM3 position
Among modern stainless steel table designs, NM3's approach is distinguished by the absence of any applied surface treatment. There is no coating on the Mirror stainless steel base, no laminate, no paint. The material is what it is — industrial bright-annealed steel that wears in the way steel wears, developing micro-scratches and surface marks through contact and use that are specific to the history of the individual object.
This is a deliberate design and manufacturing position, not a feature added for marketing. It means the NM20 has no surface layer that can chip, peel, fade, or require replacement. The steel base, properly maintained — wiped with a soft cloth and mild non-abrasive cleaners, dried thoroughly after contact with liquid — will look fundamentally the same in fifteen years as it does when delivered. Different, because wear accumulates, but not degraded. The glass top is replaced if it breaks, but glass does not age in the same way that coatings do.
For a stainless steel dining table in a domestic context, this means a table that does not require the kind of anxious maintenance that a lacquered or oiled surface demands. For a commercial or contract context — a restaurant, a studio, a showroom — it means a table that takes the wear of professional use without a surface that betrays it.
Where the NM20 has been used
The material language of the NM20 has appeared across several NM3 interiors in contexts where a large stainless steel surface was central to the spatial brief. At the Miss Sixty Flagship in Milan, stainless steel surfaces were developed at multiple scales across the interior, from wall panels to furniture. At Reference Studios in Milan, modular working and display surfaces in stainless steel were used to define the spatial organisation of a creative studio and showroom. At ECCO HQ in Tønder, Denmark, steel furniture was integrated into a headquarters interior designed around material precision and structural clarity.
In each of these projects, the decision to use steel at table scale was made because the material could carry the load of a large horizontal surface — spatially, structurally, and visually — without compromise. The NM20 is the product that brings that logic to the NM3 catalogue as a standalone table design.
NM20 at a glance
Material: 1.5 mm Mirror stainless steel base + 10 mm glass plate
Dimensions: W 200 cm, D 80 cm, H 71.5 cm
Weight: 76 kg
Construction: Dry-assembled, box-section components, no welding
Base finish: Mirror stainless steel
Use: Indoor and outdoor
Lead time: 4 to 6 weeks
Availability: On request
Shop the NM20 table design
The NM20 is available on request through the NM3 online store. For dimensions, finish options, and lead time information, contact NM3 directly through the website. The NM21, the all-steel rectangular dining table from the same construction system, is also available on request.