A collaboration project between Aspect and Megan McKenna.
Archive is a table and bench that brings people and ideas together, and its collaborative design story is a testament to that.
The story of Archive began when Megan McKenna came across a small occasional table in the Christchurch Art Gallery.
The table, designed by Ashley Simmons back in 2016, was a one-off commissioned piece for the gallery. Its simple curves and considered proportions sparked an idea within Megan – leaving her wondering what would happen if you applied the same design principles to a much larger dining table.
Megan’s pursuit to track Simmons down led her to Aspect and the in-house design team, and after a few short conversations, her own custom dining table was underway.
Archive is a first-of-its-kind for Aspect – a custom product initially designed for a client’s home, and now, a new offering for the workplace.
To understand more about the journey from concept to final design, we sat down with Megan who shares what she loves most about Archive and what it was like to work with Aspect Design.
What inspired this design?
I saw a beautiful small occasional table in the Christchurch Art Gallery – I stopped as I was walking by it. I loved the curves, the proportions, and I thought whoever had made the table could take the same principles and make it into a larger piece. That was the first connection.
Can you describe the design process?
I rang up Aspect in Timaru. At first, I was a little uncertain, but I just launched into it. I spoke to Ashley and told him I loved his piece and listed the qualities that appealed to me. We ended up just having a really cool conversation about it. Followed up with texts and sketches, it was really that simple.
Ashley was amazing because he was able to translate my excited garble into some really good sketch diagrams that started a structured design process – from initial and refined concept drawings to final prototype.
We would go back and forth on, you know, do you like the width of that, or, is the leg just right, but it was all actually rather quick because Ashley just got it.
What do you love about the design?
I love everything about this design. There’s nothing I don’t love. What really appealed to me when I first saw that piece in the gallery are the beautiful simple curves that form the skirting under the tabletop and the shape of the leg. There’s a lot of craftsmanship in that because usually, you’d see a block or a cylinder, but Ashley has made this beautiful, unique, tapered piece and maintained the proportions of the curves. That’s what appeals to me the most, both in the table and bench.
How did you envision the piece in your home?
The dining table is the centrepiece of any family home. It’s a place to join together and share conversation and that’s exactly how I envisioned here – as the heart of the space, where food and conversation take place.
You can see in this house, in this particular space, it’s open and full of light. I wanted a table that was simple and exquisite but not shouting at you – it holds its own in the space.
What it says is, “I’m an amazing kick-ass table, and I own the dining space” without shouting at you – I really like that.
What have you styled with the table?
I found some beautiful chairs from the AI series of by Philippe Starck. The chairs in and of themselves are simple, exquisite and a beautiful match to the table.
Given that I have some really muted colours in here, the other thing I really like about the styling aspect of the table are the pops of colour on the walls and surrounding furniture. This space feels elegant and simple, it doesn’t shout at you, but aesthetically you move into another space that’s richer in colour so you can get a sense that they are really different environments even though they all collaborate quite well.
What did you like about working with Aspect?
I loved the whole process. Most of all, I loved the fact that Ashley and Aspect were willing to listen and translate my vision into something beautiful. He took on the challenge and I really admired that. He listened carefully to translate the design components that were most important to me into the finished product. He just clicked with the vision I was trying to describe, I loved that.
When I met the wider Aspect team in Wellington, everyone was really chilled, fun and relaxed. What stood out to me was that everyone was focused on finding a solution.