Davidson's award winning design for the 'Going with the grain' competition designing an object using sustainable materials. click on the link.
the 'uni' table is cut from a single pieces of plywood
image courtesy of charlie davidson

charlie davidson, who previously participated in our designboom mart tokyo, has designed 'uni table',
made from sustainable plywood. for the design, davidson chose to use the
alpha system / traditional wood cut style joint that takes into account structural loading,
re-assembly and ease of manufacturing. to minimize the use of plywood, he came up with a solution
where a pair of legs could be cut from two smaller pieces of ply, which results in a jigsaw-like
connection to key the leg components together. the two pairs of legs are then joined together
with two side rails held in place by the alpha system. the table top then locks into the side rails.

the top is cut from the underside, using a standard 3 degree tapered cutter normally used in
machining wooden moulds that require a draft angle. this produces the tapered edges around the
tabletop's edge and cuts the angled holes into which the legs locate and fiction locked into place.
the round cut maple's natural beauty is maximized by the large table surface,
with its curved sides flowing with the grain of the veneer.