Workshop · Tirana, Albania
A workshop that builds what you drew
Every architect knows the gap between the render and what came back from the workshop. From the Formo Atelier workshop in Tirana we work as a production partner for architects and interior design studios with projects anywhere in Albania, whether the studio is based here or abroad: your design, our shop drawings, sampling, and execution, with tolerances treated as promises rather than suggestions.
Free, itemized quote within one business day.
- Years at the bench, from the workshops of Athens to our own in Tirana.
- 30+
- Commissions built to measure and installed by our own team.
- 300+
- European-standard materials and hardware, on every piece, no exceptions.
- 100%
How we collaborate
From your drawings to installed joinery
You stay the author of the project; we make the built result match the intent, and flag production realities before they become site surprises. The same arrangement works for developers and contractors handing over furnished apartments.
Shop drawings and technical review
We translate your design drawings into production drawings, review joints, loads, and clearances, and return them for your approval before cutting.
Material and finish sampling
Physical samples of boards, veneers, and lacquers against your specification, so the client signs off on the real surface, not a screen.
Custom joinery and one-off pieces
The pieces catalogues cannot supply: a reception desk with a compound curve, a wall of concealed doors, a single perfect table.
Full project execution
Complete apartment and commercial fit-outs built from your package, delivered and installed against the project schedule.
Site measurement and installation
Our own site measurements before production and our own installers at handover, so responsibility never changes hands.
Materials and finishes
Materials and finishes we work in
Specify from the six families below or send your own material schedule; we sample everything before production and return samples for client sign-off. Our MDF vs melamine article is written for homeowners, but the board grades and edge details in it are the ones we quote to.
Melamine
Chipboard or MDF faced with a hard, printed melamine layer. Scratch- and moisture-resistant, easy to clean, and available in hundreds of wood and plain decors. Our standard for carcasses and the most practical choice for fronts.
MDF (lacquered or moisture-resistant)
A dense, uniform fibreboard that machines cleanly. Moisture-resistant grades go into carcasses near water; lacquered MDF gives smooth matt or satin fronts in any colour, with no visible joints or grain.
High-gloss acrylic
MDF faced with a thick acrylic layer for a deep, mirror-like gloss that stays colour-fast. Scratch-resistant in daily use, easy to wipe down, and the usual choice for modern handleless kitchens.
Wood veneer
A thin layer of real oak, walnut or ash bonded to a stable board core. The look and touch of solid wood with far less movement, so large doors and panels stay flat for years.
Solid wood
Oak, beech, walnut and ash, selected and dried for interior use. For worktops, table tops, frames and handles, where the surface has to take knocks and be sanded back to new.
Plywood
Cross-laminated wood layers, usually birch: light, very strong and stable. For shelves that must not sag, drawer boxes, exposed-edge shelving and joinery that shows its construction.
How it works
From the first message to the last hinge
Consultation
Tell us what you need. We reply within one business day.
Site measurement
We measure the space ourselves, including walls out of square, sockets and pipes.
Drawings and quote
You approve 3D views and technical drawings alongside an itemized quote. Nothing is cut before that.
Build and install
Built in our Tirana workshop and installed by the same team, with a handover inspection together.
Why studios keep a workshop close
A studio is judged by the built result, and the weakest subcontractor sets the ceiling. We work with drawing packages daily, answer technically, and say no early when a detail will not survive production, with an alternative attached.
Your client relationship stays yours. We can work silently in the background or meet the client alongside you, whichever serves the project, and pricing to studios is structured so your margin is your business.
For a sense of how we detail, the interior design styles guide and the measurement articles on the blog are written by the same people who draw your shop drawings.
Studios that build with us follow every job by email: the production phase, workshop photos, final photos and the documents, sent as the work moves, by the same people who prepare your shop drawings.
A master craftsman with 30 years at the bench
Sherif Hamiti built cabinetry and fine joinery in Athens for three decades before co-founding Formo. Every joint, edge and finish that leaves the workshop passes through his hands.
Technical drawings before the first cut
Ardineli Caci turns your idea into 3D models and production drawings that you approve first, so what gets built is exactly what you signed off, to the millimetre.
European boards and hardware, as standard
Moisture-resistant MDF and quality melamine boards for carcasses, solid wood and veneer where the design calls for it, soft-close hinges and runners on every door and drawer, edges sealed on every panel.
Installed by the team that built it
The same people who measured and built your piece install it: aligned fronts, adjusted hinges, sealed joints against the wall, and a handover inspection with you.
Cost
What affects the cost of custom furniture?
Every project is quoted from real site measurements, so there is no price list. These are the things that move a quote up or down:
Size and layout:
the number of units, tall columns, corners, islands and how much wall you are covering.
Materials:
melamine, lacquered or acrylic fronts, veneer and solid wood sit at very different points, and carcass and fronts can be mixed.
Hardware:
soft-close is standard; pull-out pantries, corner mechanisms, lift-up doors and internal organisers add to it.
Integration:
built-in appliances, lighting, sockets and ventilation planned into the cabinetry.
Site conditions:
walls out of square, pipes to work around, access and floor levels all affect the work on the day.
Questions
Common questions from studios
What files do you work from?
DWG and PDF drawing packages are the usual starting point; dimensioned sketches work for smaller pieces. We return shop drawings for approval before production.
Can you quote during our design phase?
Yes, and it is the best time to involve us. Preliminary pricing on a concept helps you steer the design toward the budget before the client falls in love with the expensive version.
Whose name is on the project?
Yours. We are the production partner; the design authorship and the client relationship belong to the studio. We are happy to be credited as the maker, and equally fine staying unlisted.
Do you hold tolerances?
Yes, and we treat drawn dimensions as commitments. Where a material or site condition forces a deviation, it comes back to you as a question first, never as a surprise at installation.
Do you work with developers and contractors?
Yes. Furnished apartments in a new building are series work: one specification repeated across units, priced per apartment type and installed against the handover schedule. Where there is no studio on the project, we work directly from the plans and our own site measurements, the same way a private client’s whole apartment is handled.
Do you work with studios based outside Albania?
Yes, when the project is built in Albania. We can communicate in English or Greek. Your drawing package, our shop drawings and every approval go by email, and at each phase we send photos from the workshop, so nobody from your studio has to travel just to check progress. We measure the site and install with our own team, so the work here does not depend on you being on site.
Can you handle recurring work?
Yes. Several pieces per month across projects, or repeat production of a piece you designed once, both fit how the workshop is set up.
Keep exploring
Start a commission
Have a project on the drawing board?
Contact us about the full package or a single detail you want priced. We will respond technically, with numbers.
Workshop in Tirana. We build and install across Albania: Durrës, Vlorë, Shkodër, Elbasan, Fier and beyond.
