Beke Sella Cenatoria by John G Williams is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2019 Praemium A' Design Award Ferreum in Designatio Supellectilis Competition Category.
FerrumSupellex· 2019
Beke Sella Cenatoria
Client: John G Williams Fine Furniture
Praemium A' Design Award Ferreum Winner in Supellex Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #70678The Design
About Beke Sella Cenatoria
Beke significat 'pacem' et 'coniunctionem'. Sellae cenatoriae Beke consilium sensum pacis ergonomicum atque aestheticum fovet, simulque sensum coniunctionis cum spatio ad mensam. Consilium simplicitatem philosophiae Danicae Modernae observat, et tamen sedile dorsumque e ligno duro solido formato complectitur; motiva architecturae Batavo-Capensis Africae Australis cum lineamento architectonico ampio coniungit; atque fraxineam compagem puram adhibet ad ubertatem lignorum durorum localium et internationalium ostendendam.
The Recognition
About the Praemium A' Design Award Ferreum
Beke Sella Cenatoria victor est Praemii A' Design Award Ferreum, honoris amplissimi formis bonis dati, quae postulatis professionalibus et industrialibus ab creationibus bene formatis exspectatis satisfaciunt. Victores Ferrei magnam peritiam, altam specializationem, intellectum periti et facultatem creandi auctorum suorum ostendunt. Exspectatur Beke Sella Cenatoria creationem multum aestimatam, admiratam et carissimam, practicam et novam fore. Haec forma Ferreo victa optimas industriae consuetudines integrat et proprietates technicas idoneas, cum scientia et talento coniunctas, habet. Beke Sella Cenatoria ob diligentiam suam honoratur et ad vitae qualitatem emendandam formatum est, ut mundum meliorem reddere iuvet.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The Beke design uses a combination of innovative components.
The seat is a unique design laminated from individually shaped profiles to yield the final solid hardwood architectural form.
The rear legs are formed in two parts: first by steam bending the graceful form, and then laminating for long term dimensional stability.
The rails are profiled in an attempt to reinforce the overall lightness and sense of peace, and to support the cantilevered seat over the front rail. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Overall dimensions: 880mm high; 520mm wide; 600mm deep
Seat size in plan: 520mm wide x 440 mm deep
Backrest size in elevation: 540mm wide x 200mm high
Seat height from floor: 460mm. Raked back at 5 degrees
Back rest height from floor: 825mm. Raked back at 18 degrees
Weight: 5.5kg - Tags
- Beke, dining chair, south africa, hardwood, curved, danish modern, minimalist, ash, walnut, graceful
- Production Technology
- The chair design incorporates a number of innovative components: custom profiled hardwood seat; steam bent rear legs; coopered backrest; and shaped rails:
Custom profiled hardwood seat. The seat is constructed from over twenty individually shaped profiles that are formed from a solid hardwood, such as walnut. The laminated rough form is finished with purpose modified sanding tooling, to realize the final shape. Threaded inserts in the base of the seat provide strong engineered connection to the frame for the cantilevered seat form.
Steam bent rear legs. The rear legs are steam bent in two pieces; cooled and stabilized; and then laminated to generate the final leg forms. Regular lamination was discarded on account of the excessive glue joints implied; and steam bending alone risked dimensional instability over time. This innovative combination captures the best of both techniques.
Coopered backrest. Coopering is the ancient art of constructing curved forms as used in barrel construction. The backrest staves are cut with edges 1 degree off perpendicular so that, when glued together, they pull into the curved form. Modified power tools are used to finish shape the graceful curves.
Shaped rails. The rails incorporate forms that echo local Cape Dutch architecture. These are achieved by trimming the rails to custom templates. - Design Challenge
- The hardest part of this design was to make sure that the end result was clean, simple and graceful. On multiple occasions unduly complicated ideas were abandoned in favour of simpler, cleaner design details
- Research
- The Carl Hansen library of designs were carefully reviewed and analysed;
Earlier designs were critiqued, including last year's Zene design;
Various sweeping architectural forms were referenced;
Steam bending method and realisation were researched drawing on various inputs including helpful general introduction by Veritas;
Template cutting and trimming methods were researched and prototyped, to understand the boundaries and possibilities. - Inspiration
- Beke means 'peace' and 'to be connected to'. This design is intended to put the user at ease, for extended comfort at the dining table – to provide an ergonomic and aesthetic sense of peace. The design attempts to realize this sense of well-being, and at the same time to support a sense of connection with the space at the table, and hence engagement with the other diners.
The design: respects the simplicity of the Danish Modern, and yet incorporates a luxurious solid hardwood seat and back; integrates South African Cape Dutch architectural motifs with a sweeping architectural profile; uses a clean ash frame to showcase the richness of local and international hardwoods. - Project Duration
- Work started on the design in March 2018 and was completed it in May 2018.
- Operation Flow
- The chair works well at the dining table and, when pushed back or used elsewhere, is also comfortable for extended periods of time. Moving the chair around is easy – the hand naturally finds the hand-shaped indent at the bottom edge of the backrest and the well-balanced chair is readily lifted from this point
- Patents
- UK IP Office Registered Design: 6047911
Holder: John Griffith Williams, 2018 - Team Members
- John G Williams
- Image Credits
- All photos by John G Williams
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