A teak root console looks like no other, and that is the whole point. It does not come from a plank: it follows the shape of a stump. What this material is, what it brings to a room, how to live with it day to day, and the three pieces we make from it.
What teak root is
The teak most people know, the teak of dining tables and sun loungers, comes from the trunk: it is sawn into straight planks with an even grain. The root is the other end of the tree, the stump and its branches, below ground level. There the wood grows in every direction, twists, tightens and divides. The result is a material with a turbulent grain, full of knots and hollows, that no sawmill could cut into planks.
A piece that is carved, not assembled
A root cannot be cut into standard parts. The craftsman starts from its shape and frees it by hand, keeping what is most alive in it. That is why the base of our Bakau console is carved from a single block, and why two pieces of the same model are never identical: the branches, the gaps and the outline of the top change from one to the next. The material decides, and that is what makes a root piece a one-off.
Our three teak root pieces
Bakau is a console resting on a stump of branching roots, carved from a single block. On top, a raw wood slab keeps its irregular edges, just as the material gave them. It measures 120 cm wide, 30 cm deep and 80 cm high: slim enough for an entrance hall, or to bring life to a bare wall.
Borneo is an 80 cm round coffee table, 40 cm high. Its reclaimed teak top is cut into radiating segments, above a domed half-sphere base where logs and roots of raw teak come together.
Pusaka is an openwork wall sculpture carved from teak root: 170 cm wide, 134 cm high. Its irregular branches form a branching coral, with no frame or backing. The wall itself shows through the gaps.
Indoors or outdoors?
Bakau and Pusaka are indoor pieces. Borneo lives indoors and out: in front of the living room sofa as well as on a covered terrace. The other pieces in the collection that can go outdoors say so on their product page.
Where to place it
A root piece is a piece with character: it needs space around it. A Bakau console against the entrance hall wall, a mirror above it, a lamp, and nothing more. Pusaka fills a living room wall on its own, above a sofa or a low sideboard, where raking light draws its shadows on the wall. Borneo, finally, pairs best with seating in simple lines: the raw strength of the wood answers a plain fabric better than a pattern.
Living with it
Teak root is still teak: a solid wood that breathes. Fine surface cracks may appear; they are a sign of this, not a weakness. Dust settles in the branches and hollows: a dry paintbrush or a soft brush gets it out better than a cloth. For the rest, the Materials page presents our woods, and teak care is covered on the Delivery and terms page.
See it before you choose
A one-off piece is best judged in person, or at home. Visit the showroom in La Teste-de-Buch, on the Arcachon Bay, or take a photo of your entrance hall: Balinaisa.ai places the console in it, with a quote.