design et al are delighted to announce that Douglas Design Studio has been shortlisted for the Table Award in The Product Design Categories within The International Design and Architecture Awards 2017
The Aaron dining table is a strong, edgy and timeless design, featuring a solid bronze base with a knife edge, natural quartzite top and inlaid bronze detailing. A favourite client of Douglas Design Studio, was looking for an adult dining table to replace the one they had since they were first married, 2 children ago. They needed something durable and flexible that would allow a few extra chairs to be easily squeezed around for larger family gatherings. They also wanted something edgy; as art collectors and consultants, their home is a mix of elegant and provocative, and this table, paired with the soft elegant Promemoria Bilou-Bilou chair, needed to strike that balance.
The result is Aaron. Strong, elegant, edgy and timeless, using pure quartzite and architectural bronze with a subtle aluminium substrate as his only materials. His pedestal legs butterfly at a shallow 140-degree angle to triangulate his stance firmly with a minimal footprint and no wobble. A felted-underside of each base protects the wood floors. A hollow 4″ x 1 1/4″ structural centre spine runs the length of the table ending in a 10-degree chamfer which is capped and filled. The quartzite stone selected for the table top is an incredibly hard material. The craftsmen who worked on the stone had to leave the CNC cutter on overnight to cut get through the hard surface. Achieving a 3/8” radius on the stone edge could only have been done using great skill.
Each leg is narrowest at knee-height offering maximum squeezing-in space, and lighter weight. The pedestals then flare-out wide at the top to meet the edge of the table at an impossible 10-degree angle; shallow enough to ensure knees don’t touch it. The tight angle demands an impressive 10-degree chamfer to the 3/4″ thick top edge of the stone, polished to a paper-thin 3/8″ radius edge. Natural Quartzite is hard enough and stable enough to achieve this fine edge with a 100% pure natural material top. The legs and top are intimately integrated with the 1/4″ thick bronze leg appearing to slice through the stone edge and completing itself in a V on the surface, flush with the polished stone. The bronze line is inlaid into the continuous stone slab.
The Aaron dining table was designed with materials that provide a striking contrast each other. The cool rigid grey of the stone is softened by the warm glow of the bronze metal. The inlaid bronze gleams on the surface of the table. There is a great strength in the materials used for this table. The stone and bronze are extremely durable with a lifespan that allows the table to stay in the family for many generations.
The shape of the table base is practical and convenient as it allows many people to sit around the table with almost no leg interference. The Aaron table is beautiful and practical dining table to gather your family and friends around. Aaron was designed to stand out from its surroundings. Bronze and quartzite materials were selected to stand in contrast to the painted walls and wood cabinets and flooring. The table is the showpiece of the room.