Connor Renwick: For Sofa Comfort, Go Deep: New from Sancal

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

For Sofa Comfort, Go Deep: New from Sancal

The following post is brought to you by Sancal. Our partners are hand-picked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design.

Scientists tell us that we spend nearly 1/3 of our lives in bed. While that may be true, I’d venture to guess that most Americans spend an equal amount of time on their sofas. The sofa is so woven into our lives, that it’s hard to imagine a home without one. After all, your sofa can be your bed, your dining room chairs, your movie theater seats… you see where I’m going.

I’ve thought a lot about this as I’ve been spending the last several months (or maybe year) sofa shopping. At the top of my list of priorities has been to find an ultra deep sofa. Depth is the unsung hero of comfort. I found that out the hard way by making do with a sofa that was a miserly 20″ deep. (Most sofas have a depth of between 21″ and 24″). Those few inches can make a big impact. Too narrow and you’re sliding off during a nap where just a few more inches and you’re sharing a sofa cuddle with whatever pillow, pet or human happens to be near.

And drum roll, please! The latest sofa from Spanish design firm, Sancal makes comfort more than just a priority. Sofa depth gets top billing: 25″ of it. The aptly named, DEEP sofa is designed by Sancal superstar, Rafa García. García has created more than 50 products for the firm and considered its “creative heart.” And when it comes to sofas, he’s something of a connoisseur: he has four in his own house. This piece was intended to satisfy that comfort goal, in the smallest footprint possible while also providing some space to stretch out.

To maintain that small footprint, García kept the arms and back narrow. He created a beveled edge on the back cushion so that it has the illusion of disappearing, yet provides enough support to stand up to a Netflix binge. But don’t let the apparent simplicity of the sofa fool you: DEEP is one of the firm’s most customizable products.

There are a variety of sofa accessories available that allow the user to adapt the piece’s ergonomics to their own needs. There are quilted arm cushions that can be combined with lumbar supports and headrest cushions (with fabrics by Paul Smith). It’s a throw pillow lover’s dream.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t draw your attention to the sofa’s unique leg design. From the front elevation, they are subtle and hardly noticeable (in fact the piece looks a bit as if it were floating). But from the side, it’s a whole other story. (They are available in both gold or carbon colored). Those little details make this piece feel special.

García has said that he finds designing a sofa to be one of the greatest challenges for a furniture designer. There are so many sofas in the world, so in order to create one that’s really different, you have to put in a lot of sleepless nights. I’d venture to guess that he wasn’t early to bed when designing DEEP. This is a sofa that checks all the boxes.