04 · Furniture · Concept · 2009

Corky

A coated cork surface woven into a lattice and held between stainless steel side frames — a chair and a longer seat built the same way.

Discipline

Furniture

Status

Concept

Year

2009

Materials

Cork surfaceConfirmed

Polymer coatingConfirmed

Stainless steel side framesConfirmed

Fixing between surface and frameUnder consideration

The idea

Cork as the structure, not the finish.

Seat and back are one continuous surface, woven from cork strips into an open lattice and curving from under the knees up behind the shoulders. Stainless steel side frames hold that surface between them and lift it clear of the floor.

Cork is chosen for what it does to a seat: warm to the touch straight away, light enough to move with one hand, quiet, slightly yielding, and forgiving where an edge meets the body. Woven rather than sheeted, it also breathes.

Longer version of the seat, the woven surface continuing into a slatted extension — The same structure stretched into a longer seat. Concept visualisation.

The material

A soft material asked to take hard use.

Untreated cork marks, absorbs and abrades — everything a seat surface has to withstand. So the woven cork carries a polymer coating: it seals the surface against moisture and spills, holds up to repeated sitting and cleaning, and keeps the weave's texture readable instead of burying it under a thick film.

The coating also stiffens each strip a little, which is part of how the lattice holds its shape between the two frames.

How it is built

Woven cork: Coated cork strips crossing to form the load-carrying surface; the pattern is the structure.
Side frames: Stainless steel frames on both sides, taking the surface in tension.
Two pieces: The chair and the longer seat are separate pieces built the same way, not one piece extending.
Arms: An armed variant studied in drawing, not yet resolved.
Open questions: How stiff the coated lattice stays under load, comfort over a long sitting, and how the surface is fixed to the steel.

Thinking

Coloured sketch sheet showing four variations of the seat in perspective — Four variations in perspective

Coloured sketch sheet showing the seat beside its longer, slatted version — The seat studied beside its longer version

Line drawing sheet with front, side and two perspective views, including an armed version — Views and joint studies, including an armed version

A pattern can be the structure rather than a finish laid over it.

Studies and details

Closing note

A concept. The coated cork lattice has not been built, loaded or sat in.