Table Clamp

Table Clamp is our first prototype for a piece of furniture that is easily constructed, endlessly repairable, and able to be repurposed or sold for parts if no longer needed.  

Survey any kerb-side rubbish pile and you will find chairs, tables, and shelving that have been discarded due to seemingly minor issues that have been deemed too hard to fix: a broken leg, a missing bolt, scratches, and chips. Regrettably, much of the discarded material is of good quality, but it is challenging to salvage and repurpose for other uses.

With this in mind, we established the following principles for our table design:

• A Lo-tech: using a construction approach that only requires simple cutting and screwing.

• Standard timber sizes: making it easy to source replacements.

• Standard fixings: no more searching for discontinued parts.

• No off-cuts: minimising waste

• No glue: ensuring all components can be dismantled for repair or reselling.

Our design approach has the added benefit of making it easy to switch out components, such as the table top, to suit different applications or décor, further minimising the risk of it ending up in landfill.

With love to Enzo Mari, Gerrit Rietveld, and others that have pioneered similar ideas for universal furniture systems.