Dezeen promotion: Spanish furniture manufacturer Sancal has refurbished its production facility with colourful murals and geometric signage, to mark its 40th birthday.

During the course of a five-month renovation, the 70-person facility in Yecla, eastern Spain, was brightened up with a red, yellow and blue colour scheme and was unveiled in January last year.

Artists including Ricardo Cavolo, Agostino Iacurci, Zosen were commissioned to paint large wall murals throughout the site.

Thick white tape marks the corridor perimeters, while the central pathway is covered with colourful patterns consisting of rhombuses, circles, squares and rectangles.

Four micro-showrooms were installed to showcase Sancal's furniture in manufacturing and home environments. Each showroom is set up in a different production section of the facility to inform visitors about the manufacturing process behind each piece.

Colourful corridors and hanging signs dominate the facility's dining rooms, which has been converted into an additional showroom where Sancal furniture appears in a real life situation.

For more information about Sancal, visit the company's website.

Here's some more information from the brand:

After 40 years of decorating other people's singular spaces, we have reached the conclusion that the best way to celebrate our anniversary is by taking aim at own factory, leaving a visible mark of our philosophy on the production process itself.

The result is an inspirational tour for our customers and collaborators, destined to surprise. Three incredible murals, fun signs and four micro-showrooms have been dreamt up to brighten our worker's spaces and communicate just how central design is to our philosophy. Not only do we want to turn Sancal into a "tourist destination", but we also believe that the best way to celebrate our birthday is by giving our people a little art.

The murals

The incredible mural of Agostino Iacurci represents the dignity and knowhow of the artisan, while presenting traditional European industries as heritage to be conserved. The circus-like figures of Ricardo Cavolo remind us that we are large family worth celebrating. The forty masks of Zosen show the passage of time, the face of success and failure, happiness and the problems that we face on a daily basis. We have to go back to prehistoric times to understand the magical meaning behind cave paintings, however, in the 21st Century we like to think that those involved in the manufacturing process will be just as inspired by the creativity of these murals and that this will result in better products, as if we had cast an ancient spell.

The signage

The colourful signs remind us of where we are and reflect our interests. We flip from one extreme to another; after all, our Latin character is somewhat impulsive and spontaneous. The signs are a satiric take on the strange contrast between calendars featuring religious icons or erotica found in workshops this side of the Mediterranean. To this end we’ve created a union between cult and popular images, keeping some old favourites like motorbikes, pop stars or sensual women, and contrasting them against contemporary references. The results have a surreal effect that fascinates us.

The design spots

Last, but not least, we think that our products should be shown in their natural habitat. We have accomplished this with the use of a micro-showrooms; the visitor will find our latest designs presented within the factory itself. Unwittingly, they will also form a part of the new, livelier, Sancal.

www.sancal.com