Savoir-Faire
The anatomy
of a perfect seat.
An upholstered seat is an engineered object. Every layer — frame, suspension, garnissage, fabric — contributes to comfort, durability, and beauty. At Bespirit, we have spent thirty-five years mastering each one.
Chapter One
The Frame —
where durability begins.
The frame is the skeleton of every seat. It determines longevity, stability, and — if engineered correctly — the difference between furniture that lasts two years and furniture that lasts twenty.
At Bespirit, we use kiln-dried solid beech (Fagus sylvatica), selected for its density, flexibility, and resistance to warping in varying humidity conditions. Kiln-drying — a process that reduces moisture content to 8–12% — is essential for furniture destined for air-conditioned hotel environments, where atmospheric changes would otherwise cause untreated wood to crack or deform over time.
Each joint is assembled using a combination of mortise-and-tenon joinery, corner blocks, and stainless-steel fasteners. Corner blocks — triangular reinforcements glued and screwed at opposing 45° angles — are the critical detail that prevents frame racking under repeated loading. Our frames are load-tested to 200kg compression before assembly continues.
For dining chairs and bar stools, we reinforce with steel inserts at leg joints — the highest stress points in high-frequency contract seating. This is not standard practice in residential furniture; it is the defining difference of true contract manufacturing.
Suspension Systems
8-Way Hand-Tied Springs: Our most prestigious pieces use traditional coil spring systems. Each spring is hand-tied to its neighbours in eight directions with Italian linen twine — a technique that requires years to master and produces a seat that ages gracefully, distributing load evenly across the entire suspension.
Sinuous Springs & Webbing: For dining chairs and lighter contract pieces, we use sinuous (serpentine) spring systems combined with interlaced elastic webbing — offering excellent resilience, lower seat height, and greater resistance to the pulling forces of chair legs across hard flooring.
Frame assembly — solid kiln-dried beech, corner-blocked and tested to 200kg before upholstery begins
Chapter Two
Garnissage —
the art of the upholsterer.
Garnissage is the French term for the upholstery padding process — the layering of materials between frame and fabric that determines how a seat feels, how it ages, and how it holds its shape over years of intensive use. It is where an upholsterer's experience is most visible, and most consequential.
Base Layer — Burlap & Tacking
After the frame is complete, a layer of heavy-duty jute burlap is stretched and tacked across the spring system, creating a stable base for all subsequent layers. This seemingly simple step sets the tension profile of the entire seat.
Crin Végétal — Horsehair Layer
On our premium pieces, we apply a layer of crin végétal — processed plant-fiber or natural horsehair — over the burlap. This traditional material, used by European upholsterers for centuries, provides breathability, firmness over time, and a characteristic resilience that synthetic foams cannot replicate. It is the signature of traditional French and Spanish upholstery craft.
High-Resilience Foam — Precision Cut
The primary comfort layer is high-resilience (HR) foam, specified by density (28–40 kg/m³) and firmness (ILD rating) according to the seating application. A lobby lounge seat receives different foam specification than a restaurant dining chair. Each block is precision-cut with a bandsaw and hand-shaped at the edges — the edge-roll technique that gives upholstered seating its characteristic clean profile.
Dacron Wrap — The Final Softness
A wrap of Dacron polyester fiber is applied over the foam to soften the profile, fill small imperfections, and give the seat its final rounded silhouette. The tension and thickness of the Dacron layer is adjusted by hand, seat by seat — a step that cannot be automated and is the mark of quality upholstery.
Muslin — The Inner Cover
Before the final fabric, a muslin (calicot) inner cover is stretched taut and stapled across the entire piece. This layer smooths the surface, holds the Dacron in position, and creates an ideal substrate for the final upholstery. On our most prestigious work, the muslin stage is where the final shape is definitively established.
— Master Upholsterer, Bespirit, Zaragoza
Finishing Techniques
Hand-piping: Cord-filled fabric piping is hand-sewn along all principal seam lines — the defining mark of quality upholstery. Piping requires machine-cut bias strips, careful joining, and hand-insertion that cannot be replicated by machine.
Tufting: Button-tufting — pulling fabric and padding into geometric diamond or square patterns — is one of the oldest and most demanding upholstery skills. Each button is tied with traditional linen twine through all padding layers to the frame.
Hand-folding corners: The corners of every arm, every back, every seat are hand-folded with a hospital-corner technique. There is no machine substitute for this step — it is where the experience of the upholsterer is most visible.
Garnissage in progress — layers of crin végétal, HR foam, Dacron and muslin build up the seat profile
Chapter Three
The hospitality project —
from brief to opening night.
A hospitality furniture project is unlike any other. The stakes — financial, operational, reputational — demand a process that is simultaneously rigorous and flexible. A hotel opening cannot move. A restaurant launch cannot slip. We have built our entire operation around this reality.
FF&E Brief & Specification
Every project begins with the FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment) brief produced by the interior designer or hotel group. We study floor plans, mood boards, and existing FF&E schedules to understand the full scope — room quantities, circulation constraints, fire certification requirements, and aesthetic direction.
Bespoke or Model Selection & Customisation
Bespoke or seclection from our catalogue of 150+ models, we identify best-fit candidates for each space. Dimensions are verified against the floor plan. Frame details (leg finish, back height, arm style) are customised. Fire certification grade is confirmed — typically EN 1021-1 & EN 1021-2 for European hospitality, BS 7176 for UK projects. Fabric specifications are established using our sample library or the designer's COM/COL.
Prototype & Mock-Room Approval
Before full production begins, we manufacture one or more physical prototypes for client approval. For major projects, we equip a full mock-up room — dressed with the actual furniture, lighting, and finishes — so the client can evaluate the piece in its intended context before committing to production quantities. This step, often underestimated, eliminates the most costly errors.
Production & Inline Quality Control
Full production with mandatory quality checkpoints at three stages: frame completion, garnissage, and finished upholstery. Every batch includes random pull-aside testing. Our project manager provides weekly production reports with photographic documentation. Deviations from specification are flagged and resolved before the affected batch advances.
Coordinated Delivery & Installation
Furniture delivery is coordinated with the site construction programme — typically timed for the final two weeks before soft opening, when floors are complete and other trades have vacated. For occupied hotels (renovation projects), we plan phased deliveries by floor or zone to minimise guest disruption.
Luxury 5 star Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp Hotels - Coordination of 280 pieces - couches, armchairs & banquettes- delivered in three phases over six weeks
Key certifications we deliver
Chapter Four
Our range —
Bespoke or 150+ models, four categories.
100% Bespoke
If none of our 150+ models is exactly right, we design from scratch. Your brief, your dimensions, your silhouette. We have done it for palaces — we can do it for your project.
Chapter Five
Materials —
over 500 fabrics, one library.
Our material library is curated from Europe's finest fabric houses — Lelièvre, Casamance, Vescom, and others. Every reference is pre-vetted for contract suitability before it enters our catalogue.
FR certified. Tested to 100,000+ Martindale abrasion cycles. Woven for continuous hospitality use. Available in 300+ colourways.
Full-grain, semi-aniline and corrected-grain options. Sourced from ECCO Leather and certified Iberian and Italian tanneries. Available in 25+ colours.
Hospitality-grade velvet and bouclé with FR treatment applied post-weaving. 80+ colourways. For statement seating in suites and public areas.
Customer's Own Material or Leather. Bring your interior designer's specification and we manufacture with it — subject to technical validation for contract use.