Office furniture design set: Sintex (1965-1977)

Abstract

Litton Industries decided to establish one of its divisions in Northern Spain in 1965 called Litton-Cole. They chose Asturias to set up a factory intended to manufacture office furniture with a metallic component. The region had the potential to develop this kind of product due to its industrial base. It was easy to be provided with materials like steel, but above all a specialized workforce from Asturias’ Arms Industry.

In the context of Spanish sixties José Antonio Menéndez Hevia was in charge of designing several banks and other public commercial establishments. Due to his connection with the Asturian banking sector, he had the opportunity to design office furniture set for Cole Steel. Cole Steel was the commercial name for the Asturian factory. Menéndez Hevia designed a very thorough set with almost twenty possible combinations that was commercialized under the name of Sintex.

The series was successful on a national scale which was aimed at furnishing bank branch offices, but it was also exported to countries like Italy. Thousands of units were sold as part of one of the few Spanish design products manufactured in series at that time. The factory was closed in 1977, but in the general background of Spanish industrial design this series was forgotten, being part of our usual anonymous design history.