Mad Reception Desk

• Prize
  Honorable Mention in Furniture Design
• Company/Firm
  Scot Distefano / Verve Multi
• Designer
  Scot Distefano
• Other Credit
  Fabrication Team: Rommel Rodriguez, Rodrigo Incera
• Photo Credit
  Scot DiStefano
• Location
  Dania Beach, Fl
• Project Date
  2023
• Client
  Mad Studios

Conceived as a custom reception desk to concert with the adjacent "tree" waiting room, the designer chose to layer in the additional challenge of a monolithic 3d concrete pour... with an inlayed LED flex light. The complexity is partly to serve as another "wow" moment for prospective clients, and partly to satisfy the "can we do it" urge of the designer and fabrication team. Fabrication of the top in multiple sections would have been relatively easy, but the joints between the panels would have been the trade off. The geometry of the counter top is a direct extraction from the client's corporate logo and an exercise in the plasticity of raw concrete.

The base was fabricated as a collection of radial profiles corresponding to the geometry of the "tree". The profiles were constructed from plywood, CNC cut to the desires shapes, then edge banded and whitewashed.

The top was fabricated in cardboard first, which was used as a template to create the plywood forms.

The top itself was a 'staggered single pour' of concrete top affect the curve and vibrate out air bubbles. The smooth surface was achieved by applying a Bondo coating to the forms and wet sanding the installed top.

Bio
Scot DiStefano is a Registered Architect, Artist, Author and Educator based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is a graduate of the University of Florida School of Architecture and certified by the National Council of Architecture Registration Boards. He has been practicing architecture, as a solo practitioner, since 2000, after working for Giller and Giller Inc. in Miami Beach and as an assistant to internationally renowned architect, Dan Duckham, in Fort Lauderdale.

Scot is a published architect and author. His work is featured in numerous publications including Florida Architect, Home Fort

Other prizes
Rethinking the Future - Commercial Interiors / Built, ForestTree v2.0, 2022? London International Creative Competition - Finalist (Art), ForesTree v2.0, 2022 Interior Design Awards - Shortlist - ForesTree v2.0, 2023 INT Awards - Silver - Forestree v2.0 2023 London international Creative Competition - Official Selection - The WAAV 2023