2021 INNOVATION: CORAIL

Roche Bobois has achieved a world first in furniture – an innovation that is set to change the relationship both between consumers and design, and between the industry and its distribution. The table’s base is made from 3D-printed concrete and fully customisable. Once the “genetic code” containing the base’s characteristics is inserted, the giant printer – a marvel of technology – is activated. In a continuous upwards movement, the digitally operated nozzle dispenses a ribbon of UHPC (ultra-high performance concrete) that hardens in the course of layering. Another major innovation is the software that customers can use at home or with an in-store advisor to help craft the object: choose its shape and size, decide whether to apply a weaving effect and where, and view their design in real time. The resulting “code” will feed the 3D printer. In addition to being customisable, this new process has potential ecological virtues: it will be easier to send a digital file to the United States or China and to have t