MShelving was designed by Mathias Frei of Zürich, and is produced in Switzerland and Italy. It combines a sturdy, fairly industrial-feeling steel shelving system base with a refined, simple and attractive sliding door system. The result is a shelving unit that holds just about anything (each shelf can hold over 220 pounds) but looks like stylish furniture in your home or office.

The Fabrication & Materials:

The shelving unit itself is made of galvanized steel. The wood finish doors are wood veneers (all from sustainable forests) on a particle board base with a galvanized steel handle edge, and the color and metallic finish doors are made of powder-coated steel.

Powder coating is one of the most durable protective treatments of steel possible, and looks great too. A resin and pigment powder mixture is sprayed onto the steel surface, and adheres there perfectly evenly due to static electricity. Then the whole thing is heated to about 180 degrees Celsius and the powder becomes a smooth, uniform, attractive surface.

Powder coating is extremely durable and more resistant to chipping, scratching or fading than almost any other type of color finish. It is also better for the environment than liquid applications of color (i.e., paint), because it uses no solvents and therefore produces very little, if any, volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

The Options:

MShelving units are available in various sizes and configurations, and you can choose any combination of the sliding doors. The best way to design your own unit is to use our Composer to choose one of the standard sizes or our Composer-Pro if you have more specific needs and don’t mind a slightly longer lead time.

Most orders can take 8-12 weeks from the time you order until it reaches your doorstep, but often the lead time is much shorter. All units ship flat and require assembly, but it’s really quite easy to do, taking a first-timer about 30-40 minutes to assemble a Credenza, for instance. You will need an electric drill/screwdriver to attach the H-shaped stabilizer bar to the back of the unit, but no other tools are required.

The sliding doors are extremely easy to install and remove, so they can be switched around or replaced in a matter of seconds.

To see the assembly instructions for MShelving, please click here to download the PDF file.

The Extras:

One deeper full-height drawer fits into an MShelving section, and is also made of wood with one divider in the middle running from front to back and another oprional divider. It can also include additional bars for hanging files. Full-height drawers are $460.

The drawer fronts for both sizes are powder-coated steel, just like the sliding doors, and come in various colors. The drawer brackets are very high-quality and made of steel, and the closing mechanism in the sliding hardware includes an anti-slam feature, to keep it smooth and easy.

As drawers are not yet available on the website, to order a unit with drawers or to order drawers to add into an existing unit, please call 646-336-8302.

TOPS
In addition to the options you find in the Composers, you can also choose to add (at an additional cost) powder-coated aluminum tops to the units under 60 inches high, in either the Black, White, or Light Aluminum finishes. These tops make the piece look more polished and refined by covering the “standard” top shelf, which looks just like an interior shelf. A top for a Credenza or a Media Console (i.e., 81" wide), costs $280, and for a Storage Unit (i.e., 41" wide) costs $150. As these are not yet available on the website, to order a unit with a top, or to order a top separately, please call 646-336-8302.

INTERIOR SHELVES
Extra interior shelves that are either full- or half- depth can be added to any unit, and inserted at any level inside a section so that the doors slide in front of them. This can be very useful when you want to store CDs, DVDs or dishes. Full-depth shelf sets (with the brackets for installing them) cost $55 each. Half-depth shelf sets are $40 each. Again, if you are interested in these items, please call 646-336-8302.

VERTICAL DIVIDERS
Simple vertical dividers (a sort of magnetic bookend) are available, to support and separate books and periodicals.

BACK PANELS & GUARDS
MShelving units come standard without any back panels, open to the back. If you plan to have it up against a wall then you don't really need backs, and if you will be running cables out of the unit for audio/video equipment it is best not to have backs. If your unit will be freestanding, you may choose to install solid back panels in plain galvanized steel ($90 per section, including the extra tracks for them), any of the powder-coated colors & metallics ($140 per section, including tracks), or to have doors on both sides of the unit. If you are just worried about things falling behind the unit, half-height galvanized steel back guards ($35 each) are also available. These options are not yet available online, so please call 646-336-8302 if you are interested in them.

The Designer:

Mathias Frei studied graphic design at the Schule für Gestaltung Zürich from 1990 to 1993, and then worked with Hannes Wettstein at Buero für Gestalltung. He spent the next several years in Hong Kong working for various architecture and interior design companies. Back in Zürich in 1997, he launched his own interior design firm, creating stores, restaurants and office spaces including PÈclard, Frame Eleven, Chocolate Films, Zoorestaurant Basel and the No Way store.

In 2004, after much experience studying how people really use spaces and furnishings, he designed, developed and brought MShelving to market. It has received much critical and commercial success in Switzerland.