The world's lightest table made from timber has had a makeover.
Last year, London designer Benjamin Hubert launched his Ripple Table, which he claimed at the time was the lightest wooden table in the world. Now, soon after its nomination as a finalist in the Design Museum’s Designs of the Year 2014 exhibition, he has launched a sturdier, production-ready version of the table.
The table can still be assembled and maneuvered by a single person but can now easily support the equivalent of a person’s weight, further demonstrating the properties of the lightweight construction, says Hubert.
Following a series of intense strength and stability tests undertaken by the studio, the underside of the table’s surface now curves gently across its length and width, adding strength to the structure. Hubert further improved the leg design by employing a hollow triangular profile that offers increased strength and rigidity in two directions.
The table’s impressive strength to weight ratio is enabled by an innovative production process of corrugated plywood for furniture through pressure lamination, which we developed in collaboration with Canadian manufacturer Corelam, says Hubert.
The Ripple Table is 2.5 metres long and uses 80% less material than a standard timber table and now offers ample space for ten place settings.
The table was originally designed as part of an internal studio research project into lightweight construction and sustainable design, and was first launched at Aram Store during London Design Festival last year. In 2014, the new version of the Ripple Table will be exhibited as part of the Design Museum’s Designs of the Year exhibition.
