Most people rarely notice the furniture around them – the reception counters at a hospital, the dividers in a school corridor, the seating in a conference hall. And yet these elements quietly shape our daily lives.

In Monaco, one family-run business has been furnishing and fitting out Monaco’s public and private spaces for over 50 years. MSR Jbonet has contributed to projects like the Grimaldi Forum, which it furnished when the building opened and for which it later supplied part of the extension works.

The firm has also installed glazed partitioning systems at the British School of Monaco as the campus expanded, and carried out office fit-outs for the Monaco Red Cross, alongside projects for banks and private clients in the Principality.

Built for performance, not display

More recently, the company has been involved in supplying furniture for the New Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace (NCHPG), continuing a relationship with the hospital that spans more than a decade. The current work includes office furniture, reception areas, staff lockers and counters.

“It has to be robust, very resistant, with a fairly classic design and materials that can stand the test of time,” said administrator Gilles Benhamou, referring to the specific requirements of hospital environments. In such settings, durability and practicality take precedence, with furniture subject to constant use.

Different sectors, different needs

Of course, the demands differ depending on the sector. In schools such as the British School of Monaco, glazed dividers have been used to create flexible spaces while maintaining light and visibility.

Meanwhile, in commercial settings such as banks and offices, aesthetic and functional requirements shift again. Banking projects may call for more decorative materials, while modern office environments have evolved with hybrid working patterns and dense layouts.

Clients increasingly request enclosed booths, informal meeting areas and multipurpose staff kitchens, often with integrated power and connectivity built directly into furnishings.

Each project, Benhamou said, begins with understanding the brief. “The first job is to understand what the client or the architect is looking for. Then we adapt and propose solutions that match the project.”

Now, while all these fit-puts remain largely unnoticed by those who use them, they play a vital role in the daily running of Monaco’s public and professional spaces

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Main photo credit: Monaco Life