Puddle
Prize(s):
WINNER 2026 PRODUCT DESIGN / Furniture & Lighting
Company Name:Kilnhouse Design Studio
Lead Designer(s) Name(s):Nicola & Michelle Smith
Other Contributor(s):Vusumuzi Zondo, 360 Frameless (glass)
Manufacturer Name:Kilnhouse Design Studio
Distributors Name:Kilnhouse Design Studio
Client Name:Kilnhouse Design Studio
Photo Credit:Michelle & Nicola Smith
Project Location:Johannesburg, South Africa
Design Status:Commercialized
Website: View
Product Description:
Puddle is a convertible table concept consisting of three hand-thrown and carved ceramic legs supporting a glass table surface. Each leg penetrates the glass surface creating carved sandbars for display and visual variance across the reflective glass surface. Puddle speaks to the visual familiarity of the watering hole as a place of gathering. An important lifeline in the harsh landscapes that shape Africa and its people. Much like the watering hole, Puddle brings this concept into the home providing a space to connect.
Puddle is a convertible table concept consisting of three hand-thrown and carved ceramic legs supporting a glass table surface. Each leg penetrates the glass surface creating carved sandbars for display and visual variance across the reflective glass surface. Puddle speaks to the visual familiarity of the watering hole as a place of gathering. An important lifeline in the harsh landscapes that shape Africa and its people. Much like the watering hole, Puddle brings this concept into the home providing a space to connect.
Product Innovation / Specification:
Puddle is adaptable and can be functionally rearranged, offering personal user freedom in look and feel. Each hand-thrown ceramic leg is made in two parts of distinct heights. When stacked, a dining table height is achieved. When separated, a coffee table accompanied by three side tables is generated. The glass surface may also be flipped to suit location. The dual height of each leg component allows for choice in Coffee table height, and legs are interchangeable in location. The materiality of the legs is not limited to ceramic, allowing for endless configuration and material combinations to suit specific applications.
Puddle is adaptable and can be functionally rearranged, offering personal user freedom in look and feel. Each hand-thrown ceramic leg is made in two parts of distinct heights. When stacked, a dining table height is achieved. When separated, a coffee table accompanied by three side tables is generated. The glass surface may also be flipped to suit location. The dual height of each leg component allows for choice in Coffee table height, and legs are interchangeable in location. The materiality of the legs is not limited to ceramic, allowing for endless configuration and material combinations to suit specific applications.
Product Sustainability Approach:
Puddle’s ceramic componentry is generated from a cyclical practice of clay reclamation. Waste clay is recycled through the studio achieving an 80-20% split between reclaimed and virgin clay. All locally sourced and produced in South Africa. All products produced in the studio seek to preserve the age-old tradition of handmade craft, elevating wheel thrown ceramic practice to functional pieces of a larger scale. All pieces of the Puddle pass through a single kiln firing to achieve their vibrant red tones, resulting in durable leg componentry capable of rearrangement over time.
Puddle’s ceramic componentry is generated from a cyclical practice of clay reclamation. Waste clay is recycled through the studio achieving an 80-20% split between reclaimed and virgin clay. All locally sourced and produced in South Africa. All products produced in the studio seek to preserve the age-old tradition of handmade craft, elevating wheel thrown ceramic practice to functional pieces of a larger scale. All pieces of the Puddle pass through a single kiln firing to achieve their vibrant red tones, resulting in durable leg componentry capable of rearrangement over time.
Local and Regional Impacts of the Product:
Puddle is both a functional and artistic object seeking to bring craft ingrained in culture back into the home in ways that are adaptable to the user. An object of presence around which to gather, connect and share traditions. Design of this nature is only possible in the hands of the masters through which each component passes. Traditions handed down and muscle memory only learnt through years of repetition and dedication within an industry overrun by mass production.
Puddle is both a functional and artistic object seeking to bring craft ingrained in culture back into the home in ways that are adaptable to the user. An object of presence around which to gather, connect and share traditions. Design of this nature is only possible in the hands of the masters through which each component passes. Traditions handed down and muscle memory only learnt through years of repetition and dedication within an industry overrun by mass production.
Company Name:Kilnhouse Design Studio
Lead Designer(s) Name(s):Nicola & Michelle Smith
