Petal Coffee Table is a minimal coffee table created by Brooklyn-based designer Jeff Cheung of A Low Volume. The slender aluminum top appears to hover, weightlessly, above a forest of wooden elements. But look closer, and you realize: those aren’t decorative flourishes—they are the structure itself. In this remarkable piece from A Low Volume’s Petal Collection, the sixty-six wooden ‘petals,’ precision-machined from reclaimed longleaf heart pine, create both visual rhythm and functional support. It’s this fusion of industrial precision and organic material that captures the essential tension in contemporary craft.

Cheung’s work emerges from the tradition of American woodworking but speaks a decidedly 21st-century language. Working from his Red Hook studio, he engages with the historical narrative of his materials—longleaf heart pine salvaged from historic New York City buildings—while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of what these materials can become. The dense, resinous heart pine, prized for centuries for its extraordinary durability, finds new expression here, transformed through digital fabrication techniques into components of remarkable precision.

The modular nature of the design speaks to our contemporary desire for adaptability. Each wooden petal functions not merely as ornament but as a structural element in a complex system. The table can be customized in both size and wood species, allowing it to respond to different architectural contexts. This adaptability reflects a wider shift in contemporary design away from the monolithic toward the variable and responsive.