The Clair Bois – Inclusive Table project brought together students, assistants, and professionals around an inclusive design initiative responding to concrete social needs. The aim was to design and build a series of tables for the restaurants of the Clair Bois Foundation, a Geneva-based NGO that welcomes residents with multiple disabilities, their relatives, and healthcare professionals in a shared and dignified space.

Moving away from the conventional codes of paramedical furniture, the team adopted a sensitive, human-centered approach combining comfort, autonomy, and aesthetics. The resulting table features a height-adjustable mechanism operated by a manual hand crank, allowing smooth adaptation for wheelchair users while ensuring comfort for all. 

The tabletop was crafted from locally sourced solid wood – walnut, maple, cherry and oak – processed in the school’s wood workshops, where students explored each stage of production. Developed through a participatory process with Clair Bois residents, the final form evokes tree stumps, encouraging flexible seating and referencing the organic character of wood.

The Red Dot Design Awards are among the world’s most renowned design awards. The Red Dot Award: Inclusive Design Concept recognizes the best projects and creations of the year, selected by distinguished expert juries. The project will be exhibited in Singapore and featured online on the website www.red-dot.org.

Head of Department: Javier Fernández Contreras
Scientific Deputy: Valentina De Luigi
Project Leaders: Alice Dunoyer (Chantier Ouvert), Roland Freymond
Assistants: Melina Meyer, Marie Schild, Chiara Kocis, Manuel Rossi
Students: Annie Bornet, Taiana Broillet, Noémie Castella, Charlene Claveria, Julie Emaldi, Laura Koll, Maelle Mabru, Vega Magaldi, Narcisse Malumba, Lidia Stanciu, Jiwon Yuk, Clara Flaure, Jeanne Hericher
Metal Workshop: Xavier Plantevin
Wood Workshop: Alexander Simian, Sebastien Pitteloud