design et al are delighted to announce that Studio Hemal Patel have been shortlisted for the Table Award within The International Design and Architecture Awards 2018.
Designed to be functional art, Terrace Coffee Table is a beautiful sculptural wooden coffee table inspired by the farming practices employed in the mountainous regions of the far East and South America.
The Terrace Table introduces a new aesthetic typology that offers a compelling and novel alternative to the usual, flat table-top designs. Meandering across it’s centre is a beautifully crafted ‘mountain range’ with terracing along its length, the ‘terraces’ carved from the wood to form smooth sweeping contours that imbue a striking sculptural elegance. On each side of the ridge are flat expanses that provide practical work or storage areas. The bases of the terraces are radiused, which adds a lovely tactile quality to the table and makes the experience of running your fingers along them strangely satisfying.
Designed to be functional art, light plays and interacts with its multi-faceted surfaces. As you move around the table light and shadow advance and retreat along the smooth, winding terraces, accentuating the beauty of the carvings whilst imparting a dynamism to the piece. This is a subtle, but powerful, feature that elevates the design to something quite special.
The Terrace Table is designed to be used in domestic settings as a focal point for the room, or in commercial environments as a stunning accent piece. It is made in the UK, using a combination of computer aided machining and expert craftsmanship, the whole process is labour intensive and a tribute to both automation and artisanship. The design works so well because it manages to achieve its goal of being functional art – it offers a practical solution that is suitable for everyday use, whilst being a beautiful, decorative object in its own right.