NM22 by NM3: a stainless steel stool designed for variable contexts
The NM22 is a stainless steel stool with a circular top and a compact footprint, built on the same box-section structural logic that defines NM3's second-generation products. At Ø 28 cm and H 41 cm it is one of the smaller seating objects in the collection. At 7 kg it is also one of the lighter ones. What it is not is simple — the material specification alone, two different Mirror stainless steel thicknesses combined within the same object, tells you something about how much thought went into making something this compact perform correctly.
This article is about how the NM22 is built, what makes it different from other stainless steel stools in the NM3 collection, and why the idea of variable contexts is more than a marketing phrase when applied to this particular piece.
Box-section construction and why it matters at this scale
The NM22 is based on a dry-assembled metal system developed around box-section components. Vertical metal planes support a circular top, assembled through precise dry joints without welding. The object is fully demountable and can be reduced to flat modular elements at any point.
This is the same structural family as the NM19 coffee table, the NM21 dining table, and the NM25 console — a group of NM3 products that share a construction logic built around hollow rectangular profiles rather than the flat laser-cut plate geometry used in the earlier NM06, NM07, and NM03 designs. Box-section components resist bending and torsion more efficiently than flat plate at equivalent material weight, which is why this construction method allows the NM22 to achieve the structural performance needed for seating at a reduced physical mass.
The material specification is 1.5 mm and 3.0 mm Mirror stainless steel used together within the same object. This is not a standard single-gauge product. The variation in thickness reflects a deliberate structural decision: thinner sections where visual lightness is the priority, heavier gauge where load-bearing demands require it. The circular top and the structural nodes take the 3.0 mm. The vertical planes that define the volume and carry the visual identity of the piece use the 1.5 mm. The result is an object that looks consistent from the outside while being calibrated differently on the inside.
Dual function as a structural position
Like the NM06 and NM07 before it, the NM22 is described as a dual-use object functioning as both a stool and a side table. But the box-section construction and the reduced scale of the NM22 produce a different practical result from the earlier pieces.
The NM06 and NM07 are cross-base stools with a more overtly architectural footprint — their intersecting plate geometry is visually present in the room in a way that reads clearly as a design decision. The NM22 is more compact and more neutral. At Ø 28 cm and H 41 cm, it is precisely calibrated for use at sofa or low-armchair height without drawing attention to itself as the formal protagonist of a space. The circular top is large enough to hold a drink, a book, or a phone without being so large that it imposes a surface where one is not needed.
This calibration is what makes the modern steel stool design logic of the NM22 genuinely different from a piece that is simply small. It is small with intention: small enough to sit beside a sofa without consuming space, stable enough to carry full body weight, neutral enough to work in environments where a more architectural stool would be the wrong register.
The variable context claim
NM3 states that the NM22 is designed to operate across domestic environments, office spaces, and contract or outdoor settings, adapting to different uses without modification to its core structure. This is a claim worth examining because it is made about almost every NM3 product and could read as generic.
For the NM22 the claim holds up for specific reasons. The untreated Mirror stainless steel finish is genuinely corrosion-resistant without any surface treatment, which makes outdoor use straightforward in a way that powder-coated or lacquered metal objects are not. Exposure to rain, humidity, and direct sun does not require the NM22 to be covered or moved. A powder-coated version is available for those who prefer a matte surface, but the stainless steel version requires no environmental protection.
The dry-assembly construction means the object can be moved, stored flat, and reassembled repeatedly without any mechanical degradation. A stainless steel counter stool used in a domestic setting for two years, then stored flat during a renovation, then reassembled in a different configuration in a different room, arrives in the new context in identical condition to how it left the old one. There is nothing to re-tighten, no joint that has been stressed by disassembly, no surface treatment to inspect for damage.
At 7 kg the NM22 is light enough to be moved by hand without effort, which changes how it is actually used across a day or a week in a domestic or professional environment. A stool that weighs 11 or 15 kg tends to stay where it is. One that weighs 7 kg moves with the person using it.
Where the NM22 sits in the NM3 stool family
The NM3 collection currently offers several stool designs at different scales and with different construction logics. Understanding how the NM22 relates to the others clarifies what it is for.
The NM06 and NM07 (€500 each) use laser-cut plate geometry, cross-base construction, and are available in 3 mm Mirror stainless steel. They are more overtly structural in their presence, heavier, and suited to environments where the stool is a formal protagonist. The NM13 (€475) uses welded aluminium with a double-disc geometry — sculptural and precise, it belongs to a different material and formal tradition within the collection. The NM22 (€520) uses box-section construction, dual-gauge Mirror stainless steel, and a circular top at a scale that prioritises functional neutrality over formal statement.
The choice between them is not a question of quality or finish — all four are built to the same material standard and the same construction rigour. It is a question of what role the stool plays in a space. The NM22 is for the room where a design stool needs to be present without being the thing everyone looks at first.
NM22 at a glance
Material: 1.5 mm + 3.0 mm Mirror stainless steel, powder-coated RAL available
Dimensions: Ø 28 cm, H 41 cm
Weight: 7 kg
Construction: Dry-assembled, box-section components, no welding
Function: Stool and side table
Use: Indoor and outdoor
Price: €520
Lead time: 4 to 6 weeks
Availability: Add to cart
Shop the NM22 stainless steel stool
The NM22 is available for direct purchase through the NM3 online store at €520. Lead time is between 4 and 6 weeks. The full stool collection, including the NM06, NM07, and NM13, is available in the NM3 catalogue.