Callum McLeod, Coffee Table

Transcript

Callum worked to the brief of designing and crafting a wooden coffee table that is both functional and visually appealing. The result takes the form of a horizontally positioned, curved trapezoid box standing at 490mm with curves linking its horizontal and vertical sides. The whole is mounted on a shallow rectangular frame whose dimensions are smaller than the table, giving the table the effect of floating just off the ground.

The coffee table’s upper surface is 595mm x 110mm. The two longer sides stand largely open to reveal a series of zoned shelves and compartments within. Two different timbers are used in the table’s construction: a gold-toned Victorian Ash and a darker, toffee-coloured Jarrah. Each stands out against the other, whilst being presented as a single unit through a variety of wood joins (domino and mitre). A large cross halving join through the midsection of the piece is set at an angle of 110 degrees. A third down from the table’s surface a shelf seems to run through this cross-half almost to the far-right hand side, before veering upwards, parallel to the cross halving. Below, the right-hand side of the coffee table is given structure and additional storage/display capacity through a second shelf, set at around 1/3 height, and also linked to the base by a slanting vertical.

The left-hand side of the piece, beneath the shelf, is taken up with a drawer made of two sections of jarrah wood sandwiched around a thinner strip of Victorian Ash, which has a central curved inset to act as a handle. When the drawer is pulled open, it reveals a small-multi-level triangular hiding space to the right of the main drawer’s capacity.

All the timber has been highly polishing to bring out the swirls, knots and different tones (in the jarrah, from honey to treacle) that makes it unique.

Callum drew inspiration from 1980s flowing furniture combined with modern contemporary use of geometric angles.