SYD – Fine Furniture/Design

Tag: Conference

  • FWC-18′ conference table

    FWC-18′ conference table

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    The good people of Far West Capital are so awesome that their business and staff just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I had made a 12′ conference table for them a few years ago, and they’ve already outgrown that one, so they commissioned me to make a 18′ conference table this time. They loved the traditional meets modern aesthetic of the last one, so we decided to design something that looks totally different from the last one, yet feels similar.

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    This was by far the biggest project I’ve had the opportunity to work on and logistics became the first and foremost in the design aspect. How can I make these parts in my shop and how can I break the pieces up so I can move it safely and easily? I decided that the top will be made from 3 parts and I wanted to make the top as light as possible since that has the biggest area. To support the top, there are thick and wide aprons that come apart and fit together with notches made in the wood. This gives stability to an otherwise flexible top. The aprons rest on pedestals that are angles and tapered in almost every direction. The taper came from trying to gain as much foot space as possible without sacrificing stability. One side of the pedestal is held in with clips so you can remove it to store and hide conference table equipment. At the feet there is a 1/4″ blackened plate steel that adds weight and distributes the footprint out so the top wont tip over.

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    The whole table is made from peruvian walnut veneered panels with solid wood edging. The removable center piece is made of spalted beech. Spalted is a figure in wood caused by fungal attack. The wood is left for fungus to attack, but then harvested before the wood rots completely and becomes unusable. It’s characteristics are black vein like lines with wood tones around it being different. I think the spalted beech was a nice compliment to the peruvian walnut and adds a little bit of country to the otherwise sophisticated elements.

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    To break up the large dark surface and to give a nod to traditional furniture we chose to inlay cross banding around the border. Cross banding is inlayed wood that is aligned so the grain is oriented side to side across the length. The outer cross banding is made from Bolivian rosewood and the inner cross banding that borders the spalted beech is Macassar Ebony. I feel the different tones in the woods give a nice transition to the different woods.

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    Sixteen people can sit all around the table easily and maybe a few more if people are willing to get close and cozy with each other. I think this design is a success because the real design elements are in the small details.

     

  • Tambour sideboard

    Tambour sideboard

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    I was approached to design a credenza/sideboard that matches a conference table I made in the past. A+L Conference Table. The main purpose for the sideboard was a storage unit that housed all their conferencing equipment when they weren’t using it as well as all the wires and misc things that should be hidden when it’s not used. The sideboard also makes a great platform to showcase all the awards they have won in the past.

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    Since there wasn’t a whole lot of space between the wall and the conference table chairs, I wanted to avoid having a door that swings out- especially if they needed the cabinet open for one reason or another. That left me with sliding doors or tambour doors as the options for the doors. Tambours are doors that slide in a track and roll so that it’s able to tuck into the sides and hide behind the back panel. You see this used on roll top desks.

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    After our design meeting, the client and I both agreed that tambours were the better choice for this situation. Not only does it look nicer, it’s a better solution functionally since you can reveal just the center shelf area, or open it all the way to showcase the whole interior of the cabinet. I also believe tambours have a certain nostalgic feeling that reminds us of beautiful furniture of the past.

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    The design inspiration came from mid-century modern furniture. I think the simplicity in form of the designers of this era got it just right. It’s hard to improve upon it, so I left the lines as clean as possible and tried to let all the details shine. Like many of SYD furniture, the eye is in the detail and the craftsmanship. Spend time on those elements and you don’t need fancy or unusual forms to stand out.

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    Most of the furniture in the room is made of pecan, so pecan was the natural choice of wood for this project. We didn’t want the room to look like a forest of pecan, so we decided to make the tambour doors out of a different, but complimentary wood. In this case, we decided on teak. The warm color of teak and the rich grain makes the door the focal point without taking all of the spotlight.

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