Workshop · Tirana, Albania
Restaurant and café furniture that survives service
A venue’s furniture is part of its brand and part of its equipment: it has to look right on opening night and still look right after two summers of full terraces. At Formo Atelier we build custom furniture for restaurants, cafés, and bars in Albania, from the bar counter to the last banquette, in our Tirana workshop.
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%
What we build
Front of house, built as one piece
We work from your concept or your designer’s drawings, and build the room as one composition: counter, seating, tables, and walls in a single material language.
Bar and service counters
The heart of the venue: built around the equipment, the pass, and the barista’s movements, with a front that carries the brand.
Tables and table bases
Tops in solid wood, veneer, or compact laminate, sized to your floor plan and covers count, on bases that do not wobble.
Banquettes and fixed seating
Upholstered bench seating that maximizes covers along walls and windows, built on hardwood frames for years of daily use.
Wall panelling and shelving
Back-bar shelving, wine displays, and wall joinery that turn bare walls into the venue’s identity.
Host stands and service stations
The working pieces guests brush past all night, built to take it.
Materials and finishes
Materials that survive service
Spills, heat, chairs and a full house every night: venue furniture is specified from the surface inward. These are the families we build front-of-house from, with solid wood and plywood doing the structural work and the boards carrying the finish; the MDF vs melamine guide explains the two most common ones.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Specified for spills, heat, and full houses
Hospitality furniture fails in predictable places: table edges, seat frames, counter fronts. We build those places deliberately stronger, with materials chosen for cleaning products, spilled wine, and sun through the window, so the venue still photographs well in year three.
Deadlines in hospitality are real deadlines: an opening date with staff hired and marketing running. We plan production backwards from that date and install at night or between shifts when the venue is already operating.
Table heights, seat depths and aisle widths are checked against the figures in our room-by-room measurements guide before the drawings go out.
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 venue owners
Can you build from our interior designer’s concept?
Yes, and it is the best starting point. We turn the concept into shop drawings, propose materials that survive service, and build exactly what was designed.
How do you price a full venue?
Piece by piece from the floor plan: the counter, the fixed seating by the meter, tables by count and size. You get an itemized quote so the budget can be adjusted piece by piece, not guessed.
What materials survive restaurant use best?
Compact laminate and properly sealed solid wood for table tops, hardwood frames under upholstery, and high-pressure surfaces on the counter. We match the specification to how hard your service actually runs.
Can you install without closing the venue?
For operating venues we install at night or in the morning hours before service, in phases agreed with your manager.
Do you also refresh existing venues?
Yes. Replacing tired tops, rebuilding a counter front, or adding a banquette row is often the fastest way to make a venue feel new without a full renovation.
Keep exploring
Start a commission
Opening or refreshing a venue?
Contact us about your venue. We will come back with a proposal and a quote.
Workshop in Tirana. We build and install across Albania: Durrës, Vlorë, Shkodër, Elbasan, Fier and beyond.
