The Mercury was qualified as an intelligent solution by the jury to animate an area with no electrical sockets. The suspension was designed by SFL beginning of 2020 and launched on the market in May. It’s innovating design associates a LED lighting and a socket. It was rewarded by the “Janus de l’industrie 2020”. A label given by the French Institute of Design.

An innovative product mixing two features and design could not go unnoticed by the French Institute of Design who exists since 1951.  They spot solutions made in France where the design brings a real added value to the function of a product, which allows it to stand out from the competition. Only the most innovative solutions receive the “Janus de l’industrie”. A label created in 1953, recognized internationally and sponsored  by the Ministry of Industry and foreign trade. “We received the label in 2015 for the Eight socket. So when we developed the Mercury suspension, it seemed natural to present an application file for the Janus” explains Joël Goyer, designer at SFL. This company creates lighting, socket and accessory solutions for kitchen designers and contractors and puts design at the heart of its creative process for the user.

Creative process : how to pass from a blurry request to a concrete object

“When we develop a new product we always start with a request from our customers. They do not always know how to use words for their ideas. Our role is not only to understand but shape their ideas. It is exactly what happened with the Mercury suspension” added Joël Goyer. It was to imagine a socket  that could be easily installed in a room or corner that did not have a socket, without having to rethink the power grid. Furthermore, this socket had to be robust and out of the way from any damage caused by liquids. After first ruling out the idea of a socket under the cabinet because of it taking too much room, SFL imagined a suspended socket above a piece of furniture or a worktop which also adds a new source of light. The rest we know.

The characteristics of the Mercury suspension

It includes a 16 ampere socket integrating a 8W LED light (4000K) and is fixed to the ceiling and allows to vary the light intensity thanks to its touch switch. The body is in polycarbonate, matte black soft touch finishing and is equipped with decorative anodized metal inserts. They exist in matte black, black chrome and matte copper.

Alice Heras (translation by Olivier Gomot)