Dezeen Magazine

Amma Studio's stools and tables combine cement with BB pellets and coffee grounds

London Design Festival 2014: New York-based Amma Studio has created a range of coffee tables and stools made by moulding cement with a range of unexpected materials.

Drum collection - Metal - by Amma Studio

Sculptor Fernando Mastrangelo and interior designer Samuel Amoia of Amma Studio hand cast each stool in the Drum collection inside a mould.

Drum collection by Amma Studio

First, cement was added in layers to create texture, then combined with a "raw material" held together using a UV-protected epoxy resin.

Drum collection by Amma Studio

The resin binds the material to itself and to the cement to create a continuous cylindrical form.

Drum collection by Amma Studio

Materials they experimented with include rock salts, silica, sand and BB pellets, all in a range of colours, as well as coffee grounds.

Drum collection by Amma Studio

"We aim for contrast," the designers told Dezeen. "Finding the right texture to complement the smoothness of the cement – or the right colour to balance the texture of the raw material."

Drum collection by Amma Studio

"It's very experimental. Our favourites are the sharper combinations, for example white cement and black silica."

Drum collection - Quad - by Amma Studio

Alongside the Drum stools, Amma Studio created the Quad and Quad3 side tables in the form of square arches and complete square outlines.

Drum collection - Quad - by Amma Studio

The concrete edges are lined with the raw materials using a spinning technique.

"They can be used for almost anything," said the designer. "Side tables, stools, nightstands, consoles, desks... We are currently talking to one client about fabricating custom drums as pedestal bases for her dining table."

Drum collection - Metal - by Amma Studio

Mastrangelo and Amoia met through a mutual friend and were soon working together on a piece for a hotel project in Miami.

They designed an organically-formed bar made of rock salt with a blue cement top, which Amoia went on to show as part of his Elle Decor Showhouse during Art Basel. The response it received convinced them to collaborate on a collection.

Drum collection - Quad 3 - by Amma Studio

Amma Studio exhibited the new pieces as part of the Ventura London showcase of emerging talents at designjunction, during the London Design Festival last month.