An interlocking concrete table

This project was a collaboration between Charline Polankai and myself. We have wanted to create furniture together for a long time and finally had the time, space and tools to do it.

The table was a lot of fun to build and a great way to get casting again. I bought a foam cutter with the intention of making cast models for small jobs. I hadn't used it until the arrival of my close friend Charline and a set of fresh ideas. We set out making the formwork for our take on the interlocking concrete table in January 2021. We made various card models to work out the best height and shape for the table. Then we set out cutting the formwork for the cast. We used green foam (Styrozone) for the formwork. This was cut using the foam cutter which was then taped with double sided sticky tape and then screwed together.

We used Foam because it was lying around, we also figured that we would get a desirable finish, also there are no issues with the concrete absorbing into the formwork. As we hadn’t done a concrete cast in a while, we had to do a bit of trial and error for the desirable correct mix. We wanted the consistency of the concrete to be firm to touch and not too liquid, so the water was added tentatively.

We then poured and vibrated the formwork by tapping the sides to get as many air pockets to the top. We cast the tables in early January so it was cold out we were concerned how this would affect the curing of the mix so decided to leave them to dry for four days. We ended up removing the sides of each cast to allow more air to reach the centre. We removed all the formwork and inspected the casts. All seemed to be fine, the darker concrete dried lighter than expected but we agreed that the finished result was fine. The parts slotted together with ease and we now have some lovely side tables for the new pond. ​