John Roy, hinoki coffee table (TABLES, CHAIRS & DESKS 2024)

Photos:

Daniel Mulheran @danielmulheran

My major work at Sturt School for Wood 2023 was a gift for my father, who encouraged and supported my career change. A retired architect who now loves to drink coffee on his balcony, Dad greatly admires Tadao Ando, whose Komyo-Ji temple is the inspiration for this table. In designing a place in which people can meet, Ando observed the traditional carpentry process of assembly of individual components. With similar intention, the sticks of this table are cut from a single hinoki post, stacked and joined with wooden nails. The inset concrete top is a cheeky nod to both designers, who love their works in concrete. Although the predominantly top-down perspective differs from the original, I hope it still provides the same meeting place for visitors, or for moments of quiet reflection. Hinoki (Japanese cypress) & hardware imported by Japanese Tools Australia.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.