T
Furniture Design — Collaborative Project
Túr
Aonghus
"The Tower of One's Strength" — Gaelic
A heavy yet refined side table rooted in Celtic craft tradition — subverting the prevailing minimalist design trend through ornamentation, material contrast, and the precision of digital fabrication.
Category
Furniture Design
Collaborator
Zach Mathias
Primary Material
Glacial Oak, Aluminium 9091
Finish
Beeswax, CNC-textured Aluminium
Design Philosophy
Heritage & Intent
Both collaborators share Scottish heritage. From this, the project drew on the traditional woven patterns of medieval Scotland — interlace motifs and organic forms that defined Gaelic craftsmanship for generations.
The intent was to subvert the current minimalist design trend: to create something heavy, ornamental, and decidedly stylish — a side table that speaks an older craft language in a new and modern way.
Where Gaelic artisans worked with the natural shapes and imperfections of wood, integrating flowing lines and organic motifs, Túr Aonghus channels that spirit through the exacting precision of CNC fabrication — marrying heritage with contemporary making.
Jeremy Riminton × Zach Mathias
3
Major design iterations before final form
31mm
Glacial Oak — solid hardwood tabletop
5-Axis
CNC milling used for aluminium corner posts
"We wanted to subvert the current minimalist design trend — to create something heavy yet stylish that explores an older craft language in a new and modern way."
Materials
Glacial Oak (31mm)
Hardwood sourced from wholesale suppliers and salvage depots. Chosen for its longevity and the warm, refined finish it lends to the tabletop surface.
Aluminium 9091
Block aluminium CNC-milled into corner posts. Chosen for its light weight and affordability relative to other metals — practical for precision machining.
Aluminium Sheet (2mm)
Water-jet cut to tolerance and set into routed channels in the tabletop surface, forming the geometric Celtic inlay pattern. Glued underneath for strength.
Fabrication
Manufactuing
All geometric cuts and slots were produced on a 3-axis CNC machine, referenced directly from the CAD file — leaving sanding and assembly as the primary manual tasks.
The aluminium corner posts were milled on a 5-axis CNC machine — a relatively new piece of equipment in the workshop at the time. Several weeks of trial and error, along with a couple of machine breakdowns, preceded the first successful test piece. From there the team resolved the CNC surface texture and confirmed bolt fitment within the post.
The tabletop received a beeswax finish — selected after testing multiple applications and finding only minor colour variation between options. Beeswax amplifies the oak's natural colour and grain, and is non-toxic.
01
Sourcing
Materials sourced from wholesale suppliers and salvage depots — keeping quality high and cost manageable.
02
Construction
3-axis CNC for timber geometry; 5-axis CNC for aluminium posts. Manual sanding and careful assembly to bring components together.
03
Finishing
Beeswax applied to the oak surface — non-toxic, natural, and effective at drawing out the wood's warmth and grain character.
Reflection
Outcome
Every design element initially intended was realised in the final piece. The team explored digital fabrication techniques neither had prior experience with, producing a one-of-a-kind object centred on ornamentation — something both collaborators are proud to have made.
Túr Aonghus stands as an artefact of time, effort, and collaboration — a piece to be kept.
© 2025 Riminton Design — Túr Aonghus