Steven Manos, New Charsfield Dining Table (Furniture)

Introducing the New Charsfield Dining Table, commissioned by Designed Space’s Interior Designer Renee Woolridge; for her client who so loved a leather topped dining table they dined on at a restaurant in Mornington they decided they had to have something similar designed to suit their home. Together, Steven and Renee became a highly collaborative design team that successfully pushed many boundaries to achieve a truly unique result. The design brief presented many challenges, a major one being that while the table needed to look and behave like a single solid table, it had to be able to be deconstructed into four parts for transport up to the client’s South Melbourne penthouse apartment, via the building’s lift. This meant engineering a system to hold the three leaves of the tabletop together; the complexity of which was hidden with custom brass plates and custom brass fixtures used to secure the tabletop to the trestle frame. And then there is the leather top. Yes, on a dining table. The leather had to meet a brass edge seamlessly, so crumbs or liquids could not get caught in the edges. An opulent Shagarrett stingray embossed Italian leather, in Mineral, by Garrett Leather was chosen. Its texture is rippled and otherworldly, with a finish that casts intriguing micro-shadows across the surface, in both day and night light. As a specialty leather, typically used in luxury cars and super yachts, it is also durable and UV rated. Durable enough to withstand cutlery, tableware, drinking vessels...and all the other things that might happen on a dining table. Before final construction commenced the durability of the leather and all the joining materials were rigorously tested, including exposure to peanut butter, chocolate and red wine which were all left on a test construction piece for a week. The objective was to produce a table that was beautiful in its own right, but not necessarily the main attraction as it had to match its surroundings – the dining room in the client’s home. It also had to comfortably hold space for two people, or 10 or 12 The starting point for the design of the New Charsfield Dining Table was a traditional trestle concept. From there contemporary vibes, curves flowing from the lower support up the legs to the upper supports then across the stretcher, and horizontal brass details in the feet to reflect brass detailing on the top were added. American ash was used as the principal timber. As a maker this design and build was challenging in every way. To ensure it looked ‘just right’ every possible angle and proportion was considered. This included bringing accuracy and seamlessness across leather, brass and wood – as each has its own quirks and behaviours. The timber construction itself is relatively traditional, with large mortise and tenon joinery in the legs and cross beams. Veneered poplar core-board edged with ash was used for the three leaves. Other processes employed included CAD design, leatherwork, brass bending, CNC fabricating, and metal patina. It was finished in a black aniline dye and two pack matt finish. Over 160 hours of design and build time was involved over a period of 7 months. It was completed in mid-2019. 3000mm long x 1050mm wide x 760mm high. Instagram - @drstevenmanos and @designedspace

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