Redefining a category: The HAY Boa conference table made with extrusions of recycled aluminium
The Boa Table, a new take on the conference table, is a collaboration between industrial designer Stefan Diez and the Danish furniture and design brand HAY. The design is based on trestles made of aluminium extrusions.
Conference tables are often large and heavy, difficult to transport and handle, and assembling these tables usually requires a team of professionals. Shipping and handling are important in terms of efficiency, and in terms of sustainability as well. The Boa Table is surprisingly light thanks to the extruded aluminium tubes that make up the structure of the table.
The inspiration for the Boa Table stemmed from a previous collaboration between industrial designer Stefan Diez and Japanese Creative. The initial plan was to construct a table and a trestle from raw bamboo trunks. However, the idea faced challenges in transitioning into an industrial product due to bamboo's inability to withstand Europe's dry climate, and sustainability concerns surrounding its transport from Asia to Europe.
So instead of bamboo, Diez needed to find another suitable material which was similarly light and strong, but more suitable for industrial mass production – and the attention turned to aluminium extrusions. The transition from bamboo to aluminium extrusions quickly brought Hydro and its recycled aluminium on the radar.
Hydro's recycled aluminium is composed of at least 75 percent post-consumer scrap, which is scrap from old window frames, beverage cans and other discarded products. Since post-consumer aluminium scrap has already lived a life in a product, the embedded carbon footprint in this material is very low.
The post-consumer aluminium scrap is sorted, melted and cast into aluminium extrusion ingots at one of Hydro’s recycling facilities. These ingots are then shipped to Denmark, where the profiles for the Boa Table are extruded. Following the extrusion process, the tubes are fabricated to add the necessary holes and features, thereby resulting in a set of conference table legs which are flat-packed and easy to transport.
The table’s assembly and installation require no special technical skills or certifications. In fact, the trestle is formed by bending the aluminium extrusions by hand, which is possible due to the material’s flexibility and the smart design.
One of the main benefits of using aluminium extrusions in products is that multiple functions can be integrated in the extruded profile. The trestle for the Boa Table has integrated technical components like cable management, which is usually a feature in expensive luxury tables, adding to its flexibility.
The beneficial weight-to-strength ratio of the aluminium tubes enabled Stefan Diez and HAY to create tables as long as 4.5 meters without compromising the easy handling and installation.