When steel beats a wood finish
Steel storage for environments where laminate will not survive, or where security matters more than matching the desks. Covers Qube filing cabinets and Base mobile pedestals.
Where laminate fails and steel does not
Laminate chips at the edges and swells if it gets wet. In a workshop, a school, a warehouse office or anywhere near a kitchen, that happens within a year or two.
Steel takes knocks, wipes clean, and does not care about damp. It is the reason steel storage still dominates in environments that are hard on furniture.
Security is the other reason
A locked laminate cupboard is a deterrent. A locked steel cabinet is closer to actual security, which matters for personnel files, controlled stock or anything with a compliance requirement attached.
What you give up
Warmth. Steel reads as institutional next to wood-finish desking, which is fine in a back office and wrong in a client facing space. If appearance matters, Impulse storage matches the desking instead.
For a complete steel system where cabinets, lockers and shelves all line up, see the Qube range.