New Design: The Collaboration Table
Originally designed for Here East, the Collaboration Table is the perfect group workspace seating up to 14 people.
At up 4.8 metres long, our modern take on the traditional boardroom table is ideal for business meetings, team shares or Friday socials. A spacious cable tray with removable cable covers runs the entire length of the table, ensuring those messy cords stay hidden and your laptops stay charged!
The Collaboration Table was originally designed in collaboration (naturally!) with Lucy Dinnen, project architect at Hawkins Brown architects. Lucy was part of the Hawkins Brown team responsible for the design of the ambitious HereEast project: a 1.2 million sq ft overhaul of the broadcasting centre for London’s 2012 Olympics - now a campus bringing together business, tech, media, education and data in the pursuit of innovation.
The original design for HereEast featured a unique Corian table top (a beautiful material made from marble dust) with the Here East logo embedded, designed by Dn&co.
The end result is a true representation of open design and local production: it’s a small homage to what can be achieved at Here East through collaboration.
Lucy Dinnen, Project Lead for Here East
The Collaboration Table Today
The design and engineering team at Opendesk have since made some tweaks so that the Collaboration Table is optimised for our global maker network. The design that launched today has been reduced from seven sheets to five (meaning a 28% reduction in materials and a 35% reduction in cutting time).
Concealed nuts and bolts were introduced to make the table sturdier, while one of the middle legs has been removed. The remaining central leg has also been refined in order to make it less bulky and more comfortable for those sitting in the middle.
Finally, the cable management tray was changed to bring it in line with the new Lean Desk design: it’s deeper to allow Macbook chargers to comfortably fit inside.
Collaboration at Croydon
While the Collaboration Table is great for board meetings and formal team presentations, it’s also the perfect setup for team breakfasts or a Friday afternoon drinks session.
At the TMRW co-working hub in Croydon, the Collaboration Table is used for a weekly communal breakfast where new members introduce themselves and everyone discusses the challenges they’re currently tackling.
It’s perfect table when I need the entire team to focus on something. Even with others around, its generous size makes it a spacious and personal workspace.
Francois Mazoudier, TMRW Tech hub & Tech Leaders Capital
Designs featured in this article:
Photography by: Ollie Hammick, Peter Guenzel and Rory Gardiner
