Afrienza designs furniture for a new South African homeowner
African designer, Afrienza, will storm the industry and knock on the doors of all South Africans.
Afrienza emerged from the shadow of COVID-19 during the shutdown of the industry in South Africa. It is the collaborative brainchild of designer Michele Grech-Cumbo and manufacturer Anastasios Asteriou, aiming to introduce quality, designer furniture to the mass appeal of the South African market.
Clever techniques, stylish aesthetics, and an honest desire to offer design to everyone has encouraged Afrienza to be the phoenix of affordable and accessible designer products in South Africa.
The team at Afrienza aims to provide beautiful, designer furniture in South Africa, not only to the wealthy but to the vast majority of people who cannot typically afford designer products. Afrienza designer, Michele Grech-Cumbo, undertook the process of designing furniture to solve this need.
Striking a partnership with manufacturer Anastasios Asteriou, together they worked on the best methods of providing affordable designer furniture to the market. Secret compartments for hiding valuables, clever nesting techniques for manufacture along with dual-tone and textured materials are just some of the innovations coming out of the Afrienza collaboration.
Afrienza provides innovative designer furniture solutions for the individual and the developer alike, with offerings for residential, commercial, and hospitality.
Utilising clever design methodologies and innovative manufacturing techniques, the process yielded what is the current Collection of Afrienza’s African Designer Furniture. The Collection ranges from seating, tables and cabinetry to built-in cupboards and kitchens.
Afrienza, “African” and “Enza” (Zulu for ‘create’), has created three tiers in their ranges: an Entry Level range offers products in engineered woods and melamine; the custom range offers fantastic finishes in select materials and customised colour options; while the Bespoke range offers exclusive finishes in veneers, Fenix and other surfaces coupled alongside first-class stone tops and powder-coated steel furnishings with the option of full-dimensional customization.
The Afrienza team hopes to bring design to everyone in South Africa, from the Uber driver kitting out his first city rental to the executive looking to stand out in her new suburban residence. Timeless, clean, and sophisticated design are mantras that Michele Grech-Cumbo considers in every product, providing an enjoyable, long-term relationship between object and user. While Anastasios Asteriou offers quality, precision, and clarity in his production, manufacturing on CNC operated machinery from Germany and more than a decade of experience.
Afrienza has also opened a 280m2 showroom, located alongside the 1300m2 factory in Kempton Park. Customers can experience the innovative product in built 3x3m rooms, illustrating the clever modularity and novel features of the furniture. Some unique features include little secret compartments to hide precious goods, other products are two in one like the tray/side table combination or our indoor/outdoor steel chairs – some things just need to be experienced.
All of their standard products are designed modularly, to the basic internal dimensions of all government and privately developed construction specifications. Thereby allowing the products to fit together, inside any space without needing to be built in. Furthermore, they have been manufactured for easy transport and as a flat-pack option to reduce transport costs for customers, this also helps items get up narrow staircases.
Not only has Afrienza developed a comprehensive product range of items, but the brand has also partnered with StudioMIC (now Aartium) who provides design, architectural and interior consultation. Furthermore, other collaborations have been made with Fotakis Floors, Wolkberg Castings, Poseidon Bathrooms, and platform23, to name a few.
The showroom, located at Goodwood boards (Anastasios Asteriou) also offers an open gallery space of other collaborative products. The brand team sees potential in collaboration and openly seeks designers, artists, and artisans thinking in a similar way.
