production peek: tetra tank

March 24, 2012

One of the central themes of AW’s work is merging habitats with furniture. If you look through all the projects, there are tons of terrariums and plants mixed into the work. It seems only natural to start integrating animal habitats into our work. Actually, I have built projects for cats and turtles before, but pictures of that will come in a later post…

For a year now I’ve been dreaming of a small aquarium, in the 2-5 gallon range, that would be a simple piece of furniture as much as a habitat. All the wires and bulky extrusions typical to an aquarium setup would be integrated into a wooden enclosure.

The photos below are some process shots of a prototype for this concept. Features include a small filter, LED lighting, and heater, all tucked away into a back compartment. Two switches control the lighting and the heater/filter. There is also a compartment to store your fish flakes.

The tank is made from the last remaining walnut flooring planks that were not used to build the dining table. A custom shaped acrylic aquarium insert sits inside the walnut enclosure. Photos of the finished product with fish and plants coming very soon!