Living Divani Islands coffee table

Description

Islands is a set of low tables in three heights and diameters, each accessible along its entire perimeter through a series of pivoting slats. Stephen Burks developed the family from the open storage units he had designed for Living Divani the year before, and the slats carry that idea across. Turned one way they close the volume. Turned the other they open it into practical storage.

Design Inspiration & Philosophy

Burks is known for holding tradition and freedom together, industry alongside craftsmanship. Islands sets an almost basket like enclosure beneath a beveled top, and the combination reads as a luxury that speaks of the past while behaving as something contemporary. The tables are named for what they do in a room. Each one is a small territory, able to stand alone or join the others.

The Pivoting Slats

Elliptical slats run around the full perimeter and each turns on its own axis. Closed, they form a solid drum. Opened, they let objects be reached from any side and turn the base into visible storage. Because the movement is continuous rather than a hinged door, a table can be left half open, which is where the play of light through the structure becomes most interesting.

Three Sizes

Three heights and diameters allow the tables to be grouped into a larger expanse or scattered as individual pieces. Grouping them produces an uneven landscape rather than one flat plane, which suits low seating far better than a single wide table. Used alone, the tallest works beside an armchair and the lowest sits comfortably in front of a sofa.

Materials

Indoor tops come in charcoal dyed oak or Stone Oak veneer, matt black lacquer, or marble in red Levanto and Sahara Noir, always with a beveled edge. Slats either match the top or stay matt black. An outdoor version in matt black painted metal carries the same design onto a terrace, which keeps the language consistent between the living room and the garden.

Perfect For

– Living rooms needing surfaces that also absorb clutter

– Grouped arrangements in front of a large seating composition

– Terraces continuing an indoor scheme into the open air

– Contract lounges where tables are moved constantly

– Clients drawn to Burks and his craft led approach

– Rooms where one rectangular coffee table would feel heavy

A coffee table that opens. Burks gave three plain drums a perimeter that turns, and in doing so answered the oldest question in a living room, which is where everything goes.