Inspired by dramatic mountain ranges, Charles Rose designs sculptural mahogany coffee table

Somerville, Massachusetts, United States

Designed for a home in Wilson, Charles Rose Architects’ Grand Teton Table captures the visual drama of the Grand Tetons and local beehives near the site of the space it will inhabit.

The project, made in black walnut, explores CNC milling and lamination and is the final design iteration in a series of CNC experiments exploring milling techniques, formal limitations, and material performance.

The project received the 2023 Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies.

The table features a base constructed from two-inch mahogany slabs, using CNC milling and laminating techniques.

This design is the culmination of various CNC experiments, exploring milling techniques, formal limitations and material performance.

It emphasizes social gatherings, the primary function of a coffee table, and contrasts several qualities in its materials and composition: opaque and transparent, organic and Cartesian, sculpted and molded, thin and thick, curved and straight.

The family of wooden shapes suggests an act of social gathering, the very function of a coffee table.

The table plays with a number of contrasting qualities in its materials, composition and form: opaque and transparent, organic and Cartesian, sculpted and molded, thin and thick, curved and straight, hinting at a celebration of the balance and unity found, often surprisingly, in the dualities of nature.

Project: Grand Teton Table
Designers: Charles Rose Architects Inc.
Lead Designer: Charles Rose
Manufacturer: Charles Rose Architects Inc.