Designing the Atlas: From Brief to Build

The brief

The Atlas started with a question we kept hearing from clients: “Can you build a media console with a hidden compartment?” Media consoles sit in living rooms — the most visible room in the house. The piece had to look intentional, not like security furniture with a veneer of design.

The constraints were specific:

• Standard living room widths (1600–2000 mm)
• Cable routing for AV equipment without visible holes
• A concealment compartment large enough for A4 documents and small valuables
• RFID access with no visible lock, seam, or mechanism
• Solid timber construction — no veneered panels

The false floor

The concealment compartment sits beneath a false floor panel. When the RFID reader — embedded behind the cabinet’s side panel — receives a valid signal, the solenoid retracts and releases the panel. Lift it out from the front edge and the compartment is open.

The critical dimension was depth. Too deep and the console sits too high for comfortable TV viewing. Too shallow and the compartment is useless. We settled on 50 mm — enough for passports, cash, a small handgun where legally held, or a stack of documents. Each void measures 430 × 412 mm, roughly 9 litres, and the 1800 carries one in each side bay: about 18 litres in total.

Making the floor invisible

The false floor is 6 mm birch plywood faced with the same timber as the cabinet’s base. Grain direction matches the surrounding panels. The gap around the floor panel is 1 mm on every side — an even shadow line that reads as a deliberate panel joint rather than a lid.

When closed, the floor supports the weight of objects placed on top of it (books, a speaker, a decorative object).

We did evaluate a gas strut to raise the panel for you. It doesn’t survive the arithmetic. A 50 mm void leaves the strut lying at about nine degrees, so it would need roughly 45 N just to break the panel off its seat — more than double what the solenoid can hold shut, and it would fling the panel once past the first few degrees. So the panel lifts out by hand. It also comes away completely, which a hinged lid never does: you get the whole void, not the two-thirds you can reach around a raised flap.

The four models

The range settled into four configurations:

Atlas 1800 — the core model. 1800 mm wide, two open shelves, adjustable dividers, cable management void behind the back panel. This is the piece most clients choose.

Atlas XL 2000 — the same design stretched to 2000 mm for larger rooms. The additional width accommodates a centre channel speaker or a turntable.

Atlas 1600 — a compact version for apartments and smaller living spaces. Same concealment system, reduced shelf count.

Atlas Floating 1600 — wall-mounted, no plinth. The concealment compartment is shallower (35 mm) to keep the overall depth manageable. The mounting system uses a French cleat rated to 120 kg.

Material and finish

Every Atlas is built from solid European oak or American walnut — client’s choice. The default finish is a natural hardwax oil that lets the grain show through. We also offer a white oil, a smoked finish (ammonia-fumed oak), and a catalysed lacquer in any RAL colour for clients who want a painted look.

The back panel is 6 mm birch plywood — functional rather than decorative, since it faces the wall. All cable routing happens through this panel via oversized grommets that allow plugs to pass through without disconnecting.

From prototype to production

The first Atlas prototype took three weeks to build. The production version takes seven working days. The difference is tooling — we built dedicated jigs for the false floor rebate, the RFID reader pocket, and the solenoid mount. Those jigs mean every Atlas comes out with the same tolerances, every time.

Each piece is still built by hand in our Limassol workshop. “Production” in our context means repeatable precision, not a factory line.

Commissioning an Atlas

Every Atlas is built to order. You choose the model, the timber, and the finish. We handle the rest — including delivery and installation anywhere in Cyprus. The concealment option is exactly that: optional. The Atlas works equally well as a straightforward media console without the RFID system.