DESIGN BRIEF
The client wanted a caddy for their DADOquartz bathtub. It was important to the client that the tray not be able to slide off the tub. Such a task is easily achieved for a typical tub, but the egg-shaped surfacing of the client’s tub proved this ask to be an interesting challenge.
MOVEMENT
I developed a mechanism that uses triangulated rollers to hug one edge of the tub, both securing it from sliding off laterally while still allowing for travel down the length of the tub. Because the rim’s effective thicknesses changes with the surfacing of the tub, a suspension system allows the tray to move freely without binding. The heel that hosts the mechanism is removable for flat packing and fine adjustment.
By riding the rim, this caddy follows the arc of the tub’s curvature, resulting in a wonderfully gestural range of travel. When pushed to the end to allow the used to enter or exit the tub, the tray bows aside.
DETAILS
The Caddy is made from solid Teak using marine grade epoxy with a tung oil finish and stainless steel hardware. I designed the form of the caddy to take advantage of the detailing capabilities of CNC fabrication. Soft edges are arcs with noncircular profiles, channel paths are also arcs rather than straight lines, and include a pattern of plunged holes for shedding water. The end result is a beautiful form that would have been very difficult to achieve through traditional methods.
DEVELOPMENT
Development involved R&D for the mechanism design using CAD software and hand models. For the form, I started in foam, iterated towards a plywood buck, and refined the detailing on the 3D printer until I came to a final design. The mechanism was hand prototyped and refined through testing on the tub before moving to the final laser cut stainless steel design. The Teak was milled, the slab glued, CNC formed, and finished by hand.
All photography by Anthony Villanacci