Matthew James, Bespoke Study Desk (STUDENT 2021)

I designed and constructed a bespoke study desk for my 2021 HSC major project. I wanted to create piece that had a high degree of difficulty and would require extensive woodworking skills. I also wanted to create a desk that has high functionality and is suitable for the home office environment. To achieve this, I incorporated modern technology into the desk to make it a highly functional workspace, including a hidden wireless mobile phone charger located at the far right-hand corner of the desk, soft close drawers, along with hidden cable management compartments at the rear of the angled cabinets. I constructed the desk out of quality timber species including American Walnut which contrasted with the lighter hue of American Oak I chose American Oak for the desktop and drawer fronts because of its better durability making it suitable for high contact surfaces. The angled cabinets and straight lines of the drawers and desktop are softened by the curved drawer pulls and shaped legs to make it appear more subtle, while maintaining high functionality and aesthetics to sit comfortably at. I incorporated a wide range of skills including hand cut joinery, angled dovetail joints for the drawers, precise modern machining for the angled cabinets, and carved legs and supports.

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