NM26 by NM3: a modern steel bookshelf built for disassembly
Most bookshelves are assembled once and then left where they are. The NM26 is built from the beginning with the assumption that it will be taken apart, moved, and reconfigured, possibly many times. That assumption shapes every decision in the object: the material, the joinery, the uprights, the way the shelves sit in the structure. The result is a modern steel bookshelf that is also, without any modification to its core components, a storage system, a room divider, a display wall, and a spatial tool.
This article is about how the NM26 is built, what that construction makes possible, and why disassembly is a design quality rather than a logistical afterthought.
The structure: uprights, shelves, and nothing else
The NM26 is defined by a dry-assembled metal system built around box-section components. The structure consists of fixed shelves supported by vertical uprights. The uprights are interchangeable, removable, and repositionable. The shelves slot into the uprights through the same interlocking geometry that defines every structural joint in the NM3 collection. There is no welding, no wall fixings, no additional hardware beyond what the object itself provides.
This structural logic produces a steel bookshelf that can scale vertically without changing any of its components. The same uprights that produce a low two-shelf configuration can be repositioned to produce a vertical structure of up to seven shelves. The proportions and the formal language remain identical across every configuration. You are not buying a different product at a different height: you are changing how the same product is arranged.
At its maximum configuration, the NM26 reaches W 170 cm, H 250 cm, D 35 cm and weighs 90 kg. At 1.5 mm Mirror stainless steel throughout, this is a substantial piece with a physical presence that reads architecturally within a room. At a lower configuration it reads differently, closer to a sideboard or a low console, but with the same material weight and the same structural clarity.
What interchangeable uprights actually mean
The detail that distinguishes the NM26 from most steel bookshelf designs is not the material or the surface finish. It is the uprights.
In most shelving systems, the uprights are fixed elements that define the outer boundary of the structure. Adding height means buying a taller upright. Reducing height means cutting one down or buying a different model. The system is tied to the configuration it was purchased in.
The NM26 works differently. The uprights are identical components that can be added, removed, or repositioned without any modification to the shelves or to the other uprights. Adaptation to a different space, a lower ceiling, a wider wall, a different number of objects to store, is achieved exclusively through reconfiguration of these components, without the need for additional or replacement parts.
This has a practical consequence that is more significant than it sounds. It means the NM26 purchased for one space can move to a different space and work correctly in a completely different configuration, using exactly the same components it arrived with. No additional purchase, no adaptor kit, no compromise. A bookshelf design that is genuinely spatial rather than dimensional.
The dry-assembly logic and full demountability
The NM26 is fully demountable and can be reduced to flat modular elements. At 90 kg assembled and 250 cm tall, this is not a minor logistical consideration. A shelving unit of this scale and weight would normally require professional installation and would be effectively permanent once placed. The dry-assembly construction of the NM26 changes that relationship entirely.
Because nothing is welded and nothing requires permanent fixing, the NM26 can be assembled by hand, disassembled by hand, and moved as flat-packed steel components through a standard doorway. The 35 cm depth means the individual shelf panels are manageable without specialist equipment. The box-section uprights stack flat.
This is the same construction principle that NM3 applies across its entire collection, from the NM02 coffee table to the NM21 dining table to the NM07 stool. The stainless steel bookshelf is not a special case. It is the same methodology applied to a piece that, given its scale, benefits from it more than almost any other object in the range.
At the end of its life in any particular configuration or location, the NM26 can be completely disassembled and the components returned to the metal supply chain without stripping coatings or separating composite materials. Full material reuse is built into the object from the beginning.
Mirror stainless steel at scale
The surface quality of Mirror stainless steel at the scale of the NM26 is different from what the same material produces in a small object. At 170 cm wide and up to 250 cm tall, the flat planes of the shelves and uprights have the scale to behave architecturally, catching ambient light across a large area and shifting in appearance throughout the day as the light in a room changes.
NM3 applies no surface treatment to the NM26. The bright-annealed finish is the material's natural state after the industrial process that produces it. Over time, the surface of a stainless steel bookshelf in active use will develop micro-scratches and subtle shifts in its surface luminosity from the objects placed on it and the hands that move them. NM3's position on this is consistent and explicit: these changes are not defects. They are the record of the object's use in a specific place by specific people, and they make each piece individual in a way that no applied finish can replicate.
The NM26 is also available in powder-coated steel in NM3's standard RAL selection for those who prefer a more stable, matte surface. The structural logic and the formal identity are identical in both versions.
The NM26 in NM3's project portfolio
The NM26 appears more frequently in NM3's project work than almost any other piece in the collection, which is a reliable indicator of how useful it is across genuinely different contexts.
At RAL7000STUDIO in Milan, a custom NM26-based bookshelf with an expanded partition system was developed through a multiplication of uprights, used for the display of footwear. At Boysloft in Brescia, a custom NM26 in matte stainless steel formed the centrepiece of the new sneakers room. At Alcova 2023, a seven-metre NM21 dining table was counterbalanced by a long NM26-based console in black finish. At Nico Vascellari's studio in Rome, a bespoke version was inserted within an existing niche integrated into the surrounding architecture.
Each of these uses the same structural logic and the same formal language. The library steel bookshelf character of the NM26 is consistent whether the object is holding books in a domestic study or shoes in a flagship retail environment, because the design is indifferent to what is placed on it. It is a system, not a display case built for a specific category of objects.
The NM26 was also central to Everyday Classics, the 2024 exhibition at NM3 headquarters in Milan, where it appeared alongside the NM30 sofa and the NM21 table as one of the defining objects of the collection's domestic proposition.
Contemporary bookshelf design and the case for steel
The dominant material in contemporary bookshelf design is either wood, in its various engineered and natural forms, or lacquered MDF with metal fittings. The case for a contemporary bookshelf design in solid stainless steel is not simply a material preference. It is an argument about longevity, repairability, and the relationship between form and function.
A steel bookshelf does not swell with humidity or dry out with heat. It does not chip at corners or delaminate at joints. The surface changes through use in ways that are specific and legible rather than random and progressive. At the structural level, dry-assembled steel components can be replaced individually if a specific element is damaged, without affecting the rest of the system. The NM26 is designed to outlast the spaces it is placed in, not to be replaced when a space is renovated.
At its on-request price point, the NM26 occupies a position in the market where longevity and reconfigurability are not peripheral benefits. They are the core of the value proposition.
NM26 at a glance
Material: 1.5 mm Mirror stainless steel, powder-coated RAL available
Dimensions (max): W 170 cm, H 250 cm, D 35 cm
Weight: 90 kg
Configuration range: 2 to 7 shelves, same components throughout
Construction: Dry-assembled, box-section, interchangeable uprights, no welding
Use: Indoor and outdoor
Lead time: 4 to 6 weeks
Availability: On request
Shop the NM26 steel bookshelf
The NM26 is available on request through the NM3 online store. Lead time is between 4 and 6 weeks. For questions about configurations, custom finishes, or bespoke adaptations, contact NM3 directly through the website.