The art of the table, by Morning.

In June 2021, Morning took up residence within the prestigious Hôtel de la Marine, a landmark of the Place de la Concorde in Paris. This workspace boasts no fewer than 17 meeting rooms fitted with bespoke tables, designed and built by Morning in its Bagnolet workshop.
Tables with telling names: the Rivoli, the Galerie, the Brancusi, the Colonnade, the Concorde... So many names that evoke a particular use, a formal inspiration or the history of a place that has watched the centuries go by. Here are a few words on some of the pieces created by Julian Langevin and Romain Delègue, furniture designers within the Morning team.

The Rivoli :
"The table with a play of arcades"

A bespoke design created by the Morning workshop, the Rivoli is a square piece in solid oak. Its lines echo the arcades of the rue de Rivoli, while its hollowed-out volume evokes the inner courtyards of the Hôtel de la Marine. By opening up the centre, the lightened table offers a slimmer, warmer surface that brings those seated closer together. The legs, set at the centre, create a cantilever that gives its users greater comfort.

Across the tops, the detailing plays on the grain of the wood, with pattern joins meeting at 90 degrees, just as Julian wanted: "This "marquetry" feel - which echoes period furniture - enriches the very simple form of the tabletop." All the socket housings are built into the top of the Rivoli using matching oak veneer. Every cable is hidden, the housings linked to one another with a single outlet beneath one table leg.

The Galerie :
"A tabletop on display"

The top of La Galerie recalls the glass-topped display tables of museums, used to exhibit documents and drawings - a little nod to the Musée de la Marine, which occupies the lower floors of the building. The decorative pieces set beneath the glass allow the table to be personalised and given different lives over time. "Users will also be able to make it their own and let the table evolve to suit their wishes, year after year," Julian tells us.

The Galerie table also comes in a large format, supported by sturdier trestles that house the technical fittings (USB port, socket, and so on). Fine cutting details bring out the quality of the solid oak. "The idea was to reveal this material worked in the Morning workshop in Bagnolet. This full-scale test is a complete success!" Julian explains.  

Another quality of the Galerie table designed by Morning, highlighted by its designer: "This very simple assembly contains no hardware at all. For recycling, that is a real advantage, because the various parts can be fed very easily into the wood and glass streams."

The Brancusi :
"That pure complement of objects"

The Brancusi Table is a tribute to the sculptor Constantin Brâncuși. The artist's formal language is evoked in this pared-back volume, made up of two elliptical hemispheres stacked one on top of the other. These two elements give an impression of apparent imbalance, despite a very substantial actual contact surface.

Its 120 cm diameter top is made of Corian, its base of lacquered MDF (a wood-fibre composite) - an appealing material that does not warp over time and remains inexpensive.
As with the other models, all the technical elements are built into the piece, with a single outlet for all the cables so that the table's technical side is forgotten. The electrical cables are concealed, and the meeting-room floor stays clean and unobstructed. 

The Colonnade :
"A façade at ground level"

The Colonnade table measures 3.60 metres, a monumental length spread across two tops. A composition Julian chose, and rightly so: "To avoid a table so imposing that it would hinder conversation, we chose to split it into two distinct parts that lean on one another. Playing with the direction of the wood grain also lets us support the dialogue between these two forms."

To bind the tops together, a crossbar links the whole, supported by bases that echo the column motifs on the façade of the Hôtel de la Marine. The fluting motif is carried through on the edges, since it offers a real gain in surface area beyond its aesthetic appeal. A very pale grey on the lower part of the top and on the bases lets the upper top stand out. The technical elements are concealed by veneered covers that repeat the same motifs as the tabletop.

The Concorde:
"An agora table"

The Concorde Table is made up of a monumental top 4.50 metres long and 2 metres wide, produced in Corian. This mineral material blended with resin - easy to work - makes it possible to create complex forms. The Concorde's takes the shape of a wide ribbon echoing the square of the same name, in direct dialogue with the panorama seen from the windows. "This closed, rounded run around the table helps avoid the off-putting effect that so vast a top might otherwise have," Julian explains.

The tiers that punctuate the inner cut of the top are not unlike a Roman circus and the stepped seating of an agora. This architectural feature lends particular depth while avoiding any pretension. The choice of simple bases works in the same spirit, keeping additional formal elements that would complicate the whole to a minimum.

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☞ Need information about our bespoke work? Looking to invest in bespoke professional furniture? Head to the Interior Design page on the Morning website.
☞ To go further: read the article ”Morning at the Hôtel de la Marine: behind the scenes of a project”