Marinos Drakopoulos, Round Desk (TABLES, CHAIRS, DESKS 2021 )

The desk was designed for a client who wanted a desk to last their daughters lifetime. The desk is designed for disassembly while achieving a minimal profile. Sustainability and longevity are always essential considerations whenever I make a piece. The desk, I think, speaks to my preference for singular forms, where each element in the design is related to another. Achieving this from solid wood can be challenging, especially when including drawers, a wrap-around and removable components. I chose to create a design that can be easily disassembled for transport or repair. One of the great things about using solid materials is that any damage that occurs over time can be repaired. A challenge with larger pieces can be moving them! Designing the desk for easy disassembly by making the legs easy to remove allows the end-user to transport the piece throughout its lifetime. The base of the desk is made using solid timber, while the top is made from a shop pressed thick veneer. A hole for cable management in the top presented a challenge as I didn't want the plywood edge to be visible. To address this, I inlayed a piece of solid wood into the birch ply substrate before veneering so that then the hole was cut; it would reveal a solid wood edge.

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