Poliform Concorde table

A round table that solves a dinner

The round version with the central rotating tray is the reason this family keeps selling. A round table has no head and no foot, so nobody is seated in the wrong place, and a turning centre means the dishes reach everyone without anything being passed across the table. For a house that eats together, that is worth more than any finish.

In the rectangular version the same structure reads differently: it takes a bench along one side, sits against a wall in a narrow room, and extends the room visually rather than centring it. The choice between the two is a question about the room, not about the table.

Tops come in marble, wood and glass. Marble is the heavy, permanent choice and the one to keep away from lemon juice; wood is warm and moves a little with dry winter air; glass disappears in a small room and shows every fingerprint. The price gap between them is wide enough that we quote at least two.

The desk version from 2009 takes the same lines into a home office. It works because Concorde was never a decorated table: strip it to writing size and it still looks deliberate rather than reduced.

The round version turns in the middle, so nothing is passed across the table.