Loft is a coffee table with roots in the mid-century industrial aesthetic yet simplified to make it relevant in a contemporary setting. The table features a rectangular walnut veneer top with a small corner radius and two identical powder-coated bent metal frames that form the legs and the handle at the top. The simple design language and flexible construction of the table creates a possibility for a family of products.
Hair pin legs were in peak popularity circa 2015 and I wanted to incorporate them in a furniture piece during my Summer internship at LumiSource. I started ideating simple forms in coffee and end table proportions. One of the concepts that attracted a lot attention from the team was an aesthetic where the legs wrapped around the top of the table and framed it like a breakfast tray.
I started visualizing the design and proportions in SolidWorks with a 3/4" thickness for the wood which is a go-to plywood thickness used in furniture with the idea of wrapping it with a layer of natural veneer. A standard 3/8" diameter for the steel rod matched the proportions of the table top thickness.
The first iteration of the design started with the a planar frame that had tabs supporting the wood at three points along a line. I built quick prototypes of the design using some inexpensive sheathing plywood and immediately found the design to be unstable and prone to skewing, primarily because all the support points that made contact with the table were along one straight line.
The next revision of the design had the ends of the legs bent inward, thus creating three distinct support points that form a triangle. I also added an additional horizontal member to provide some structure to the frame on its own. The revised leg design proved to be much more stable while also making the design visually more interesting as the leg frames were no longer planar. The final iteration of the design also uses tighter bend radii for the feet that fit the overall proportions of the table better.
The materials used in the final production version of the tables are walnut-veneered engineered wood and black powder coated steel. Support tabs with countersunk screw holes are welded onto the frame. The underside of the table top contains pre-drilled holes with threaded inserts that allow for easy assembly of the furniture by the user.
The simple form language of the design and parametric construction of the digital model in SolidWorks allowed me to explore different proportions of the design resulting in some interesting new furniture.
The coffee and end table from the Loft series were showcased at several shows since the fall of 2015 including NeoCon in Chicago and the Las Vegas, and High Point Furniture Markets. Loft is available for purchase on Houzz, Target, and Overstock.
