Everyday… working station

For this project I started from the everyday workstations, I made a research about the work world and the three economy sectors that characterised it. I focused on the third sector, following my experience: in fact I did the waitress in a pub for a while. That’s been my everyday for a lot, and since I knew that reality I focused on that. The object that characterise the workstation of a waitress are a lot, but the most important is for sure the TRAY.

I made a long research about the history of the tray, the materials and the shapes that it can have and I started sketching different ideas until I came up with my final.

The first concept was a metal tray with two wood components that are removable and switchable so that they can be put in different positions. If they are inside the tray, the holes in the wood parts are gonna hold glasses, if they are perpendicular and stuck to the tray they will make handles to hold the tray with your hands, or feet to make the tray stand.

The second option was a simple rectangular tray, it’s supposed to have both the upper and bottom surfaces non-slip, both are therefore usable. The handles of this tray will work as handles, of course, but also as a compartment to carry the cluttery when the waiter clears up the table. To make the tray a little bit more playful I added magnets  inside the main surface so that a removable one can work as a chessboard.

For the third option I decided to go for a rectangular wood tray, with compartments for the clutters and for the coasters, a non-slip surface and built in handles.The non-slip surface makes the transport of glasses and bottle easier, while making the tray easier to clean in case something spills. All trays on the market must be washable, sanitizable and the materials they are made of must not release dangerous substances that contaminate the food, in fact wood is used a lot as a material for tray for its ability to limit the proliferation of bacteria; together with its natural antibacterial properties, it makes it a particularly hygienic material. The built-in handles are useful mostly if the tray is getting too heavy for all the bottles/glasses and dishes on it and carrying it just with a hand under is just uncomfortable and unpractical.

After all the researches, the sketches and the variations I decided to go for something more minimalistic, keeping it simple and efficent. The main charcteristics on which I focused were the fact the the rectangular trays are the most spacious, the high barrier that is common in the round trays and a non-slip surface on the inside beacuse it really helps the waiter to have more control of what he’s carrying.So I designed a tray with the high barrier of the round one but making it square shaped so I could manage to have more usable surface. For the handles keeping in mind how the hands are positioned on the tray when you are carrying it I decided to put them in the crease between the barrier and the centrale surface.