Product /
May 4, 2016

Designers Create Cutting-Edge Table That Incorporates Cooking, Cooling

SmartSlab Table

A European design firm has developed a new table that is embedded with cutting-edge circuitry that allows individuals to cook dinner, keep plates warm, and keep drinks cold.

Unveiled at the 2016 Salone del Mobile in April, the SmartSlab Table features a thin top made from SapienStone, a new composite ceramic material by the Iris Ceramica Group. The top measures about 10 feet by 5 feet, but it measures only 6 millimeters thick.

Designed by Reed Kram and Clemens Weisshaar of Kram/Weisshaar, the table is a testing ground for SmartSlab.

“Circular heating elements are positioned directly beneath guests' plates, keeping them at a precise temperature of 42.5° C, as specified by critically acclaimed chef Massimo Bottura,” the firm writes on its website. “Meanwhile, cooling elements are strategically placed along the table to keep champagne bottles perfectly chilled.”

SmartSlab takes product SapienStone into the future by adding a layer of discreet technology to the underside of its wafer-thin ceramic slabs.

Options for the table include heating and cooling units, inductive cooking and charging modules, and wireless antennas and transponders as well as access control systems, switches, and actuators. “SmartSlab signals the arrival of intelligent materials in furniture design and architecture, unlocking a wide range of potential applications previously inconceivable in such an elegant material,” the company says.