Draenert Company was commissioned to construct and deliver an XXL version of its rotating table „Tadao“ to the USA
In the past, natural stone design was often understood as an exercise in constructing household items exclusively in stone. Designers worked much like sculptors and the result was more often than not a sculpture of sorts: decorative but of little use.
But in the furniture branch the current trend is toward a mix of materials including stone, usually marble, sometimes onyx, occasionally granite. But stone is an eye-catcher and accent-giver.
Another direction is to raise the profile of stone by means of special technology. Draenert Company, located in the town of Immenstadt on the banks of Germany’s Lake Constance, has made a name for itself with its design of exclusive furniture.
Technology according to Draenert is: a mechanism with which a table, e.g., folds open and shut almost magically. We have reported on such combinations of stone and technology in several past issues, most recently on Draenert’s table „Tadao“, a Chinese-style dining table with a rotating center-piece.
Our report of „Tadao“ included a 2.4 m stone table top. The entire table weighs 456 kg.
Today we present „Tadao III“ with a 3.1 m table top weighing in at 1.1 t.
The piece was custom made for a Californian client and shipped by sea.
Here are some of the details:
The table stands on four legs, each of which is made of 4 cm-thick mutually reinforced slabs. The base was factory assembled and shipped as one piece.
The rotating mechanism is integrated in the base. It is a an ingenious design much like a ball-bearing ring. It is the minimal surface contact which allows the massive table center to rotate with ease.
The outer part of the table top is comprised of four pieces. Of course the segments must be worked with great precision. Draenert can complete all steps in-house, from sawing the block to polishing the surface. Even inlay is completed in-house.
Of couse, Draenert consults with the client by means of computer simulation how the veins in the stone will play out across the table-top. „It’s part and parcel of this very special experience for the customer“, explains CEO Dr. Patric Draenert.
A steel frame underneath the table-top cradles the wheels which ensure smooth rotation together with the steel spheres.
The table was deconstructed after quality control and packed in a container for shipping. From Lake Constance, it was transported by truck to Rotterdam and loaded on the ship for transportation by sea.
The trip took four weeks and carried the table across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles.
A team of technicians trained by Draenert reassembled the table at its final destination in one day.
Fotos: Draenert
(19.08.2019, USA: 08.19.2019)